John Tower Campaign Ads (1961)

Duration: 3:36

Year Published: 1961

Format: 16mm

Sound: sound

Description: Following the 1960 presidential election, a special election was held to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. The initial round of voting drew a field of 71 contenders, with Republican John G. Tower and interim appointee and Democrat William Blakely proceeding to a runoff election. This series of campaign advertisements in support of Tower ran before the runoff election. In them, the senatorial candidate thanks voters for their participation in the first election (during which Tower received over 30 percent of the vote) and promises that he will be a “full-time, conservative” representative. Tower eventually won the election, making him the first Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction.