SENATOR PACKWOOD RESIGNS : Decision Sets Off Tears, Questions : Congress: Colleagues and staffers, saddened by Oregonian’s departure, now must adjust to new political landscape.

He began the day in a feisty mood, appearing on one early-morning television show after another--fiercely resisting calls for his resignation while demanding with righteous indignation a chance to publicly face his accusers.

“It was like he was still in denial,” said one high-ranking Republican senator.

But as another muggy day took hold in Washington, Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) retreated to his Capitol Hill office for a period of “reflection” and consultation with friends outside the Senate, recalled one of the senator’s senior staff members.

When he emerged, Packwood was a different man. Finally he realized that his career was beyond salvation.

Later, in his tearful resignation speech, Packwood spoke of “friendships beyond count” that he had made over the course of 27 years in the Senate.

*

Yet in the end, there apparently was no one left in his beloved Senate to whom he could turn. He had alienated them all with his strategy for dealing with charges of sexual and official misconduct and could not count on their votes to keep him from being expelled.

He delivered the news to Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) in the early afternoon.

Several Senate sources said Dole was saddened but not surprised--and was privately relieved, as were most members of the Senate, who clearly did not relish the prospect of another nationally televised hearing on sexual misconduct, which would be reminiscent of the 1991 Clarence Thomas-Anita F. Hill debacle before Thomas was confirmed as a Supreme Court justice.

The Packwood meeting with Dole set in motion a series of events that now will be played out in the days and weeks ahead.

Foremost among these is the question of when Packwood will actually quit the Senate. Neither he nor Dole gave a clear indication.

The question of a successor to Packwood as chairman of the Finance Committee also is unresolved, although there was increasing speculation among GOP senators and their staffs that the job is likely to go to Sen. William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.), who is next in line among Republican committee members.

But regardless of who succeeds Packwood, Dole, who is also a committee member, is widely expected to exert a strong influence on the powerful panel as it proceeds on an array of GOP initiatives, including a tax cut, welfare reform and an overhaul of Medicare.

Packwood was “obviously a very key player” on all those issues, conceded Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the GOP whip. But he quickly added that such matters can be disposed of “without any one of us.”

Noting Packwood’s expertise in such areas, Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.) added that “he can still play a role” as a consultant.

After he met with Dole in the early afternoon, Packwood began informing a few other GOP senators, including John McCain of Arizona and Alan K. Simpson of Wyoming, according to Elaine Franklin, Packwood’s top aide.

For the public, the first tangible sign of Packwood’s intentions came about 4 p.m. EDT as senators began showing up in the chamber for a vote on an amendment to a welfare bill.

Scores of staff members--from both Packwood’s personal staff as well as from the Finance Committee--streamed into the visitors’ gallery, some of them clutching handkerchiefs and tissues.

Shortly before, Packwood had summoned them to his office to break the news. After the meeting, which lasted about 15 minutes, many employees emerged with tears in their eyes.

Soon Packwood showed up on the floor and a steady stream of senators, both Democrats and Republicans, approached him and put an arm around the beleaguered Oregonian.

And shortly after the vote ended, Packwood was on the Senate floor.

“I leave this institution not with malice but with love,” he said.

“Good luck. Godspeed.”