From the American Spectator: The GOP: Rabbits or tigers?

Jeffrey Lord's piece today on the Establishment Republicans' weak-kneed abandoning of Sen. Mike Lee's proposal to defund Obamacare, includes some insightful historical commentary on President Reagan's (sadly failed) attempt to buck up his own party's congressional leadership during the 1984 battle with Democrats over the Clean Water Bill.

Though the post-as-a-whole is rather long (classic Lord), nonetheless I recommend it to readers of the RSS Ronald Reagan both for its overall message, and for its pleasant reminder of what principled, conservative leadership looks like.

Reagan: The Great Coalition Builder

John Heubusch has a good reminder at the Daily Caller of just how Ronald Reagan got his economic program through a Democratic House, and so inaugurated a turbo-charged peacetime economy.  

Remarks at a Rally Supporting the Proposed Constitutional Amendment for a Balanced Federal Budget

July 19, 1982...

On the 30th Anniversary of Reagan's Westminster Address

John Heubusch, Executive Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, has written an excellent piece on Reagan's 1982 Westminster Address in which he proclaimed that Marxism-Leninism would be left on the "ash heap of history." 

Tale of 1984 Irish assassination attempt on Reagan is told

I ran across an interesting story by Kerry O'Shea of the Irish Central about President Reagan's visit to his ancestral home of Ballyporeen in 1984.  Apparently a man attempted to shake Reagan's hand while concealing a piece of broken glass in his hand.  The attempt was, of course, thwarted.

Disappointingly, both O'Shea's piece and a post he cites by Barry Duggan and Ralph Riegel fail to elaborate on the reason for the assassination attempt beyond the phrase, "The man...wanted to confront Mr Reagan over US foreign policy controversies."

Talk softly, carry a big stick, and don't worry about credit

In July 1983, the world took notice when the officially atheistic Union of Soviet Socialist Republics allowed a small group of Pentecostals (who had been living in the basement of the U.S. Embassy since the summer of 1978) to emigrate to the West.  Over the preceding five years:

Many journalists interviewed them while American ministers and U.S. congressmen visited frequently.  The U.S. Senate even passed a bill giving them permanent residency status. But nothing made the Soviet government budge. (Reagan's secret legacy--quiet diplomacy)

Thus, the obvious question was "Why now?  What happened to change the inscrutable Soviet mind?"  One emigre--Liuba Vashchenko--when asked this question, responded, "It is difficult to understand the [Soviet] government or why they do things." (Reagan's secret legacy--quiet diplomacy)

Though no one knew how to explain this outburst of humanity from the Andropov government, that didn't stop speculation.

1. Some [State Department] officials linked the announcement to the East-West conference in Madrid. (Hundreds welcome 16 Russian Pentecostals) 
2. There was speculation that unnamed Embassy officials had simply bartered with their Russian counterparts and--luckily enough--were not double-crossed this time. (Reagan's secret legacy--quiet diplomacy)
3.  Rev. Phillip Potter of the World Council of Churches maintained that, "We (i.e., the WCC) played a not insignificant role in the recent case of the Pentecostals." (Church rights: Restrictions controversial) 
4. Others credited the efforts of an Alabama housewife named Jane Drake and her Society of Americans for Vashchenko Emigration (SAVE), noting she had "traveled across the country and to Russia to rally support..." (Housewife joyous about release)
5. Some writers suggested overtures by congressman Dan Levin (D) of Michigan played a pivotal role. (Housewife joyous about release)
6. Finally, William Beecher of the Boston Globe noted, ""It was only after President Reagan personally intervened…that [the Pentecostals] were allowed to leave.” (Andropov may be very clever chessplayer)

But no one could say for sure which, if any, of these speculations were right.  Over time, additional information has been released demonstrating that Beecher's instincts were more spot on than anyone realized.

In his excellent book, God and Ronald Reagan: A spiritual life, Paul Kengor relates the following story from Reagan Secretary of State, George Shultz:

During [a] dinner [with the President], Shultz commented on the usefulness of his private meetings with Ambassador Dobrynin, which had been opposed by some in the administration...He told the president, Dobrynin would be dropping by his office again...[and asked if Reagan] would like to surprise the ambassador by joining in.  "The president said, 'great,'" remembered Shultz.  "He was itching to engage [the Soviets]."  Shultz figured the meeting would take ten minutes.  It went on for over an hour...In the meeting, Reagan "came down very hard on human rights," particularly the Pentecostals' rights.  He told the ambassador that some positive act by the Soviet leadership might make it easier to resume overall U.S.-USSR negotiations, and suggested that the Pentecostals might serve as that token.  If the Soviet leadership were to take action to resolve the impasse he would be delighted, and would not embarrass the USSR "by undue publicity, by claims of credit for ourselves, or by 'crowing.'"  They cut a deal, the Pentecostals were set free, and Reagan kept his word." (God and Ronald Reagan, 2004, p. 285-286)

The case of the Russian Pentecostals was a perfect illustration of the type of "quiet diplomacy" Reagan espoused in a letter to John Koehler:

“I just don’t happen to think that it’s wise to always stand up and put quotation marks in front of the world what your foreign policy is,” Reagan wrote a friend in 1981. “I am a believer in quiet diplomacy and so far we’ve had several quite triumphant experiences by using that method. The problem is, you can’t talk about it afterward or then you can’t do it again.” (Reagan: A Life in Letters, 2004, p. 375)

So you wanna be like Reagan, eh President Obama?

pic from http://sharprightturn.files.wordpress.com

On December 29, 1980, People magazine published an interview with President elect Ronald Reagan.  While the entire article is interesting, one question in particular caught my eye:

What examples in cost-cutting do you and Mrs. Reagan think you could incorporate into your own lives that would be symbolic to other Americans caught by inflation?

Wouldn't it be refreshing if someone deigned to interrupt King Barack in between rounds of golf and Hollywood fantasy parties to ask a similar question?

Ronald Reagan on Paying the Dane-geld

I discovered this little gem of a video from The Reagan Files.  Enjoy!

Reagan in Retrospect: March 16, 1981

What does Harry Reid have in common with Ronaldus Magnus?  “Nothing!” you shout?  Not so quick, dear reader, as it turns out they share a profound love of cowboy poetry—the one for funding it, and the other for actually reading it.  Here’s an excerpt from Reagan’s presidential diary, dated 16 March 1981. 

Paul Laxalt came by and played Santa Claus with gifts he’d received for me, including the most beautiful western belt buckle I’ve ever seen.  He had a letter from an Irishman in [Nevada] who complained because he didn’t think I knew the [Robert William] Service poem, The Shooting of Dan McGrew. We put in a call to Nevada and after I convinced him I really was who I said I was I recited the poem to him.  He’s a Democrat who I think may now turn Republican.

This is just one more example of a quality in Reagan that has been lacking in far too many Republican presidential hopefuls since then—an authentic connection to the common American.  Reagan not only claimed to like the poetry of the blue-collar man, he actually did!  He could recite it from memory.  There’s nothing more terrible than a patrician finagling for votes, except a patrician finagling for votes while trying to masquerade as a plebeian. (think John Kerry’s walking into the Village Grocery Store in Buchanan, OH and asking, “Can I get me a hunting license here?”)  

Here’s hoping that the GOP puts up a candidate in 2012 who can pump his/her own gas, correctly load and fire a shotgun, make a grilled cheese sandwich without help, and memorize something other than their own political talking points.

In case you’re now curious, here is…The Shooting of Dan McGrew:

For Further Reading:

Pandering is Bad, But Bad Pandering is Atrocious (INDC Journal)



Reagan’s Confrontation with PATCO as a Model for Governors in 2011 (Part 1): A Brief Historical Overview

In light of the showdown with public sector unions across the country, it would be wise for state and local executives to review President Reagan’s handling of the famous 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controllers’ Organization (PATCO) strike.  Since its founding in 1968, PATCO had engaged in—and gained concessions from—six separate “job actions.” As Reagan took office, PATCO began threatening to up the ante by calling for a general strike.  Three different factors made such actions illegal and immoral.  First, statutory law prohibited federal workers from striking.  Second, prior to being hired every controller had taken an oath not to strike.  Third, a 1970 permanent federal court order prohibited PATCO from striking.

Nevertheless, flushed from triumphs over Nixon, Ford, and Carter, and misreading Reagan’s sympathy for weakness of will, PATCO elected to reject the administration’s offer of an 11% pay raise, extra pay for night work, a 37.5 hour work week, modernized equipment, severance packages for medically-discharged controllers with five or more years of service, and a formal consultative role in FAA decision-making.  A strike was narrowly-averted in June 1981 when a tentative agreement was reached providing each controller a $4K raise (above what Congress had decreed for all federal employees) time-and-a-half for 36 hours a week; 14 weeks severance in case of medical disqualification, a 15% night differential and other minor concessions.

PATCO’s response to this second olive branch was to up their demands—specifically, they wanted a $10K raise for all controllers—at a time when many union jobs paid only $10-$15K a year), a 32 hour week, and a much more generous retirement package. When Reagan refused, a strike was called for August 3, 1981.

Once PATCO threw down the gauntlet, Reagan fought to win—permanently and decisively.  In an August 3^rd briefing he declared: “Dammit, the law is the law and the law says they cannot strike…Suspension, hell.  If the law says they can’t strike and if they then go on strike, then they’ve quit.  Period.”

Later that day, Reagan addressed the nation putting PATCO on notice that, “…those who fail to report for duty this morning…are in violation of the law, and if they do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated.”

In the end, PATCO simply picked the wrong man to play chicken with. 

In part two, we will consider the lessons of PATCO and how they might be profitably applied today.