Reagan Revolution by Troy Gil;

Author:Troy, Gil; [Troy, Gil;]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780195317107
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2009-01-15T07:00:00+00:00

7. President Reagan hosts Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill at the White House in January 1986, with Vice President George H. W. Bush looking on.

Even so, it took months for O’Neill to find his footing. During the Reagan administration’s heady first few months, many Americans fearing another presidential failure demanded that the Speaker give Reagan a chance. In Congress, O’Neill faced a steamroller of a united Republican caucus bolstered by conservative southern “Boll Weevil” Democrats.

O’Neill tried maintaining Democrats’ morale during the first round of Reagan victories. By September 1981, O’Neill was ready. Reporters happily publicized his portrait of Reagan the reverse Robin Hood, stealing from the poor to serve the rich. Stories of people unfairly thrown off food stamps, of kids suffering in schools, of growing lineups to get dwindling services made great television. O’Neill also exploited Reagan’s success. When Congress members returned from the summer recess, retelling constituents’ tales of economic woe, O’Neill could blame the new president, not Jimmy Carter, for “The Reagan Recession.”

Reagan and his aides particularly resented the charges of unfairness and economic elitism. The New Deal-Great Society status quo still prevailed. Torn between his desire for sympathetic headlines and his disdain for big government, Reagan boasted that “We are providing 95 million meals a day—that is 1/7th of all the meals in this country; providing medical care for 47 million Americans and subsidized housing for more than 10 million.” Reagan’s Legislative Strategy Group debated: “how do we sustain: bipartisan spirit (or quest therefore); positive association with interest in fairness; [and] movement toward a practical program of deficit reduction/economic recovery?”

The recession ruined Reagan’s second year in office and derailed the Reagan juggernaut. Paul Volcker, the Federal Reserve chairman, stopped the galloping inflation of the Carter years. Reagan did not interfere as Volcker set interest rates and agreed to raise taxes when pressed. This strategy worked economically in the long run but was politically disastrous. Unemployment hit a post-Great Depression high of 10.8 percent, affecting 12 million workers; Reagan’s legislative program languished as attacks on Reaganism and Reagan intensified. From the sidelines, former president Richard Nixon advised that Reagan needed an aggressive partisan to counterattack, just as he had done for Dwight Eisenhower, and Spiro Agnew had done for him. Reagan’s sophomore slump was so bad that pundits began eulogizing his presidency, bemoaning yet another presidential failure.

Reagan’s honey-smooth refusal to take responsibility for the recession frustrated Democrats and pundits. As one press conference ended, ABC’s pugnacious reporter Sam Donaldson barked: “Mr. President, in talking about the continuing recession tonight, you have blamed the mistakes of the past and you’ve blamed the Congress. Does any of the blame belong to you?” Reagan quickly replied, “Yes, because for many years I was a Democrat.” Such exchanges fed the caricature of Reagan as heartless and clueless. But these witty improvisations also reflected the light touch and political agility that made him popular and elevated his post-presidential reputation.

In 1982 Reagan acted responsibly by agreeing to “revenue enhancements”—what taxpayers and IRS agents called tax hikes.

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