The Left Starts to Rethink Reagan
WILL: I think that's right. What makes Ronald Reagan hard to fit quite into the American or even conservative tradition is that he understood that you cannot govern this country if you're a pessimist. Pessimism has always been a strand of conservatism—pessimism about human nature, pessimism about government. Reagan simply understood when people said that Eisenhower's smile was his philosophy. In a way, that was Reagan's philosophy. He said that when the American people are happy, good things happen: they invest, they save, they have children. So he thought that getting America back to cheerfulness was an intensely practical program.
THOMAS: Sean, let me ask you this. We often talk about presidential eras. Now that we talk about the Reagan era, is it over?
WILENTZ: I do think there was a Reagan era and I think it's on its way out. Part of that is due to the success of Reagan's presidency and the success of the conservative movement, whether you like it or not. There are two things that, if you stood looking to the future in 1980, would have been amazing. One is, we don't have top marginal income tax [rates] at 70 percent. We are never, in our lifetimes, going to see that again. Secondly, the Soviet Union does not exist. If nothing else, those two changes have fundamentally reordered world politics and the instruments for reform and of government in America.
WILL: I think that's right. I think it's often the case that a really effective leader undercuts his or her reputation by their various successes of leadership. I'm thinking of Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher came into power when there was a question: Who governed England? Was it governed from Westminster or was it governed from Transport House, the headquarters of the labor movement in Britain? She broke the power of the unions over the Labour Party. Her vanquishing of these old problems was so successful that people wonder now, what was the big deal? What did she do? The same thing is true with Ronald Reagan. To listen to our politics, you have to listen with a third ear to hear what's not said. No one is talking today about 70 percent marginal tax rates. There's no real rival to the American model of how to run a modern industrial society.
WILENTZ: That's right.
THOMAS: Was Reaganism very dependent on his personality or his style of leadership or is there a coherent ideology that can exist without his personal qualities?
WILENTZ: I think there is an ideology but Reaganism ultimately was Reaganism. It wasn't conservatism or Republicanism, it was Reaganism. You couldn't find a successor, either on the right or in the old party establishment. When you did, members of the coalition began to eye each other very warily, which is what the situation is today in the Republican Party.
I don't think, though, that it was simply a matter of his personality. Ronald Reagan was much more serious than people have given him credit for. He understood that governing required compromise, unlike the current administration. He would be happy to go out and give a speech that made him sound like he was the greatest doctrinaire since Huey Long. But, in fact, he'd go to the back room and get done what he could get done.
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Member Comments
Posted By: cornsyrup123 @ 05/15/2008 2:53:34 PM
Comment: To quote bushwacked: "wilentz is wrong, reagan was not a great president"
As a democrat, I always feel awkward supporting Ronald Reagan, but here goes: Keeping in mind that through good governance (hopefully Democratic come November), though not overnight, we have the power to slowly but surely change all of the problems you mentioned about America. The bottom line is if it wasn't for Reagan, one of two worse things would have happened.
1) Worst case scenario: mutually assured destruction, brought on by perpetuated tension with the former Soviet Union. That's an obvious one.
2) More likely: ONGOING tension with the Soviet Union, in ADDITION to all of the domestic problems you mentioned, not to mention the unfortunate battle with Islamic fundamentalism.
So, although he may have initiated some of the most tumultuous problems we as a nation have ever faced, as far as I'm concerned, his successful negotiations with the Soviets overpowered them all in the sense that we might not even be here to SEE those problems were it not for him.
Posted By: Arturo55 @ 05/13/2008 11:21:54 PM
Comment: The fog of memory displayed by Sean Wilentz when he mentions Ronald Regan's "grave errors" is truly myopic. He mentions two, Iran Contra, and S&L while artfully skipping over the true passionate angst of democrats at the time. These stories dominated the news for many months and the hint of skulduggery regarding the timing of the Iranian hostage release with the election of 1980 has yet to be fully explored. Wilentz needs to be reminded that this was the source of the term "October Surprise" An artful example of the modern Republican party's dastardly penchant for stealing elections, neatly surrounded on either side by the cloddish Watergate burglars and the impudence of the Supreme Court in 2000.
Lost in the storm and fury of the time, Reagans disembowlment of his predecessors energy initiatives, is arguably the single most "grave" error, which has reached forward twenty eight years and is just now begining to bear full fruit, poisoned fruit. Carter was far ahead of his time on this issue and had the "smiling" Reagan relished the removal of the solar waterheaters from the White house roof signalling the end of the nacient alternative energy movement, dead practically at birth. Thoughtfullness mocked and jeered by the rigid rightwing. Thousands of small contractors thrown out of work overnight. On recollection a bit reminiscient of "Fulton's Folly". And now of course its all the rage. Even the bumbling dry hole oil boy president, certain to be the laughing stock of the future, provided the tears ever dry, has timidly jumped on board, lets hope that boat is not the Titanic. The real tragedy was the loss of thirty years of research and development backed by the full faith of a formerly forward thinking nation. We likely would have been enjoying sweet fruit of that effort, reaping the boundless quantity of energy that nature provides for free. Therein lies the key to the story. Sold, for Hollywood smiles, greedy bottom lines, and a pack of Limbaugh's lies, our future.
Posted By: bushwhacked @ 05/13/2008 2:00:07 PM
Comment: wilentz is wrong, reagan was not a great president. the fact is he started us down the road that gw and clinton amplified. when you put regulators in that are basically corporate hacks you get the enormous mess that is america today. here are problems that cannot be solved: our housing crisis, are enormous national debt, our extremely poor educational system, our idiotic health care system, our inability to make anything except weapons systems, the growing prison industrial complex, the disappearance of the middle class, jobs going to foreign countries, and on and on. now we, like others empires before us, are right on the verge of collapsing. rome went all over the ancient world colonizing everyone they could until the financial stress did them in. napoleon and hitler didn't learn from history. neither did britain. it's comical how mcdope thinks he will continue the tin man's empire building . a little clue for you john, russia and china both have about 1/2 trillion in us $ surplus. we have about 900 billion deficit. reagan, bush and mcwar democrats always whine about those tax and spend democrats. their bought and paid for media never mention that the republicans out tax the demos 5-1. they just call it defense and the war on terror. nothing could be farther from the truth, we are much weaker strategically because of our grave economic weakness. the europeans laugh at how stupid our policies are, i mean cmon they work half as hard as we do, have health care for everyone, have 6 weeks vacation a year, free higher deucation up to a phd. teamsters have always been for republicans as long as i can remember. what did it get you- $4 a gallon diesel fuel. so if you once had a30-40 dollar an hour job and now work at wallmart, cheer up, you deserve it. i have made boocoo bucks and am set for life, but if your middle class and voted for reagan, bush or clinton, your class is gonna disappear. be sure and put your dunce cap back on on your way out.