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54 Chapter Five REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRMAN After the 1972 general elections, President Richard Nixon once again wanted a new team at the Republican National Committee. When George H. W. Bush received a phone call from the White House asking him to meet Nixon at Camp David, his wife, Barbara, thought Nixon planned to offer George the chairmanship. She urged her husband to refuse it. She said: “[I]t would be a terrible experience. Party politics are very dog-eat-dog.” He received similar advice from outgoing RNC chairman Bob Dole, who told him not to take it. Former RNC chairman Rogers Morton told Bush that, if he accepted it, he should do it with two conditions: access to Cabinet meetings and a “free hand” managing the committee.1 Bush, a Texan, had served in Congress from 1967 to 1971. After his unsuccessful candidacy for the US Senate in 1970, Nixon had appointed him head of the US delegation to the United Nations early in 1971. Bush regretted leaving the United Nations but said that when the president makes a request,“you ought to do it.” Despite having declined the offer to chair the RNC two years earlier, Bush accepted it this time. For the first time in four years, the RNC would have a full-time chairman.2 One afternoon, after Bush agreed to take the post, he and Congressman William Steiger of Wisconsin stopped by the RNC offices for a visit. Barbara Bush described it: “What a shock. Not only did no one welcome them; they were ignored . Many people had their feet on the desks, and the building seemed filled with staff with nothing to do. The offices were messy and dirty.” She correctly concluded that her husband had an“unpleasant task ahead,”but the task would not be cleaning the offices. It would be keeping the RNC separated from the developing Watergate scandal.3 Before Bush took office as RNC chairman, the co-chairmanship opened up. In mid-December, Nixon appointed RNC co-chairman Anne Armstrong to a REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRMAN 55 Cabinet position, Counselor to the President, the first woman to hold the position . Three national committeewomen—Mary Louise Smith, Janet Johnston of California, and Rosemary Ginn of Missouri—were mentioned as her possible successors.4 Smith’s good friend and champion John McDonald once again lobbied for her and sent a letter recommending her to Bush. Iowa governor Bob Ray added his support in a letter to Bush, writing that he had “known her as a friend and as a tireless worker for the Republican Party here in Iowa for many years.” He added:“She is an attractive, intelligent and personable individual and would be a real asset to you.” Iowa congressman Wiley Mayne also wrote to Bush recommending Smith for the post. Bush responded, “In my judgment, she is one of the three or four most able people on the National Committee,” but, he added, “No final decision has been made, but if it works out that Mary Louise is not the one selected, believe me, it will not be because I feel that she has any lack of ability. She’s terrific.”5 Once again, it was not Smith’s turn for the co-chairmanship. Bush appointed national committeewoman for California Janet Johnston. The youngest member of the national committee at thirty-three years old, she was a rancher and a businesswoman. Commenting on her appointment, Bush said,“Her tremendous experience at the local level of politics as well as her youthful enthusiasm are two qualities we will call upon heavily as we direct our efforts toward electing Republicans.” Some speculated that Nixon had encouraged Bush to appoint her in order to solidify his support among California Republicans.6 Bush wrote to Smith the day after the announcement and explained that choosing the co-chairman had not been easy, that many people had spoken to him on her behalf, and that “having been in Iowa and seeing first-hand the affection people feel for you, I was faced with a very difficult choice.” He continued , “Janet Johnston is single and unencumbered. Though she lacks your experience, I believe she can do a good job. I hope so.” A handwritten note at the bottom of the letter said: “You are great!”7 The Watergate scandal moved to greater visibility in February 1973, when the US Senate created a special committee to investigate it. On May 17, 1973, North Carolina Democrat...

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