The Senate Should Use the Tower Precedent

Reject the Hegseth Nomination

John Tower was universally regarded as a defense expert. Yet, he was never confirmed as the nation’s 17^thSecretary of Defense.

A native of east Texas, Tower left college to serve in the Navy during WWII. After the war, he continued serving as a reservist racking up nearly 50 years of total military service when he retired as a master chief petty officer in 1989.

As a rare republican in heavily democratic Texas, Tower won a special election in 1961 to fill the US Senate seat of the powerful Lyndon Johnson, who was John F. Kennedy’s running mate. Tower was the first Texas republican to be elected to the US Senate in nearly a century. In 1965, he was appointed to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Tower became known as a policy wonk regarding defense and national security matters. In addition to the SASC, he served on the Joint Committee on Defense Production. That committee focused on the Defense Production Act of 1950, which was enacted to ensure the Defense Department was modernizing in light of the Cold War.

Tower became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1981 and served as its chair until his retirement in 1985. He partnered with the White House during the defense build-up after the devastating Jimmy Carter-era. Once Tower was out of office, President Ronald Reagan named him the chief US negotiator for the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks, the vehicle to reduce the nuclear weapons arsenals held by the US and USSR. In 1986, Reagan appointed Tower to chair the ad hoc commission to investigate the Iran-Contra arms scandal. It later became known as the Tower Commission.

John Tower (Credit: Texas Standard)

Vice-President George HW Bush followed Reagan into the White House in 1989. Among his early cabinet nominees was Tower to be Defense Secretary. Tower was known as a defense hawk at a time when it was believed one was needed to guide the Pentagon. And he was eminently qualified. This was expected to be an easy confirmation vote as the Senate had a long track record of confirming every cabinet nominee of a newly-elected president. However, Tower’s nomination was soundly defeated.

Tower’s nomination crashed not because of any policy difference or questions about his bona fides. Tower lost mostly over questions of his behavior and judgement lapses. Tower was widely-known as a wild drinker and womanizer. What should have been a friendly vote from senators who were recently his peers failed over concerns of his potential stewardship of one of the nation’s most important cabinet positions.

It is without question that today the US faces perilous times. Global tensions are rising. Chinese military threats are increasing as it continues to grow its military and become more belligerent. Russia has been an on-again, off-again problem since the early days of the Soviet Union. Russia’s war with the Ukraine has merely exacerbated the situation.

Houthis firing rockets (Credit: Jerusalem Post)

The Middle East is on the verge of completely exploding. The Houthis, a 4^th-rate power at best, are controlling the Red Sea, a major sea line of communication.

The situation elsewhere on the globe is worsening. Iran claims it’s nearing a nuclear weapons capability and North Korea has been test firing long-range rockets around the Pacific. Joe Biden Secretary of State Anthony Blinken suggested US support for Taiwan security was softening. Chinese leaders may view this as a green light for military action against the island nation.

One may conclude after surveying the current state of Afghanistan and the Middle East, and noting the military rise of China and the belligerence of Russia, and unpredictability of rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea that the US is not any more secure than it was on September 10, 2001. There may not be an attack on the homeland, but a major military conflagration could break-out just about anywhere.

Making matters worse, the Pentagon is experiencing its worst manning situation in the 50-year history of the all-volunteer military. The nation’s military may be stretched to near the breaking point. Servicemen and women are exhausted after repeated overseas deployments. Dissatisfaction has risen. Recruiting has collapsed. Retention is getting shaky. And there is no relief in sight.

This brings us to the nomination of Peter Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. It goes without saying he has a very fine résumé for an Army infantry officer. He had tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and received combat awards. It is a record for which anyone would be very proud. However, that alone does not qualify him to lead the military.

Hegseth’s résumé is not just thin, but non-existent when it comes to managing large portfolios of people, policies, programs, and systems. There is no apparent record of his understanding of broad national security policies or defense matters. Telling war stories in the bar or on the morning news set is not qualifying.

Peter Hegseth (Credit: Al Jazeera)

Consider this. As many as three million servicemen and women are estimated to have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. The Army awarded 170,000 Bronze stars to soldiers in those two conflicts. Relying on the Hegseth standard suggests this automatically qualifies all 170,000 of them to head-up the Defense Department. This is patently absurd.

No doubt legions of Fox News viewers – especially those without any military experience – will lobby the Senate for Hegseth’s confirmation. If Hegseth’s lack of large organization leadership and lack of policy chops is not enough to help them to decide then senators can rely on the John Tower precedent.

In 2017, Hegseth divorced his second wife after having a child with a news producer with whom he was having an affair. Apparently, Hegseth and the producer are now married. Divorce should not be a disqualifying issue in this day and age. Additionally, everyone is eligible for forgiveness and redemption. But having a brazen affair with a co-worker as an on-air personality indicates incredibly poor judgement. That Fox News allowed him to remain as an employee is puzzling.

In recent remarks, Hegseth indicated his opposition to women serving in combat. Indeed, nearly 250 years of precedence in this country was ended about a decade ago when women were officially permitted to serve in combat roles. Like an integrated military, it’s now DoD policy. There’s no turning back the clock. It’s time to move on. Thousands of female servicemembers have served admirably in combat.

Yes, the Pentagon is in desperate need of fresh leadership. Decision-making by senior civilians, and flag and general rank officers is questionable. However, now is not the time to appoint as Defense Secretary one who would need on-the-job training. Being “gung-ho” military is not enough. It would be the equivalent of designating a good EMT to be chief neurosurgeon.

If President Donald Trump continues with this nomination then the Senate should act responsibly and not confirm the pick.

Mark Hyman is a 35-year military veteran and an Emmy award-winning investigative journalist. Follow him on Twitter, Gettr, Parler, and Mastodon.world at @markhyman, and on Truth Social at @markhyman81.

His books Washington Babylon: From George Washington to Donald Trump, Scandals That Rocked the Nation and Pardongate: How Bill and Hillary Clinton and their Brothers Profited from Pardons are on sale now (here and here).