Digital Repository

John Goodwin Tower

Texas became a two-party state in 1961, when conservative Republican John Tower was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was the first Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction. During four senate terms, Tower was a master at moving legislation through Congress and a political mentor to many Texas Republicans, including future President George H. W. Bush.

Image: Still of Senator John Tower from the film The Mutual Defense of Western Europe: A Special Report by U.S. Senator John Tower, 1971. John G. Tower Digital Media Collection.

Audio: Houston Public Media

Still of Senator John Tower from the film The Mutual Defense of Western Europe: A Special Report by U.S. Senator John Tower