95th Congress (beginning)
End of moratorium on
bombing in Vietnam
Republican National
Convention: John G. Tower
introduces Barry Goldwater
Need to increase defense
budget
America's Civil Defense Effort
Exemption of Mexico from
reduction from $100 to
$50 duty-free goods
About the Collection
Overview
The John G. Tower Digital Media Collection is a cooperative effort between Southwestern University and Southern Methodist University.
Southwestern’s A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center holds the John G. Tower Papers. SMU is home to the John Goodwin Tower Center for Public Policy and International Affairs. The center promotes the study and discussion of politics and international affairs, and engages students in public service through insightful teaching and hands-on research. SMU Libraries provides a full range of digitization and digital library services through the Norwick Center for Digital Solutions.
For the project, Southwestern selected 208 multimedia objects from its John G. Tower Papers special collection, including film, video, and audio recordings by and about John Tower. Currently, there are 196 audio files and 12 video files. The objects were digitized and formatted for the web by SMU’s Norwick Center.
Holdings and Highlights
The John G. Tower Digital Media Collection contains selected video and audio clips that highlight the many facets of John G. Tower’s life and career.
Within the digital collection are multiple items from Senator Tower's Capitol Cloakroom and Weekly Radio Report shows.
About John G. Tower
A native Texan, John G. Tower is famous for his far-reaching political career that covered three decades.
He received his undergraduate degree at Southwestern University and his Masters Degree from Southern Methodist University.
His political career began in 1961, when he became the first Republican Senator elected from Texas since the Reconstruction. During his tenure in the Senate, Tower became well-known for his chairmanship of the Republican Party and Armed Services Committees.
Following his retirement from the Senate, he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 to serve as a member of the United States arms negotiation team in Geneva. He also served as chairman of the Tower Commission in 1987 investigating the Iran Contra scandal. In his later years, Tower founded John Tower and Associates, a consulting firm, and was a member of President Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. His untimely death in 1991 in a plane crash shortened his career.