The Nation - News from Aug. 7, 1985

Republican and Democratic governors ended a bitter 24-hour fight over a fund-raising appeal by President Reagan, allowing the National Governors Conference in Boise, Ida., to end on a conciliatory note. The highly partisan appeal by Reagan, mailed in 120,000 letters to GOP financial contributors, characterized Democratic governors as free-spending liberals. Democratic governors called the six-page letter “a pack of lies” and threatened to walk out of the conference. The GOP ended the fight when Gov. Dick Thornburgh of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Republican Governors Conference, apologized for “unfair” characterizations and said they would not be repeated.