Well, I'm no pro and I don't have insurance to cover any bad stuff that happens related to my opinion so, take this for what it's worth:

If it's steel, it's likely that straightening it would be just fine. I've had a couple straightened and ridden them for many thousands of miles afterward (still riding one). However, that assumes it's the first and only time it's been bent and that it hasn't been bent past some point where steel becomes weakened and then straightened in a back yard to the current state. You have no idea what the condition could be - other than currently it's not straight. Since the T700 (IMHO) is a decent bike that you got a good deal on, spend another $50-350 or so to get a new fork for it and count yourself lucky you got such a nice bike for a good price.

You can find 1" cross/touring fork for a 700c bike on ebay for fairly good prices ($50 on up) and that probably isn't the worst thing you could do from a geometry and functionality stand point. If the wheels are 27 inch, then finding a fork might be a bit harder.

Best option, IMHO, would be to find a local builder to make you a fork that would look nice - but that'll be more $$ so...up to you. With this, you could specify the handling somewhat and adjust for 27" wheels if necessary - whether you are sensitive enough to notice or not is another question.

The main point is that fork, stem and bar issues aren't things to be messed with. When they fail, bad things happen so, this is serious.