Henry Grover - On The Direction of GOP

On The Direction of GOP

Grover and Republican Senator John G. Tower disagreed over the focus of the GOP. Grover wanted the party to move in a populist direction to attract those who had previously favored Alabama Governor George C. Wallace, for president and combine those otherwise traditionally Democratic voters with the Republican base, consisting mostly of fiscal conservatives. Tower favored a different approach to expand the party by attracting middle-of-the-roaders who stressed "good government" and those with economically conservative views. Tower and Grover nearly came to fisticuffs in the 1972 campaign when Ernest Angelo, the new mayor of Midland, tried to get the two to work out their differences. The bitterness persisted. While Grover lost his race to Briscoe, Tower was a relatively easy winner for a third term in the Senate over Democrat Harold "Barefoot" Sanders, a former federal judge. The Grover approach appeared to have been vindicated with the 1976 primary victory of former California Governor Ronald W. Reagan in the first Texas GOP presidential primary in which voters chose the delegates. Indeed, Grover supported Reagan in 1976 over Tower's choice, the late U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Tower's approach was, however, consistent with the later successes in Texas of the two George Bushes. In his 1991 autobiography, Tower referred to Grover in only one paragraph.