Quayle Calls Adelman Criticism of Tower Disservice to Administration

Vice President Dan Quayle, disappointed that fellow conservatives have been among the most vigorous in raising questions about John Tower’s fitness to serve as defense secretary, this weekend tracked down Kenneth L. Adelman, the latest accuser, to suggest to him that his public statements were a disservice to the new Administration.

With Tower’s nomination entering a crucial week, a number of senior Administration officials and leading Republicans strongly defended the beleaguered nominee against suggestions that his drinking habits and relations with women might disqualify him for the post.

Adelman, director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency when Tower served as a U.S. arms negotiator in Geneva in 1985-86, said in a column in the Washington Times last Wednesday that Tower’s “lack of discretion proved troublesome then.” While Tower’s conduct did not affect his on-the-job performance, Adelman wrote, it did “raise questions about his overall judgment and probity.”

According to Quayle’s press secretary, David Beckwith, the vice president tried to reach Adelman, a longtime friend and colleague, after the column appeared and tracked him down Saturday at a conference in California.

Asked to characterize the conversation, Beckwith said: “There were elements of the woodshed” in it.