GEORGE BUSH, CAMPAIGN MANAGER….Here’s an idea. It’s a longshot, but let’s see if we can harness the awesome power of the blogosphere for the benefit of mankind.
According to the now complete copy of George Bush’s ARF service record for 1972, we know that he supposedly spent the weekend of October 28-29 on drills. On the face of it, this seems unlikely since he was acting as assistant campaign manager for Winton “Red” Blount at the time and this particular weekend was nine days before the election. That’s usually a busy time, no? It also fails to match up with the training schedule for the Alabama unit that Bush was supposedly attached to at the time.
So here’s the deal: do I have any readers in Alabama who are willing to head to the library and spend a few hours reading through microfilms of local papers to see if they can find any mention of Bush that weekend? The newspaper dates to look for are October 29 and 30, 1972, and the most likely cities are Montgomery and (I assume) Birmingham.
The question is this: are there any news reports indicating that Bush was actually working on Blount’s campaign on those days rather than attending drills? If anybody finds anything, let me know.
Extra points if anyone finds a photograph.
POSTSCRIPT: By the way, note the following anecdote about the Blount campaign from the Montgomery Advertiser last week:
Bush, then 26, served as assistant campaign manager in a race that featured a doctored audiotape that made it sound like [John] Sparkman supported busing children to integrate schools.
Charming, isn’t it? Kinda reminds you of South Carolina in 2000…..
UPDATE: A reader suggests via email that Montgomery residents can also visit the Alabama Department of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave., which has hardbound copies of the Montgomery Advertiser as well as the following on microfiche:
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Montgomery Advertiser, 1972.10.01-1972.10.31, Order # S1987.2747
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Alabama Journal, 1972.10.02-1972.10.31, Order # S1991.2484
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Birmingham Mirror, 1971.01.09-1974.02.23, Reference Call Number micro #326, Order # M1992.2356
