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Another opponent of the sale who held firm despite White House pressure was Alabama Democrat Howell Heflin. He said that he found the White House lobbying gentle by comparison with that of interested corporations. A delegation of 26 businessmen with contracts in Saudi Arabia flew up from Alabama to tell him that a whole lot of jobs, including maybe his own, might depend on how he voted. Democrat David Pry or of Arkansas got a pro-AWACS call from Mobil Oil President William Tavoulareas. Seattle-based Boeing, which builds the AWACS, put pressure on Washington's Gorton. A week before the vote, Republican Senators opposed to the sale got a tongue-lashing from a group of the G.O.P.'s heavy corporate campaign contributors known as the Inner Circle. Said AWACS Opponent Durenberger of the atmosphere at the meeting: "It's not Reagan vs. Begin, it's oil vs. the Jews."
Much credit for salvaging the sale goes to the two Bakers, who coordinated the lobbying strategy: Howard, the majority leader, and James, the presidential adviser. They decided on the tactics and talking points that would be most effective with each Senator. "The person who got this passed was Howard Baker," insisted Sen ator Boren. But according to a top White House official, "Until Jim Baker and his Legislative Strategy Group took the thing over, we didn't have a very good idea of whether or how we could win."
In the end, the victory truly belonged to Ronald Reagan, the Great Persuader, who awaited each Senator at the end of the soli tary ride in the White House family eleva tor. Said Grassley, one of the converts: "My gosh. Reagan was so folksy and down home and relaxed in the armchair in his private study. He was willing to answer all my questions. A defeat would have been a blow to his leadership. "