Gen. Ralston Drops Joint Chiefs Bid After Adultery Flap

Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston on Monday withdrew his candidacy to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff but said that he would stay on as its vice chairman, despite the uproar over his adulterous affair, which occurred 13 years ago. The former fighter pilot, who had been the favored candidate for the military’s top job, spent much of the day talking with lawmakers to learn the extent of his support. After discovering that he probably faces a long-odds confirmation fight, Ralston announced that he was ending his candidacy “with regret.”

“My regret is that the public discussion surrounding my potential nomination blurred the facts in a number of cases and gave the appearance of a double standard regarding military justice,” he said in a written statement.

His move was aimed at calming a national controversy over whether he and other senior officers have received more lenient treatment for infractions of the military code governing sexual misconduct than lower-ranking service members, including recently discharged Air Force 1st Lt. Kelly Flinn.

But there were signs that the furor may not die completely while Ralston serves out the remaining eight months of his term as vice chairman.

‘If Gen. Ralston stays on, then what happens to Kelly Flinn?” asked Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), referring to the B-52 bomber pilot who left the service with a general discharge rather than face a court-martial on charges stemming from an adulterous affair.

Said Lowey: “The policies have to be implemented consistently.”

Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), who had strongly urged that Ralston give up the fight for the Joint Chiefs post, praised him and said she expects him to “serve his country well” in the remaining months of his vice chairmanship.

Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen will take at least several weeks to settle on another choice for the job, officials said. And even that could be a scramble, considering the unusually thorough investigation that defense department officials are now expected to conduct.

Candidates will now be “thoroughly questioned. They will be asked if there’s any relevant information that could interfere with their ability to carry out their jobs,” a senior official said. Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, who will retire as joint chiefs chairman on Sept. 30, has ruled out returning for a second two-year term.

Ralston, 53, who was in central Asia when news of his affair surfaced last week, was urged by friends in the military and elsewhere to attempt to calm the uproar and continue his candidacy. But in conversations with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which must vote on his confirmation, he found that he faced a daunting task, Pentagon aides said.

“He didn’t have strong ties up here--and certainly not the kind of ties that would cause people to take on what was almost certainly a losing fight,” one congressional aide said.

A typical response came from an aide to Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), a conservative who some thought might be a pivotal vote on the Armed Services Committee. The aide declined to disclose Coats’ judgment on Ralston but said that the senator takes adultery ‘very, very seriously.”

Rep. Tillie K. Fowler (R-Fla.), a member of a congressional delegation visiting military bases to study sexual harassment, fraternization and related issues, said that Ralston “didn’t have a chance to be confirmed. It was going to be a media event every day.”

Officials insisted that Cohen did not pressure Ralston to end his candidacy. In publicly disclosing Ralston’s affair last week, Cohen pointedly said the revelation would not disqualify him for the Joint Chiefs job.

Despite a continuing drumbeat of criticism, Cohen’s view remained that Ralston’s affair did not affect “good order and discipline” in the ranks and therefore was not a violation of the military prohibition on adultery, the officials said.

Cohen said Monday that Ralston was “fully qualified to serve as chairman.” But, he said, Ralston decided to withdraw as a candidate because a “prolonged fight for a Senate confirmation would be harmful to his family and would be a distraction from other serious national security concerns.”

A top Pentagon official said that Ralston, who returned to Washington on Sunday, had wanted an “eyeball-to-eyeball” meeting with lawmakers to explain the circumstances of his affair, which occurred while he was separated from his wife and was attending the National War College here in 1984. He wanted to assure them that he did not resume the affair after he reconciled with his wife, as she later claimed in divorce papers, or that there were any “other shoes to drop,” the official said.

Ralston believed that he ultimately could prevail in a confirmation fight. But it would be “draining, difficult and distracting from the other jobs he has to do,” said the official.

The White House, which has sought to keep the controversy at arm’s length, offered its warmest praise of Ralston once it was clear that he had bowed out.

After Cohen visited the White House at midday to meet with President Clinton and other national security officials, a Pentagon official told reporters that Ralston’s predicament “was not a topic of conversation at that lunch.”

Later, Clinton, who himself faces allegations of sexual misconduct, issued a statement praising Ralston and welcoming Cohen’s decision to set up panels to review military standards and procedures involving personal conduct.

“It is essential that our system is reasonable, consistent and fair for those who serve our country and that it is perceived to be so by the American people,” Clinton said.

Shalikashvili, who had recommended Ralston as his replacement, said that the withdrawal “makes this a very sad day for me.” He added that Ralston had distinguished himself as a “warrior, leader and consummate professional.”

Talking to reporters, Shalikashvili pointedly excluded himself from consideration, although his renomination could help stifle the controversy.

The Defense Department had hoped to get the nomination completed early this month to ensure that Shalikashvili’s successor would be confirmed before his retirement. Shalikashvili, 60, has said in the past that he was looking forward to retirement when his current term ends.

Other top candidates are said to include Army Gen. George A. Joulwan, the retiring North Atlantic Treaty Organization commander in Europe; Gen. Wesley A. Clark, his successor; Marine Corps Commandant Charles Krulak; Marine Gen. John Sheehan, commander of U.S. Atlantic Command, and Adm. Joseph Lopez, who is in charge of NATO’s operations in southern Europe.