John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician and military veteran who represented Texas in the United States Senate from 1961 to 1985.

With the Democratic victory in the 1960 presidential election, Johnson vacated his Senate seat to become Vice President of the United States.

Starting in 1976 with his support of Gerald Ford rather than Ronald Reagan in the 1976 Republican primaries, Tower began to alienate many fellow conservatives.

After leaving Congress, he served as chief negotiator of the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks with the Soviet Union and led the Tower Commission.

In 1989, incoming President George H. W. Bush chose Tower as his nominee for United States Secretary of Defense, but his nomination was rejected by the Senate.

[1] In June 1943, Tower paused his college studies to serve in the United States Navy during the Pacific Theater of World War II on an LCS(L) amphibious gunboat.

[1] While at Southwestern, Tower was a member of the Iota chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity, and would later serve the organization in significant alumnus volunteer roles.

[2] Tower worked as a radio announcer for country music station KTAE in Taylor, northeast of Austin, during college and for some time afterward.

[1] Tower continued his military service in the United States Naval Reserve until retiring in 1989 with the rank of master chief's boatswain mate.

[1] In 1949, he began graduate studies in political science at Southern Methodist University and worked part time as an insurance agent.

In 1952 and 1953, he pursued graduate coursework at the London School of Economics and conducted field research on the organization of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom.

Tower supported Texas economic interests, working to improve the business environment of the energy, agricultural, and fishing and maritime sectors.

[12] Although opposing the final passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Tower also voted against an amendment by Albert Gore Sr. that sought to weaken the legislation.

Maxwell sold to Sandia a copy of PROMIS software that had a backdoor which was accessible by Israeli intelligence, giving nuclear details to Israel.

Two weeks after his leaving office, Tower was named chief United States negotiator at the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

The largest factors were concern about possible conflicts of interest and Tower's personal life, in particular allegations of alcohol abuse and womanizing.

[19] As The New York Times reported in his obituary, "Mr. Tower's repudiation by his former colleagues, who rejected him as Bush's nominee for Secretary of Defense after public allegations of womanizing and heavy drinking, left a bitterness that could not be assuaged.

In the normally clubby Senate, Mr. Tower was regarded by some colleagues as a gut fighter who did not suffer fools gladly, and some lawmakers indicated that they were only too pleased to rebuke him.

[21] Future Vice President Dick Cheney, then a Representative from Wyoming and the House Minority Whip, was later confirmed as Secretary of Defense.

On April 5, 1991, Tower was aboard Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 when it crashed while on approach for landing at Brunswick, Georgia.

The crash instantly killed everyone on board, including Tower and his middle daughter, Marian, astronaut Sonny Carter, and twenty others.