Burning Down the House
Page 39
23. John Barry, “The Man of the House,” New York Times, November 23, 1986.
24. Flippen, Speaker Jim Wright, 159.
25. Paul Burka, “Wright and Wrong,” Texas Monthly, August 1988, 153.
26. Flippen, Speaker Jim Wright, 208.
27. Jim Wright, Personal Diary, December 30, 1971, JWA.
28. Jack Anderson, “Shooting at Fish in the Pork Barrel,” Washington Post, March 17, 1972.
29. Jim Wright, Personal Diary, March 18, 1972, JWA.
30. Jim Wright, Personal Diary, June 22, 1972, JWA.
31. Julian E. Zelizer, On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and Its Consequences, 1948–2000 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 167.
32. Frances E. Lee, Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016), 32.
33. Bruce I. Oppenheimer and Robert L. Peabody, “How the Race for House Majority Leader Was Won—by One Vote,” Washington Monthly, November 1977, 47; John Lawrence, The Class of ’74: Congress After Watergate and the Roots of Partisanship (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018); Jim Wright, interview with Richard Peabody, March 18, 1977, box 695, File: Interview of Jim Wright with Richard Peabody, 9, JWA.
34. Tom Matthews, “A Surprise in the House,” Newsweek, December 20, 1976, 26.
35. Larry King, “A Single Card Held the Key to the House,” Washington Star, December 8, 1976.
36. Stephen Nordlinger, “O’Neill, Wright Are Elected,” Baltimore Sun, December 7, 1976.
37. Mary Russell, “Rep. Wright Is Elected House Majority Leader,” Washington Post, December 7, 1976.
38. Richard Boeth, “Rebels on the Hill,” Newsweek, August 8, 1977, 22–23.
39. Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer—and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), 186–222.
40. Greg Easterbrook, “The Business of Politics,” Atlantic, October 1986; Hacker and Pierson, Winner-Take-All Politics, 177–82.
41. Easterbrook, “Business of Politics.”
42. Hacker and Pierson, Winner-Take-All Politics, 116–36.
43. Easterbrook, “Business of Politics.”
44. “Wright Blasts Reagan’s Policies,” Atlanta Constitution, January 25, 1984.
45. “Wright Accused of Threatening House Colleague,” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1985.
46. Bob Secter, “Lungren Says House Leader Threatened to Punch Him,” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1985.
47. Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 71–72.
48. Flippen, Speaker Jim Wright, 266.
49. West, “Wright Stuff.”
50. Ernest Furgurson, “Dole, Others Glum as Democrats Win 100th Congress,” Baltimore Sun, November 6, 1986.
51. Jim Wright, Personal Diary, November 5, 1986, JWA.
52. E. J. Dionne Jr., “Big Political Shift,” New York Times, November 6, 1986.
53. Malcolm Byrne, Iran-Contra: Reagan’s Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2014), 276.
54. Ronald Reagan, Personal Diary, November 24, 1986, in The Reagan Diaries, ed. Douglas Brinkley (New York: Harper, 2007), 660–61.
55. Steven V. Roberts, “Top Legislators Promise Inquiry,” New York Times, November 26, 1986.
56. Jim Wright, Balance of Power: Presidents and Congress from the Era of McCarthy to the Age of Gingrich (Atlanta: Turner, 1996), 439–40.
57. Minutes, COS Wednesday Morning Meeting, July 1, 1987, box 1019, File: Weekly COS 1987, NGP.
58. Editorial, “The Speaker and the Thrift Scandal,” New York Times, June 24, 1987.
59. Thomas Rich and David Pauly, “The Wright Man to See: A Powerful Politician and His Efforts to Help Texas Thrift Operators,” Newsweek, June 29, 1987, 44–45.
60. Gingrich to George Schultz, June 30, 1987, box 673, File: Newt Gingrich—Ethics, NGP.
61. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 214.
62. Thomas Rosentiel, “How an Unheralded Reporter Wrote the Quiet Beginnings to Wright Case,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1989.
63. Flippen, Speaker Jim Wright, 286–88.
64. Roberto Suro, “Wright’s Partner Was a Quiet Friend,” New York Times, April 24, 1989.
65. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 692–93.
66. “Statement of House Speaker Jim Wright,” June 10, 1988, box 672, File: Wright’s Response to Our Complaint, NGP.
67. Michael Wines, “Wright’s Path to Power: Debts, Deals, and a Book,” New York Times, May 7, 1989.
68. Myra MacPherson, “The Speaker’s Wife, Speaking Out,” Washington Post, April 21, 1989.
69. Jackson, interview with author, December 17, 2014.
70. Brooks Jackson, “House Speaker Wright’s Dealings with Developer Revive Questions About His Ethics and Judgment,” Wall Street Journal, August 5, 1987.
71. Jim Wright, Reflections of a Public Man (Fort Worth, Tex.: Madison, 1984).
72. Editorial, “Wright-Gate,” Detroit News, October 9, 1987.
73. Minutes, COS Wednesday Morning Meeting, September 9, 1987, box 1019, File: COS 1987, NGP.
74. Minutes, COS Executive Committee Meeting, September 15, 1987, box 1019, File: Weekly COS 1987, NGP.
75. Minutes, COS Wednesday Morning Meeting, September 16, 1987, box 1019, File: Weekly COS 1987, NGP.
76. Minutes, Wednesday Lunch Group, September 16, 1987, box 1019, File: Weekly COS 1987, NGP.
77. Newt Gingrich, GOPAC Masterfile letter, October 6, 1987, box 446, NGP.
78. “Bedlam on Wall St.,” Los Angeles Times, October 19, 1987.
79. Flippen, Speaker Jim Wright, 359.
80. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 469–72.
81. Trent Lott, Herding Cats: A Life in Politics (New York: ReganBooks, 2005), 98.
82. Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Monica Langley, “House Passes Bill to Increase Taxes by $12.3 Billion,” Wall Street Journal, October 30, 1987.
83. Charles Green, “House Passes Deficit-Cutting Bill as Republican Members Protest,” Hartford Courant, October 30, 1987.
84. Newt Gingrich, “The House Republican Choice,” 1987, box 664, File: Reconciliation Bill, NGP.
85. Zelizer, On Capitol Hill, 239; Jonathan Feurbringer, “Tax Rise Is Passed by House,” New York Times, October 30, 1987.
86. Eli Rosenberg, “‘Olliemania’: The Stage-Worthy Scandal That Starred Oliver North as a Congressional Witness,” Washington Post, May 8, 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/05/08/the-nras-new-president-oliver-north-is-notorious-for-his-role-in-an-illicit-arms-deal.
87. Newt Gingrich, “Speech to Virginia Republican Party in Williamsburg,” July 11, 1987, WHORM Alpha File, box 27, File: Gingrich, Newt (6), RRPL.
88. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 362, 368–69.
89. Dale Russakoff and Tom Kenworthy, “House Speaker’s Balancing Act,” Washington Post, November 22, 1987.
90. “Nicaragua Ortega Program,” NBC Evening News, November 13, 1987.
91. John Barry argues that Shultz directly contradicted what he told Wright. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 493–515.
92. Jim Wright, Worth It All: My War for Peace (Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, 1993), 150–51.
93. Reagan, Personal Diary, November 16, 1987, in Reagan Diaries, 800.
94. Steven V. Roberts, “Reagan and Wright Caught Up in Feud,” New York Times, November 15, 1987.
95. Kathryn McGarr, The Whole Damn Deal: Robert Strauss and the Art of Politics (New York: PublicAffairs, 2011), 307–8.
96. Joel Brinkley, “Wright, His Latin Role Contested, Signs a �
��Peace Pact’ with Shultz,” New York Times, November 18, 1987.
97. “Gingrich Criticizes Wright Meeting with Daniel Ortega,” Atlanta Daily World, November 24, 1987.
98. “Wright,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 17, 1987; Tom Fiedler, “Gingrich Calls Wright ‘Corrupt,’” Miami Herald, November 17, 1987.
99. Larry King Live, November 17, 1987, transcript, box 678, File: Wright Stockyard, NGP.
100. Ernest Angelo to Roderic Bell, December 7, 1987, box 692, File: Republican Mailings, JWA.
101. Flippen, Speaker Jim Wright, 371.
102. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 369.
103. Gingrich to Nader, December 1, 1987, box 673, File: Newt Gingrich—Ethics, NGP.
104. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 530–36.
105. Brooks Jackson and Jeffrey Birnbaum, “Wright’s First Year as Speaker Yields Success, but His Integrity Continues to Be Questioned,” Wall Street Journal, December 4, 1987; Fox Butterfield, “Trump Urged to Head Gala of Democrats,” New York Times, November 18, 1987; Michael Ryan, “Too Darn Rich,” People, December 7, 1987.
106. Cort Kirkwood, “Jim Wright Makes It the Old-Fashioned Way,” National Review, October 23, 1987.
107. “Role of House Speaker, Agenda for 1988,” C-SPAN video archives, January 6, 1988.
108. Jost to Wright, November 16, 1987, box 745, File: DCCC, JWA.
109. Eric Pianin, “House GOP’s Frustrations Intensify,” Washington Post, December 21, 1987.
110. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 369.
111. Susan Rasky, “The Speaker of the House: Everyone Has Something to Say About Wright,” New York Times, December 18, 1987.
Chapter 4: Legitimating Gingrich
1. Mel Steely, The Gentleman from Georgia: The Biography of Newt Gingrich (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2000), 190.
2. John M. Barry, The Ambition and the Power: A True Story of Washington (New York: Viking, 1989), 603–4.
3. Mair to Smith, December 15, 1987; Mair to Zuckerman, December 16, 1987; Mair to Bartley, December 15, 1987. These and other letters to the press are in box 676, Series II, File: Letters from Media, JWA.
4. “Reporters Given Wright Apology for Aide’s Letters,” Los Angeles Times, January 22, 1988.
5. William M. Adler and Michael Binstein, “The Speaker and the Sleazy Banker,” Bankers Monthly, March 1988.
6. John Barry, “The Man of the House,” New York Times, November 23, 1986.
7. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 219–22.
8. Barry to Strauss, March 24, 1988, box 675, File: Bankers Monthly, JWA.
9. Lyman to Cross, April 1988, box 675, File: Bankers Monthly, JWA.
10. Gingrich to Michael Barone, March 21, 1988, box 673, File: Newt Gingrich—Ethics, NGP.
11. Gingrich to Gergen, February 16, 1988, box 673, File: Newt Gingrich—Ethics, NGP.
12. Gingrich to Rosenthal, February 25, 1988, box 673, File: Newt Gingrich—Ethics, NGP.
13. Gingrich to Colleagues, February 17, 1988, box 674, File: Staff Briefing on Wright, NGP.
14. Gingrich to Wertheimer, May 13, 1987, box 663, File: St. Germain Case, NGP; Gingrich to Wertheimer, December 1, 1987, box 673, File: Newt Gingrich—Ethics, NGP.
15. Gingrich to Wertheimer, February 16, 1988, box 673, File: Newt Gingrich—Ethics, NGP.
16. Wertheimer, interview with author, July 21, 2015.
17. Wertheimer to Gingrich, February 18, 1988, box 673, File: Newt Gingrich—Ethics, NGP.
18. Editorial, “Where’s the Investigation?,” Wall Street Journal, May 10, 1988.
19. Wertheimer, interview with author, July 21, 2015.
20. Common Cause, press release, May 18, 1988; and Wertheimer to Dixon, May 18, 1988, both in box 268, CCP.
21. Tom Kensworthy, “In Response to Group’s Call for Ethics Probe, Wright Defends His Record,” Washington Post, May 20, 1988.
22. Wertheimer to Julian Dixon, May 25, 1988, box 268, CCP.
23. Gingrich to Colleague, May 24, 1988, box 673, File: Dear Colleague—Complaint, NGP.
24. Maureen Dowd, “Bush Tries to Rough his Edges,” New York Times, May 29, 1988.
25. Jeffrey A. Engel, When the World Seemed New: George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2017), 27.
26. Jeremi Suri, “Ronald Reagan, 1981–1989,” in Presidential Misconduct: From George Washington to Today, ed. James M. Banner Jr. (New York: New Press, 2019), 405–20.
27. Gerald Seib and Monica Langley, “Bush Wins a Clear Victory in TV Interview Spat but Doesn’t Dispel His Iran Contra Problems,” Wall Street Journal, January 27, 1988.
28. Susan Page, The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty (New York: Twelve, 2019), 164.
29. Jean Edward Smith, Bush (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016), 52; Antonino D’Ambrosio, “Lee Atwater’s Legacy,” Nation, October 8, 2008.
30. Atwater to Elizabeth Dole, May 31, 1981, box 2, File: Dole Memo, Lee Atwater Papers, RRPL.
31. Maureen Dowd, “Bush, in Jersey, Gets Tough on Drugs,” New York Times, May 27, 1988, www.nytimes.com/1988/05/27/us/bush-in-jersey-gets-tough-on-drugs.html.
32. Sara Fritz, “Wright Inquiry May Undermine ‘Sleaze Factor,’” Los Angeles Times, June 9, 1988.
33. Fritz, “Wright Inquiry May Undermine ‘Sleaze Factor.’”
34. Scott Shepard, “Only Evidence in Wright Case: Press Clippings,” Atlanta Constitution, May 28, 1988.
35. Jeff Gerth, “Meeting Follows Weeks of Partisan Debate—Outcome Due Today,” New York Times, June 10, 1988.
36. Editorial, “Investigating the Speaker, Credibly,” New York Times, May 27, 1988.
37. Citizens for Reagan, “Your Help Needed to Expose Most Corrupt House Speaker in History,” press release, June 3, 1988, box 673, File: Newt Letters—Ethics, NGP.
38. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 622–23.
39. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 622–23.
40. Jim Wright, Worth It All: My War for Peace (Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, 1993), 161.
41. Frost, interview with author, March 2, 2018.
42. Oldaker, interview with author, July 9, 2015.
43. “St. Germain Defends Finances,” New York Times, September 12, 1985.
44. Brooks Jackson and John E. Yang, “House Ethics Committee Suddenly Gets Tough to Quell Criticism of Leniency with Violators,” Wall Street Journal, December 2, 1987.
45. Bill Minutaglio, “Power Failure,” Dallas Morning News, June 16, 1989.
46. “House Panel to Investigate Jim Wright,” Hartford Courant, June 11, 1988.
47. Face the Nation, CBS, June 12, 1988, transcript, box 672, File: Wright’s Response to Our Complaint, NGP.
48. This Week with David Brinkley, ABC, June 12, 1988, transcript, box 672, File: Wright’s Response to Our Complaint, NGP.
49. Karen Hosler, “Reagan Joins Chorus Calling for Independent Wright Review,” Baltimore Sun, June 16, 1988.
50. “Speakergate Contd.,” Boston Herald, July 7, 1988; “Let the Inquiry Begin,” Albuquerque Tribune, June 14, 1988.
51. “The Speaker on the Spot,” Time, June 20, 1988, 31.
52. “Albatross,” New Republic, June 20, 1988, 5–7.
53. Peter Osterlund, “House Ethics: The Wright Stuff,” Christian Science Monitor, May 31, 1988.
54. “Current Ethics Investigation of Jim Wright,” C-SPAN video archives, June 9, 1988.
55. Eloise Salholz, “Wright’s Alleged Wrongs,” with Mark Miller, Eleanor Clift, and Timothy Noah, Newsweek, June 20, 1988, 14–15.
56. Robert Merry, “A New GOP Congressman Tries to Resolve His Dilemma over the President’s Tax Bill,” Wall Street Journal, August 19, 1982; “A Nice Day’s Work,” Baltimore Sun, June 8, 1984.
; 57. Brown, interview with author, August 4, 2016.
58. Arthur Foulkes, “Back Home, Myers Was the Face of D.C.,” Indiana Tribune Star, January 28, 2015.
59. Martin Nolan, “O’Neill Lends Celebrity Status to Congressional Candidates,” Boston Globe, October 21, 1978.
60. A. A. Mitchelson, “Atkins’ Pros and Cons,” Boston Globe, December 12, 1987; Eileen McNamara, “Strange Twists in Congressional Allegiances,” Boston Globe, April 14, 1985; “Democrats Say Atkins on GOP Hit List,” Boston Globe, March 19, 1985; David Espo, “Liberal Atkins Learns to Say No,” Associated Press, May 1, 1985; Nancy J. Schwerzler, “Wright Votes Turn 2 Democrats into Lonesome Pair,” Baltimore Sun, May 30, 1989; Harry Stoffer, “Eyes Focus on Panel of Wright ‘Jurors,’” Pittsburgh Post Gazette, December 18, 1988.
61. Amy Roberts, “Richard Phelan’s Uncompromising Positions,” American Lawyer, January–February 1988, 19.
62. Michael Oreskes, “Aggressive and Exhaustive Lawyer,” New York Times, May 12, 1989.
63. Flaherty to Gingrich, August 1, 1988, box 673, File: Newt Letter Ethics, NGP.
64. Elaine Povich, “Democratic Activist to Probe Wright,” Chicago Tribune, July 27, 1988.
65. Weyrich to Gingrich, November 27, 1988, box 672, File: Wright, NGP.
66. Newt Gingrich, “A Proposed September–October Agenda of the House Republican Party,” August 1988, box 434, File: Republican Info, NGP.
67. “House Republican Leaders Assail the Broken Branch of Government,” press release, May 1988, box 18, File: Special Order, “Broken Branch of Government,” RMP.
68. Robert Michel, “Special Order,” May 24, 1988, Richard Cheney, “Special Order,” and Trent Lott, “Special Order,” May 24, 1988, all in box 676, File: Ethics Articles, NGP; Frances E. Lee, Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016), 108.
69. Newt Gingrich, “The House Republican Obligation to Focus on Ethics and Election Reform,” September 6, 1988, box 434, File: Republican Info, NGP.
70. Gingrich to Colleague, September 2, 1988, box 664, File: Dear Colleague, NGP.
71. Newt Gingrich, “Conservative Movement and the 1988 Campaign: The Proposed October–November Perspective,” August 31, 1988, box 434, File: Republican Info, NGP.