The other defense secretary nominee who promised to stop drinking

John Tower's unsuccessful bid to run the Pentagon has some echoes in the Pete Hegseth story

John Tower testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1989. (Photo: By John Duricka)

On March 9, 1989, former Sen. John Tower told reporters, “it is time for the bitterness, anger and rancor to fade.” His words sounded surprisingly conciliatory coming six days after the U.S. Senate made Tower, as he put it, “the first Cabinet nominee in the …