cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/47904525
Good story on Packwood from the biography of Governor Tom McCall, "Fire at Eden's Gate".
Packwood was a first term Senator and McCall was term limited out of the Governor seat and eyeing the Senate:
"Most of all, Packwood promised an ugly, mean battle, the kind that McCall dreaded. And Packwood made sure McCall knew how nasty he would get. He started by publicly boasting that his style of politics would “make the shootout at the OK Corral look like a duck pond pic-nic.” Then he began spreading word that he intended to drag details of McCall’s private life into public view.
McCall’s thin skin had toughened somewhat over the years, but he could not stomach what Packwood threatened. Packwood announced to associates that he intended to make an issue of McCall’s drinking habits. But what worried McCall most of all were Packwood’s threats to drag McCall’s son Sam and the issue of his drug addiction into the race.
Schmidt first heard about Packwood’s threats through mutual friends—people Packwood had told probably knowing that they would rush back and tell McCall and Schmidt. At first glance, a threat to bring up Sam’s drug addiction seemed prone to backfire against Packwood. After all, the McCalls had been public about Sam’s problems. But Schmidt saw the significance. Packwood, or someone working on Packwood’s behalf, was preparing to leak to reporters the stories about McCall’s staff’s efforts to hush up Sam’s crimes. More damaging to McCall, however, would be the story of the governor accepting thousands of dollars raised in 1967 by Glenn Jackson and others to pay Sam’s medical bills.
Schmidt heard this threat from a businessman who claimed to have talked to Packwood and, as it turned out, was one of those who had helped pay Sam’s medical bills. The donations for the medical bills had remained secret for seven years. Now, the possibility of its exposure could create severe problems for McCall. After all, the money was ultimately to McCall’s personal financial benefit. If he were dealing with the Oregon press, Schmidt knew he could control the story, portraying McCall as a compassionate father trying to help his son. Outside of Oregon and in the Watergate era, however, the national press was casting about for any hint of scandal. Schmidt knew that the media’s love affair with McCall would sour at the first whiff of fund-raising efforts for Sam. He feared the headlines: “McCall Covers up for Law-Breaking Son,” or “McCall Accepts Secret Payments.” The press that had made McCall a star might as easily rejoice in tearing him down."