POLITICS UNDER THE RADAR: From LBJ to George W. Bush

By Monte Akers and ROBERT D. SPELLINGS

The "Sharpstown Scandal" of 1971-72 nearly destroyed the Democratic party in Texas. It ended the careers of more than 70 Democratic office holders. Most tragically, Lt. Governor Ben Barnes was defeated. He had been the largest vote-getter in Texas history prior to 1972, and LBJ had said about him "Ben Barnes will be the next president from Texas." Barnes was free of any wrongdoing, but his career was destroyed by a 13-word lie told by the man to whom the federal government granted immunity from prosecution for his role in Sharpstown. We now know what wasn't known then--there was no scandal, and it was all engineered as a "dirty trick" by Richard Nixon and John Mitchell. Their goal was to protect John Tower, the only Republican Senator in the South from being defeated by Barnes, who they thought would run for the Senate in 1972. Instead, Barnes ran for governor, but the 13-word lie had done its damage. He was not elected, and a victorious Nixon and Mitchell went on to plan and execute Watergate. Robert D. Spellings was Barnes' Chief of Staff. He was at the epicenter of what happened in connection with Sharpstown, and he knows the real facts. Additionally, Spellings led a fascinating life. Associated with five U.S. presidents, he became a powerful lobbyist, first in Texas and then in Washington, D. C. He married the woman who became George W. Bush's Secretary of Education and became an insider in the Bush administration. Along the way he rubbed shoulders with dozens of well-known politicians, movie stars, and even the Queen of England. He has wanted to tell his story for nearly 50 years, primarily to "right the wrong" done to Barnes and others. In this book, he does so.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0D6YG3FVD
• ISBN13: 9798328255103
• Release Date: June 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"