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(Dolan)
April 5, 1983
11:00 a.m.
JIM BAKER: 5TH CIRCUIT JUDICIAL CONFERENCE
It's a great pleasure for me to be here today amidst such a
distinguished group. You've heard a good many thoughtful
presentations here this weekend -- so I promise not to detain you
too long. In fact, I've learned a good many things from
President Reagan over these last few years but one of the most
important has to do with the proper length of speeches. He likes
to recall a story about a friend of his who had just become a
preacher out on the prairies. As he stepped up to the pulpit to
deliver his first sermon, he noticed that there was only one
person in the whole congregation.
Flustered, the preacher went down and asked the man's advice
about whether to go on. "Well," said the man, "I'm just a COW
poke, don't know much about these things, but if I loaded up my
wagon with hay and then found only one COW in the field, I'd feed
her."
"Good advice," the preacher said. Up to the pulpit he
went -- and he laid out a fire and brimstone sermon that went on
and on and on -- three and a half hours. After he was done, the
preacher went back down to the fellow in the pew and said, "What
did you think?"
The fellow paused and finally answered, "Well, I'm just a
COW poke, don't know much about these things
...
but if I went
out with a wagon full of hay and found only one COW in the field,
I sure as hell wouldn't feed her the whole load."
Page 2
Having lived along the Potomac for several years, I've
become accustomed to feeding out loads of just about any size,
but I'll try to keep to the assigned limits -- and then I would
welcome your questions.
But I must say that for a former simple Houston lawyer it is
somewhat intimidating to stand here in front of an audience that
contains so many important jurists.
I couldn't help but think this morning as I thought of
addressing all of you -- and of Judge Wester's address later
today -- of some of the humor we lawyers used to share about
those of you who sat in judgment on our cases -- the sort of
humor that tended to exaggerate the gulf sometimes separating the
members of the bar and the members of the bench. For example, I
remember the story of the lawyer who died and went to heaven
(and, believe it or not, some lawyers probably do make it that
far) and saw over in the distance a fellow strutting around
looking very impressive.
"Look over there," the lawyer said to St. Peter, "that
fellow looks awfully important, he must be a federal judge." "
"No" said St. Peter, "that's God --- he just thinks he's a
federal judge."
But perhaps because of your imposing credentials in the
field of law and government you too have noticed one of the most
disturbing trends of recent years, one that has led at home to
declining faith in our political institutions and abroad to
tremendous uncertainty among our allies. That trend, of course,
is the way successive American administrations have foundered and
Page 3
lost either their sense of direction or their ability to lead
long before they left office.
In a recent article in the New York Times, Professor Henry
F. Graff of Columbia University commented on the succession of
crippled administrations that have weakened America's credibility
at home and abroad. "Not since Dwight Eisenhower," he wrote,
"has a chief executive served two full terms or left Washington
with cheers ringing in his ears. "
The professor described how Lyndon Johnson, "the ablest
Congressional politician of this century, was somehow
metamorphosized into a riverboat gambler unworthy of his high
place,' how Gerald Ford, "the best athlete ever to sit in the
Oval Office, became a caricaturist's delight as an oafish
stumblebum," and how Jimmy Carter, having been elected as "the
outsider brought in to straighten out the mess, became a failure
because he was not an insider."
The attacks now being made on President Reagan, Professor
Graff maintains, are only the latest chapter in "a denigration of
the Presidency that has gone on steadily for two decades. They
are not only directed against presidential policies but also
against the President's power to exercise his mandate."
This time, however, I feel we have reason to hope for a
better outcome. It is terribly important that our Presidents,
Democratic and Republican, begin succeeding. You cannot have a
strong country and a weak chief executive. The two are mutually
exclusive. I believe leadership in a democracy succeeds when it
is in tune with the truest, finest qualities and aspirations of
Page 4
its people. More than his recent predecessors, I believe that
this President is at one with the temperament and ideals of those
he serves.
You know Judge Cardozzo once said that a judge "is not a
knight errant roaming at will in pursuit of his own ideal of
beauty or goodness. He is to draw his inspiration from
consecrated principles."
I think a president, to be truly effective, has to have the
same source of inspiration. When Ronald Reagan took over the
presidency, he came into office with a very clear mandate from
the people. There was little question about where he stood and
the principles he believed in. He warned that there would be no
quick fixes or easy solutions to our economic crisis, but he did
say that if we remained true to the principles that had guided
this nation from its outset we would return to prosperity at home
and improve the chances for peace and stability abroad.
Look at the economic crisis the president inherited. I
think perhaps all of you remember double digit inflation 2 years
in a row, interest rates at 21.5 percent, unemployment and
business failures starting to skyrocket and the growth in federal
spending and taxation entirely unabated.
When Ronald Reagan walked into office, he said that through
spending restraint and tax cuts he would get this economy going
again. No, he didn't say he would do it overnight -- from the
very beginning he made the point that conditions built over
40 years can't be solved in 18 months or 2 years.
Page 5
No sooner did the President get his economic program through
Congress and sign it than the gloom and doom brigaders went to
work. I think though that the last couple of months shows their
march is over.
After 2 years of back-to-back double-digit inflation, we've
brought inflation down to 3.9 percent in 1982 -- and 1.1 percent
for the last 3 months of that year. In 1982, real wages
increased for the first time in 3 years. Interest rates have
dropped dramatically with the prime rate shrinking by nearly
50 percent. And in December, the index of leading indicators was
a full 6.3 percent above last March's low point and has risen in
8 of the last 9 months. Last month housing starts were up
95 percent and building permits 88 percent over last year at this
time. New home sales are up 75 percent since April and
inventories of unsold homes are at the lowest levels in more than
a decade. Auto production this quarter is scheduled to increase
by 22 percent and General Motors alone is putting 21,400 workers
back on the job. Last month's sharp decline in the unemployment
rate was the most heartening sigh of all.
Under Ronald Reagan's leadership we have turned the corner
on the economy. And even while we've done this, we've managed to
accomplish the long delayed reform of the Social Security
system -- a system that had become such a political football that
many said it could never be straightened out or stabilized.
Let's remember also that only 3 years ago, this country
seemed to have an insuperable energy crisis. President Carter
spent a good deal of his time trying to overcome it, but U.S.
Page 6
dependence on overseas oil continued at high levels. Ronald
Reagan promised to change that, and again he kept his promise.
Today, the U.S. imports over 40 percent less crude oil than it
did 3 years ago.
Let us remember too that only 3 years ago we were reeling
from a series of humiliations and defeats in the foreign arena.
From 1873 to 1980, seven different nations around the world -- as
far away as Vietnam and as close as Nicaragua -- were raising
Marxist flags for the first time. The seizure of our diplomats
and our embassy in Tehran only added insult to injury. Well,
Ronald Reagan promised us a more assertive, more muscular foreign
policy, and he has kept that promise, too. Not one square inch
of foreign land has been seized since Mr. Reagan took office; not
one of our foreign service officers has been kidnapped; our
adversaries know that America is once again ready and willing to
protect its interests; and during all of this time, we have kept
the peace.
Now, we are the first to concede that these changes have not
been without cost. Overseas, it is apparent that when we insist
upon being firm with the Soviets, that causes public uneasiness
among some of our allies. Here at home, it is also apparent that
the process of unwinding inflation has inevitably contributed to
a slackening of the economy -- though that is certainly not the
chief reason for the recession. But when people look back
sometime down the road, I think they will conclude that this
period -- however painful in some respects -- represents a
long-overdue transition back to a more soundly based economy and
Page 7
a more secure America. And with regard to our allies abroad,
there is a growing conciousness that this is a firm and strong
president who can be both flexible and consistent.
Yet even while the President has been dealing with the twin
crisises left us by the last administration: the crisis of our
economy and the crisis of our national security, we have been
systematically addressing another major problem in American life.
That problem, of course, is crime in America. Next to
economic concerns, it remains the subject most on the minds of
American citizens according to opinion polls. There is every
reason for this to be so. As the President has said, crime has
become an American epidemic. It takes the lives of
25,000 Americans a year, it touches nearly a third of American
homes and results in at least 8.8 billion a year in financial
losses.
Now no one knows better than those of you here today that
much of the crime problem has been fueled by the incredible
growth we have seen in the last decade in the illegal drug trade.
Last year, after the singular success of the South Florida Task
Force headed by Vice President Bush, the President announced the
formation of 12 such other task forces -- and this means that we
are adding 200 new prosecutors and 1000 new investigators to
fight the drug menace -- the first such increases in nearly a
decade. We're also getting underway with a special cabinet level
coordinating group on border interdiction of the drug trade.
But the President has made it clear that going after the
drug traders and smugglers is only the first step in solving a
Page 8
social problem that has too long been tolerated here in America.
I mean of course, the existence of regional and national crime
cartels -- the drug trade is only one symptom of this larger
problem of organized crime.
That's why the president will be announcing shortly a new
presidential commission headed by a distinguished jurist that
will closely examine the nature and structure of organized crime
in America. He has also established a cabinet level coordinating
committee for addressing organized crime problems, special
training for local police forces, and will be asking the Attorney
General for a yearly report on the progress in the war on
organized crime.
In doing so, the President has hit upon a central insight.
Let me quote his words:
"Oftentimes we draw distinctions between violent
crime and sophisticated crime or between crimes like
drug-pushing and crimes like bribery. But the truth
is, crime doesn't come in categories -- it it part of a
pattern. If one sector prospers in the community of
crime, so ultimately do the others. The street
criminal, the drug pusher, the mobster, the corrupt
policeman or public official --- they form their won
criminal subculture of lawlessness. They need each
other, they protect each other.
I think it's this ability to see the crime problem whole --
to acknowledge the relationship between street crime, drug
Page 9
pushing, organized crime and public corruption -- that really
does set our Administration apart.
A great deal of this has to do with the President's personal
insight into the crime problem. He sees the failure of our legal
system to cope with crime as a reflection of the same liberal
political philosophy that led to many economic problems stemming
from so much unnecessary and counterproductive intrusions of
Government.
When he announced these new initiatives the President, I
think, went to the heart of the matter when he said:
"Much of our crime problem was provoked by a
social philosophy that saw man as primarily a creature
of his material environment. The same philosophy that
held that by changing that man's material
environment -- through massive Federal spending
schemes -- we could usher in an era of prosperity and
virtue also viewed criminals as the unfortunate
products of poor socio-economic conditions or an
underprivileged upbringing. Society, in short, not the
individual, was to blame for criminal wrongdoing. We
were to blame.
I think this explains some of the President's thinking in
pushing for his new omnibus crime bill. You'll be hearing more
about our proposed reforms in this area. But I think many of you
will agree that we desperately need to straighten out the abuses
in the bail and parole systems, to tighten up on our sentencing
guidelines, to make important changes in the area of the
Page 10
exclusionary rule, capital punishment, the insanity defense and
so on.
But if there's one point I could make about our crime
program it is this: It is not a hastily thrown together group of
initiatives -- it flows directly from the President's own
carefully established political principles. While he thinks the
expansion and intrusions of Government need to be cut back in the
economic area but at the same time the President feels Government
has ignored its truely essential functions.
As Government has expanded into areas where it had no
business and actually served a counterproductive function -- the
drain on the economy, for example, from more and more spending
and higher and higher taxes -- it neglected its crucial functions
like maintaining a workable and just legal system and protecting
our national security through a strong defense establishment.
Many of us have seen a similar problem in the private sector
when a new management team takes over a failing business or
corporation. Inevitably, they find money is being wasted on
frivolous or hastily launched projects while the real productive
divisions have been ignored and neglected.
You know, those of us at the White House are very confident
about this crime program and all the other programs I've
mentioned -- and we think Democrats and Republicans are going to
accept Ronald Reagan's invitation to work together for the good
of the country and get many of these proposals passed by the
Congress.
Page 11
But as effective as I think these programs are to be, I also
think it is vital not to overlook another -- perhaps unique --
contribution Ronald Reagan has made during the first 2 years of
his Administration.
It goes back really to the style of leadership -- the
personal qualities -- the President's security of mind and
maturity of judgement. He's made us believe again in our future,
he's done this by offering us not just a series of legislative
proposals but a vision of that future.
The President has made it very clear he does not just want
this Nation to put its financial house in order or rebuild its
defenses -- he has, even from the earliest days, begun planning
for what he hopes will be a very different kind of America in the
years ahead.
He talked about it in one of his speeches and I would like
to read you a few of his words.
"We have to offer America and the world a larger
vision. We must remove Government's smothering hand
from where it does harm; we must seek to revitalize the
proper functions of Government. But we do these things
to set loose again the energy and the ingenuity of the
American people. We do these things to reinvigorate
those social and economic institutions which serve as a
buffer and bridge between the individual and the
State -- and which remain the real source of our
progress as a people."
Page 12
The President said that his Administration was making
long-term plans -- plans that would hold out to America the
prospect of "an orderly, compassionate, pluralistic society -- an
archipelago of prospering communities and divergent
institutions -- a place where a free and energetic people can
work out their own destiny under God."
That's why the President views our economic program as only
a first step toward reordering the relationship between citizen
and Government. A first step toward making Government responsive
again to the people. A first step toward ending the illusion
that the power of the State rather than the power of a free
people is the principal vehicle of social change.
We've achieved long-term tax reductions and reform, we've
worked to eliminate waste and fraud and to restore integrity of
all our Federal departments, we're looking to a legal system that
protects the innocent and punishes the career criminal, to a
renewed federalism and a revitalized sector of private,
charitable and religious institutions. And, most of all, for an
America whose defenses are strong and whose resolute will never
be questioned by those who denigrate the value of human freedom.
This is Ronald Reagan's vision -- and I believe it is also
America's vision. I think in the first 2 years of this
Administration we have come a long way in making that vision a
reality.
I hope and believe that history will remember this
Administration as one of vision, one that had new ideas and was
not afraid to try them. And I hope too it will remember out time
Page 13
in Government and say it marked a return of national confidence
and an era of national renewal. You'll forgive me if I end on a
personal note. I've gotten to know Ronald Reagan in the past few
years. I've seen up close how accurate the popular perception of
the President is: Ronald Reagan really is a good and inspiring
man. It's been an honor to work for him. I know he'll be
remembered as one of our greatest Presidents.
JAB
DRAFT PRINCETON REMARKS
2/24/83
Marring. Indian but in accepting this
award was rhed
Thank you very much. ("Be Brief" story) to Kimp my smarts
betriefin
It is a real pleasure to be back at Princeton -- and
particularly to be out of Washington, D.C. for a few hours.
I must say, however, it was refreshing during Super Bowl
time to see a city/marked by SO many political divisions) SO united
in its support for the Redskins
Why we haven't seen that much
teamwork in Washington since Congress voted itself a pay raise
But it is a great honor to be here. The two
happen Dole
institutions that shaped my adult life more than any other are
Princeton and the Marine Corps. That's quite a range-from eating
clubs to C-rations. But I think both Princeton and the Marines
developed different parts of my character and my person, and I
deeply value my association with each. And I am especially
happy to be back on this beautiful campus today, because it holds
so many fond memories for me. I don't think there is a week that
goes by that I wouldn't trade Pennsylvania Avenue for Prospect
Street.
I am proud and deeply honored to have been chosen to
receive the Woodrow Wilson award, and in accepting it I first
want to say a word about this supert great University your One important
thing this institutions has given each of us is a healthy
respect for the importance of personal communication.
-2-
The development of this respect is fostered at
Princeton by the diversity of its student body, and by a faculty
whose code word is excellence. It is enhanced by an educational
environment which guarantees one's freedom to talk, to argue,
/
to differ, even to agree.
An ability to communicate, to deal with people, to
"
disagree agreeably, is important to success in most lines of
work. It is essential to success in politics and government.
Thirty-one years ago, as a member of the Class of
'52, I left this campus full of idealism, ready to take on
life's challenges. Of particular inspiration to me then
and
now, was this charge from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes:
"Behind any scheme to make the world over lies the question, -
what kind of world do you want?"
Today, I think it more important than ever that all
Americans think about Justice Holmes' question -- which direction
should America take.
In the last dozen years, we have been through some
complicated times, a period that has tested our dedication to
ideals and principles. Let's face it: headlined events of
recent times have disillusioned a lot of Americans, while
obscuring the great strengths of our country and the strengths
of many of our leaders. As a result, cynicism and apathy have
flourished.
-3-
As a matter of fact, in taking note of Woodrow Wilson's
phrase which is SO closely associated with this award, "Princeton
in the nation's service", I would be inclined to suggest without
in any way being self-serving, that it may be more difficult to
work in the Nation's service today than it was in Woodrow Wilson's
day -- and this is especially true for Presidents.
One of the most disturbing trends of recent years one
that has been a source of tremendous uncertainty among our allies
is the way successive American administrations have foundered and
lost either their sense of direction or their ability to lead
long before they left office. It is terribly important that our
Presidents -- Democratic and Republican -- begin succeeding. You
cannot have a strong country and a weak chief executive. The two
are mutually exclusive
In a recent article in the New York Times, Professor
Henry F. Graff of Columbia University commented on the succession
of crippled administrations that have weakened America's
credibility at home and abroad. "Not since Dwight Eisenhower,"
he wrote, "has a chief executive served two full terms or left
Washington with cheers ringing in his ears. "
The professor described how Lyndon Johnson, "the ablest
Congressional politician of this century, was somehow metamor-
phosized into a riverboat gambler unworthy of his high place, ;
how Gerald Ford, "the best athlete ever to sit in the Oval
Office, became a caricaturist's delight as an oafish "stumblebum," ;
-4-
and how Jimmy Carter, having been elected as "the outsider
brought in to straighten out the mess, became a failure because
he was not an insider."
The attacks now being made on President Reagan,
Professor Graff maintains, are only the latest chapter in "a
denigration of the Presidency that has gone one steadily for
two decades. They are not only directed against presidential
policies but also against the President's power to exercise
his mandate."
This time, however, I feel we have reason to hope for
a better outcome. I believe leadership in a democracy succeeds
when it is in tune with the truest, finest qualities and
mostef
aspirations of its people. More than his recent predecessors,
I believe that this President is at one with the temperament.
and ideals of those he serves: Public opinion polls continue
to show that, notwithstanding the economic and other, difficulties
plaguing the nation which have lowered the President's job approval
rating the American people like this President personally and
want him to succeed.
In closing, let me add a personal note. Yes, there
are those who say America has lost her way, that we have passed
our peak of greatness. I disagree. To the contrary, I think
that service to two Presidents has re-instilled in me a fundamental
conviction that we Americans have a very special system. Yes,
there are some problems. There are some excesses that tend to
::
-5-
to turn people off. But we have a system that is SO unique and
so vital that it's worth fighting for mgd clearly pressuring and fee
In my view, we're seeing a renewal of the process of
pride in America. Our political system has thrived and flourished
over 200 years. And it's not a coincidence that free government
there
and a free press have marched side by side for two centuries.
I'm happy to be in the front line where the give-and-take
between press and government remains one of the vital treasures
of the American way.
Today, as you leave here, I urge you to consider which
would
direction you want America to take. I À urge you to think of
Justice Holmes' challenge. I am deeply honored by this award,
and for the privilege of being a graduate of the "best old place
of all".
Thank you such.
# # # #
NOTES ON THE STATE
OF THE PRESIDENCY
(for Princeton seminar)
I. INTRODUCTION
I am delighted to start this discussion with a few general
observations on the state of the Presidency, as I see it. But I
hope that nothing I say may lead my fellow-panelist, Dick Nathan,
to wish to do anything other than strongly support the general
conclusion he reached in his recently-revised book on The
Administrative Presidency. Drawing admirably on practical experience,
analytic insight, and academic objectivity, Professor Nathan observes:
"Ronald Reagan among recent Presidents appears to have the
best handle on the need for an administrative strategy. He
has so far avoided the pitfalls of Nixon's heavy-handedness,
Johnson's grand design, and Carter's atomic-submarine approach
to management."
Perhaps I should best leave the observations on "Presidential
management" at that -- and turn to a few other observations on the
state of the Presidency.
II. OBSERVATIONS ABOUT PRIOR COMPLAINTS RE PRESIDENCY:
I think it may be useful, as a matter of perspective, to pause
and consider a few of the general complaints about the Presidency,
which were -- until recently -- commonplace.
-2-
(1) One of these we might put under the heading "the
imperial presidency. " This achieved its quasi-official status as
a national problem when, in the second Nixon term, Arthur Schlesinger
published a book bearing The Imperial Presidency as its title.
President Ford, I think, helped restore a more common touch to the
Presidency. And Jimmy Carter's inaugural walk began a more active
process of de-mythologizing the Presidency. But by the end of
President Carter's term, many were lamenting what seemed to be an
over-correction. The Presidency seemed to have been stripped of
too much of its strength, its dignity, and its symbolic power.
The balance was tipped too far the other way.
Now, I think it's fair to suggest that a proper balance has
been restored. And this, most would agree, is a healthy restoration --
both as a matter of symbolism and a matter of substance.
I would not suggest that this restoration of balance is the
result of effective management as much as it is the product of a
particular personality. But whatever the explanation, and however
it may be rooted for the moment in personality, it is, I think, a
health institutional development nonetheless.
-3-
(2) A second complaint heard not long ago among serious
analysts was that somehow the challenges of leadership had grown
beyond Presidents and the Presidency; that the separation of
powers -- and the growth, in particular, of Congressional power --
resulted in a hopeless stalemate (gridlock some called it) on key
issues; and that some sort of Constitutional reform was required.
The type of reform suggested tended to approximate a more
parliamentary system. Here I am thinking of such analyses as the
widely-cited 1980 Foreign Affairs article by former White House
counsel Lloyd Cutler. His lament was rooted in President Carter's
inability to gain ratification of SALT II; but his solutions went
toward basic institutional change.
This trend of thought is found lingering in such journalistic
treatments as Robert Shogan's relatively recent None of the Above,
which attempts to explain "Why Presidents Fail and What Can be
Done About It." But by and large, the talk of a need for basic
institutional change has quieted,
A President has now demonstrated -- indeed, demonstrated
dramatically -- that he can enact much of his legislative program.
This fact is the more remarkable when one considers that the
President's party does not control the House of Representatives,
and that the ideological leanings of the President and the Speaker
have perhaps never in American history been more widely divergent.
-4-
Nor, I should note, is this restored ability to enact
strategic legislation merely a phenomenon associated with the
President's honeymoon period. We are -- even now -- on the verge
of enacting a bipartisan compromise that addresses one of the most
contentious and politically divisive problems a President could
face: the need for social security reform -- exactly the type of
issue that, so recently, was assumed to produce only stalemate.
In noting this change, this renewed capacity to enact key
legislation, I'll simply note also that I think it is
attributable, in part, to improved White House management --
particularly, the workings of the White House Legislative Strategy
Group. But whether this managerial innovation is of lasting value
or not, it has helped demonstrate a larger point that surely is of
value: we do not need Constitutional reform of our system of
checks and balances in order to govern!
(3) A third complaint one has heard less of lately would go
under the heading "overpromising". Disenchantment with "over-
promising" arose in the post-Kennedy era of "inflated expectations".
As it mounted and persisted, it tended to contribute to the further
erosion of confidence not merely in particular individuals, but
also in the credibility of the institution of the Presidency.
-5-
Again, Jimmy Carter was a kind of corrective. While he may
have systematically avoided unequivocal promises throughout his
electoral campaign, his seemingly frequent policy reversals
as President tended themselves to erode confidence. And the
Carter White House's famous compilation became a mockery:
Promises, Promises.
President Reagan has, I think, helped restore the good name
of promises. I recognize, of course, that he has not yet
delivered on all his commitments. And I suspect I know better
than most that some feel he has moderated his positions too much.
But clearly, he is following through on the basics. (Before taking
a policy position we are very careful to examine exactly where
the President was on the issue in the campaign. His credibility
in our view depends on this.)
I am not trying to make a partisan point here. Whether
people agree with the President's policies or not, there is cause
for some appreciation. For the prior syndrome of overpromises
and flip-flops threatened not only to erode confidence in the
Presidency; ultimately, it also threatened confidence in something
more basic: the Presidential election process. If I am right on
this point, then we should all be grateful that confidence in the
meaningfulness of a candidate's word is being restored.
-6-
III. OBSERVATION RE A COMPLAINT WE'VE ENGENDERED
Having offered these general observations on three prior
prevailing complaints, let me turn to an observation about a
complaint we are said to have engendered. I shall stay away from
particular policy complaints and focus on what some have con-
sidered an over-arching criticism: it has played in the press
as "disarray".
With all my bias and prejudice admitted, I have to say that I
think there is less disarray in fact than is portrayed by the
media. But the perception of disarray is real.
How do we explain this perception? It is, of course, partly
the result of the traditional excesses of the media -- excesses
which, on balance, are a reasonable price to pay for the benefits
of a free, competitive press. But there is also something to it --
if by "disarray" is meant tension or competition among alternative
judgments about policies or tactics.
There is, in fact, often just such tension or competition
within and among the Cabinet and members of the White House staff.
On balance, I would say this too is healthy. It increases the
range of options and sharpens the critical analysis made available
to the President. Periodic suggestions of "disarray" are a small
price to pay for this benefit of competitive tension -- provided,
of course, the competitive tension is constructively managed.
-7-
Ronald Reagan wanted a strong Cabinet and a strong White
House staff. I think he got both. Ronald Reagan wanted
ideologically-rooted policy analysts, tested in their loyalty
to his principles; and he wanted practically-oriented implementors
tested by their experience. Again, he got both.
This is a built-in formula for tension and competition. But,
properly managed, it is also a formula for success in advancing
an ideology while adapting, as necessary, to the pratical dictates
of a less-than-wholly-accommodating reality. Naturally enough, I
believe our system is constructively managed.
The specific means by which tension and conflict are managed
-- the systems of conflict resolution and decision-making -- would
be tedious to describe. For those with an academic interest in
the subject, I might refer to our system in terms developed in the
literature by Alexander George. It is a system of "multiple
advocacy" with multiple "honest brokers. "
What is absolutely essential to keep such a system working
smoothly is the close and continuous coordination among the honest
brokers, and between the honest brokers and the President. This
coordination, under the President's overall direction, I'm sure we
have -- to a far greater extent that is publicly understood.
-8-
I might say in passing, however, that although this internal
coordination is not well-understood in the general public
discussion, it is beginning to be noticed in the academic literature.
I have in mind, for example, a thoughtful analysis presented by
Penner and Heclo at the Woodrow Wilson School's recent conference
on "The Reagan Presidency at Mid-Term". After commenting favorably
on the Reagan Administration's capacity for strategic management,
Penner and Heclo note that "strategic management was made possible
by the development of a small, rather close-knit group of managers
in the White House.
They go on to suggest that "future political scientists, and
possibly psychologists specializing in small group dynamics, will
undoubtedly devote considerable attention to the internal groupings
of the Reagan White House -- the Deaver Luncheon Group, the
Legislative Strategy Group and the like." While psychological
analysis of small group dynamics in the White House is a somewhat
disconcerting prospect, this does lead me to one last introductory
observation.
-9-
IV CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
Since Eisenhower there has been a strong tendency toward
"denigration" of the modern Presidency. The media tend to build
up bigger than life -- then systematically tear down and destroy.
This is very disturbing. It is important to the nation that our
presidents succeed -- whether democrat or republican. You cannot
have a strong nation and a weak chief executive. The two are
mutually exclusive.
I would conclude these introductory remarks by observing that
the President recently had dinner with a small group of distinguished
historians of the American Presidency. One of them noted that the
more a responsible scholar learns about a President, the better
acquainted the historian becomes with the behind-the-scenes detail,
the more appreciative he or she tends to become. The others all
agreed. Obviously, Lyndon Johnson's current nemesis, Robert Caro,
was not among them! But I bet Professor Greenstein would agree.
With that in mind, might I suggest, Fred, that you could usefully
turn your revisionist analytical skills from Dwight Eisenhower to
Ronald Reagan.
At the moment, the principal historians of the Reagan
Presidency are journalists. And without, I hope, unduly taking
on the burden of advocacy in these introductory remarks, let me
conclude by observation that I am quite confident that future
historians (immersed in the detail of the Reagan Presidency)
will paint a far more flattering portrait than now appears on
the nightly news.
-10-
I say this, in part, because I am confident that the
President's policies and management will bring significant
substantive success in the years ahead. But I say it also as
one who is already immersed in what will be the historians
detail -- who is confident that there is a substantially better
story than is generally being told.
(Maseng)
April 8, 1983
6:30 p.m.
JAMES BAKER: JAWORSKI LECTURE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1983
It's good to be back home in Texas, and especially in such
distinguished company. I hope you'll understand if I'm a little
more circumspect today than I was in that turkey blind interview
a while back.
I have to admit that was 1.3 first time I ever went turkey
hunting and bagged myself.
You know you always hear how dumb turkeys are. Well, all I
can say is they did better that day than I did.
It was quite a morning. The turkeys were flapping their
wings, the reporter was flapping his ears, and I was flapping my
mouth.
I should've concentrated more on the gobbling and less on
the gabbling.
In retrospect, I violated the most basic rule of hunting --
keep your mouth shut.
It is a great honor for me to be here today, paying tribute
to a Texan who was known for speaking and acting his mind, Leon
Jaworski. He, however, spoke out with such judiciousness and
wisdom that he won the respect of men and women across the
political spectrum and helped heal a troubled Nation. His belief
that no one could be above the law lest our very system of
government collapse thrust him into the center of such pivotal
controversies as civil rights and Watergate. In those instances,
as in every other in his career, Leon Jaworski acted with
Page 2
absolute integrity and compassion, and left an entire Nation
sorely in his debt.
I know he loved and depended on his wife and family. He
believed in God and practiced his religion. And because he
brought his values with him wherever he went, he did much to
restore the people's trust in their institutions. He also helped
us believe in ourselves again -- a requirement for the prosperity
of any nation.
As I've lived through recent administrations, it has often
struck me that our country lives on a psychological roller
coaster. Sometimes, we reach incredible highs -- usually when we
elect new Presidents and a dawn of new hope bursts upon us. Or
who can forget those inspiring moments of July 4th, 1976 -- the
bicentennial celebration -- or the day the hostages came home
from Iran? But then, too, we've had some breathtaking downers --
the gloom of Vietnam and of Watergate. And for me personally,
that terrible March 30th when Ronald Reagan was shot in downtown
Washington. Nations, just like individuals, have ups and downs
in their lives.
Wading through the press clipping of the past couple
years -- watching Bill Moyers and company wring their hands over
the decline and fall of America -- I have to wonder whether we
talk ourselves into some of our psychological downers.
I would be the first to agree that we live in times of
momentous challenge and, yes, even pain and peril. Our
difficulties are deep and complex, but we need to keep things in
Page 3
perspective -- and it is the perspective of the Reagan White
House that I would like to trace out here today.
Critics who insist that the Reagan Presidency will fail --
that it will be unable to solve any of the major problems now
facing the country -- always seem to forget just how much has
been accomplished already through domestic and foreign policy.
Candidate Reagan said he would put our economy on a sound
footing again, and President Reagan is keeping his promise.
Reaganomics has taken a bad rap, but what it really means is a
return to good, old fashioned common sense. We have cut in half
the rate of growth in government spending and are now tackling
the problem of deficits. We have reformed the tax system both to
make it more fair and to boost recovery through incentives to
save, invest, and work harder. We cut the rate of growth in
Federal regulations by a third and have supported policies of
slow, steady growth in our money supply. Taken together, these
policies have got America squarely on the road to recovery.
It's worth remembering that in 1980, when Ronald Reagan was
elected, inflation was ravaging our economy. It was economic
enemy number one. Many then were as pessimistic about the future
with rising inflation as they are now about rising deficits.
With inflation running over 12 percent a year, people said it
would take years and years to get the rate down to single digits.
In the 12 month period ending this November, inflation was down
to 4½ percent -- the best record in a decade. Consumer prices
have not risen at all this year, and, for the last 6 months,
Page 4
inflation has risen at an annual rate of only 0.4 percent -- the
lowest 6 month average in nearly 22 years.
Our inflation forecast for 1983 is only 4.5 percent, less
than half what it was when Ronald Reagan took office. To
translate those statistics into human terms, you must remember
that inflation had been terrorizing American families. This
President has taken away that fear. As a result of his programs,
a family carning $15,000 last year kept nearly $1,100 more in
real terms than they would have under the economic conditions of
the previous administration.
Also, in 1980, the prime interest rate was at a peak of
21 1/2 percent. Now it's 10.5 percent and at at least one bank
10 percent -- still too high but cut in half and trending
downward. As a result, the housing industry has begun to boom,
again. For millions of Americans, the dream of owning their own
homes is becoming possible. Housing starts are at the highest
level since September, 1979. In February they were 93 percent
above the same month last year. Permits to build were 88 percent
better and sales of existing homes in January broke all records
ever kept.
Another important result of the drop in interest rates has
been the relief to small business, that backbone of our economy.
Our small business entrepreneurs are once again able to borrow to
finance inventories, increasing new orders for durable goods and
starting our factories humming again.
Industrial production was up for the third consecutive month
in February, and America's workers understand how good that news
Page 5
is. Our automobile and steel industries are expanding. Real
wages are up and real disposable income -- the bottom line for
every family -- is rising again after stagnating for years.
We are projecting a 4.7 percent growth rate this year -- a
healthy, steady climb out of recession toward restored
prosperity. That means about 3 million more jobs, unemployment
below 10 percent and better times for all our people.
L. t us remember, too, that only 3 years ago we were reeling
from a series of humiliations and defeats in the foreign arena.
From 1973 to 1980, seven different nations around the world -- as
far away as Vietnam and as close as Nicaragua -- were raising
marxist flags for the first time. The seizure of our diplomats
and our embassy in Tehran only added insult to injury. Well,
Ronald Reagan promised us a more assertive, more muscular foreign
policy, and he has kept that promise, too. Not one square inch
of foreign land has been seized since Mr. Reagan took office; not
one of our foreign service officers has been kidnapped; our
adversaries know that America is once again ready and willing to
protect its interests; and during all of this time, we have kept
the peace.
Of course, Americans are still very concerned about the
serious problems we face during the next 2 years of the Reagan
presidency -- challenges in the budget, in Social Security and in
employment.
The Budget Challenge
You've no doubt read some hair-raising stories about the
deficits built into the Federal budget for the rest of this
Page 6
decade. I wish I could assure you that there was no truth to
these stories, but I can't. Looking at these deficits is like
seeing the Rockies for the first time; they are awesome.
The President has proposed a budgetary program whereby
deficits will be steadily reduced in size, moving toward a
balanced budget. His dream, one day, is that the Federal
Government will actually begin making payments on the national
debt. He is committed to braking and reversing the trend of
deficit spending in Washington, but convincing the Congress
remains our toughest battle.
The proposals in the President's budget will restore
non-inflationary growth and has four basic elements: First, a
6-month freeze on cost of living adjustments for Social Security
and other Government programs, with a 1-year freeze on civilian
and military pay and pensions. Second, an effort to control the
so-called uncontrollable entitlement programs. Third, a
$55 billion cutback in our defense program over the next
5 years -- savings carefully chosen so as not to jeopardize
America's security. And finally, a contingency tax that could be
triggered in October, 1985 if the deficit remains above
2½ percent of our gross national product.
America's best hope for economic recovery is to work along a
parallel track of spending restraint and economic expansion. In
effect, as Secretary Regan said, we must lower the water and
raise the bridge at the same time. And we are convinced that
with a $760 billion Federal budget this year -- a budget which
will still grow over $50 billion a year, still growing faster
Page 7
than the rate of inflation -- it should be possible to make
additional savings while still meeting our basic human and
defense needs. And yes, the President is also looking at a
number of options in the area of long-term tax reform. But both
he and all of his advisers are united in believing that new taxes
must be a last resort -- and only then if they are tied to
spending restraint and only if they are restricted to the "out
years" when they will not threaten our hopes for recovery.
What about defense spending? The President's critics are
still arguing that he's being rigid, that he ought to be more
flexible. They are ignoring the record. Two years ago, when we
came into office, we found a Carter budget that was inadequate
for our future security. President Reagan then proposed that we
increase defense spending by a cumulative total of $116 billion
more than the Carter 5-year plan. As of January 1, by our own
actions and by those of Congress, we had already cut that
$116 billion figure by a full $41 billion -- in other words, over
a third of our original increase had already been squeezed out of
the budget.
And in January Cap Weinberger took his knife in hand once
again and came up with the reductions in outlays I mentioned
earlier. But President Reagan will not play politics with the
security of this Nation. Some of his critics have proposed
slashing our defense program to dangerous levels, which would be
nothing short of rolling the dice with America's peace and
freedom at stake. This the President will not do.
Page 8
Let me move on to quickly address two other pressing
subjects: Social Security and jobs.
Social Security
There has been a lot of demagoguery and frightening talk
about Social Security, but one man has had the courage and
provided the leadership necessary to move us forward to a
responsible solution. In 1980, as a candidate -- and as he had
many years before -- Ronald Reagan warned that Social Security
was running out of money and ought to be reformed; the other side
laughed it off. In 1981, he proposed a package of comprehensive
reforms to the Congress; the other side turned it into a
political football. Late in 1981, he appointed a bipartisan
commission to come up with recommendations and help form
political consensus; the other side used scare talk as a major
issue of the fall campaign in 1982.
I was proud to work at the direction of the President on
this issue, although at first I was not encouraged about the
prospects for success. But the President pressed hard and won a
solution with a number of statesmen on both sides who worked
together for the good of the country. One of the greatest
achievements so far in this Presidency -- and one of those Ronald
Reagan is most proud of -- is the recently negotiated, bipartisan
compromise to save the Social Security system.
Jobs
Finally, let us consider the question of jobs and economic
growth in America. The President has said repeatedly that the
most urgent priority we face today is to create more employment.
Page 9
We are painfully aware of the long lines that form whenever a
handful of new jobs is announced in cities across the land.
In tackling this problem, we have to keep in mind the
massive changes that are taking place -- not only in the nature
of our work force but in the nature of work itself. Partly out
of economic necessity, partly because of new attitudes, women
have been streaming into the labor market in unprecedented
numbers. Then, too, we have seen an enormous influx into the
labor force in recent years of the baby boom generation. The net
result is that over a fourth of our current unemployment is made
up of people who have never held a job before of have just
entered the labor force. I say this not to belittle the
unemployment problem -- it is obviously severe, indeed tragic --
but to highlight some of the underlying structural causes.
At the same time, we must recognize that a massive
transformation is taking place in America from essentially a
smokestack economy into a internationalized post-industrial
economy. We are emerging into a new world -- one that is sharply
competitive and socially wrenching, but one that still offers
enormous opportunities for growth.
What does all this mean for the Reagan Administration?
President Reagan's first priority, of course, is to spark an
economic recovery as quickly as possible. The recent upturn in
almost all the economic indicators convince us we're on the right
track. Clearly, one key to sustained growth is to bring down
deficits; another is to support the Federal Reserve in its
desirable efforts to allow reasonable growth in the money supply.
Page 10
We also recognize that even with recovery, the problems of
structural unemployment will persist. For those with marginal
skills and for teenagers, the difficulties will be acute. The
President has proposed a package of proposals to address their
needs, including job training, aid for dislocated workers and
incentives to hire the young and inexperienced.
On another critical front -- international trade -- we have
been vigorous in holding back the tide of protectionism in this
country, and we will remain so. We have been extraordinarily
patient with our friends overseas in seeking fairer access to
their markets. But our patience has worn thin. The President
now wants more concrete actions from friends and trading partners
overseas.
But we also have to pay attention to a deeper question: How
do we encourage the transition to a U.S. economy that provides
more jobs and more growth in the industries of the future --
electronics, biotechnology and the like? The U.S. has long been
a pioneer in these fields, but we now feel the hot breath of
competition from many others overseas. It is imperative that we
provide a warm, hospitable environment for our sunrise industries
to encourage the innovation so essential to the future health of
our economy.
As you can see, the agenda for long-term economic growth is
complex and imposing -- and seems more so every year. But
despair and the gloom are attitudes of the past. Our troubles
were part of a broader, deeper transition taking place in our
society. The opportunities before us are many and great. The
Page 11
central question is whether we can successfully direct and manage
this economic revolution. We must!
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to close by mentioning that one
of the most disturbing trends of recent years -- one that has
been a source of tremendous uncertainty among our friends and
allies -- and that is the way in which successive American
administrations have foundered and lost either their sense of
direction or their ability to lead long before they left office.
It is terribly important that our Presidents, Democratic and
Republican, succeed. You cannot have a strong country and a weak
chief executive. The two are mutually exclusive!
In a recent article in the New York Times, Professor Henry
F. Graff of Columbia University commented on the succession of
crippled administrations that have weakened America's credibility
at home and abroad. "Not since Dwight Eisenhower," he wrote,
"has a chief executive served two full terms or left Washington
with cheers ringing in his ears. "
The professor described how Lyndon Johnson, "the ablest
Congressional politician of this century, was somehow
metamorphosized into a riverboat gambler unworthy of his high
place, " how Gerald Ford, "the best athlete ever to sit in the
Oval Office, became a caricaturist's delight as an oafish
stumblebum," and how Jimmy Carter, having been elected as "the
outsider brought in to straighten out the mess, became a failure
because he was not an insider."
Since Eisenhower, there has been a strong tendency toward
"denigration" of the modern Presidency. The media tend to build
Page 12
up bigger than life -- then systematically tear down and destroy.
The attacks now being made on President Reagan, Professor Graff
maintains, are only the latest chapter in "a denigration of the
Presidency that has gone on steadily for two decades. They are
not only directed against presidential policies but also against
the President's power to exercise his mandate."
This time, however, I feel we have reason to hope for a
better outcome. I believe leadership in a democrac, succeeds
when it is in tune with the truest, finest qualities and
aspirations of its people -- the historic current and flow of the
Nation's spirit.
More than his recent predecessors, I believe that this
President trusts the people and is at one with the temperament
and the ideals of those he serves. And with my prejudices
admitted, I believe that he brings to his job an ability to
articulate and lead, the likes of which we have not seen since
the days of Franklin Roosevelt.
President Reagan has, I think, helped restore the office of
President. He has been keeping the promises that got him
elected. I recognize, of course, that he has not yet delivered
on all his commitments. And I suspect I know better than most
that some feel he has moderated his positions too much. But
clearly, he is following through on the basics. I am not trying
to make a partisan point here. Whether people agree with the
President's policies or not, there is cause for some
appreciation. For the prior syndrome of overpromises and
flip-flops threatened not only to erode confidence in the
Page 13
Presidency; ultimately, it also threatened confidence in
something more basic: the election process itself. If I am
right on this point, then we should all be grateful that
confidence in the relationship between a candidate's word and a
President's performance is being restored.
Today, certainly, economic difficulties continue to plague
us. But I am confident that the groundwork has been laid and
that America is headed once again in the right direction. It is
a direction that makes me much more confident that the America of
my grandchildren will also be the land of opportunity, freedom
and strength which you and I were raised to believe in and to
love.
Thank you for having me with you today.
(Dolan)
April 5, 1983
11:00 a.m.
JIM BAKER: 5TH CIRCUIT JUDICIAL CONFERENCE
It's a great pleasure for me to be here today amidst such a
distinguished group. You've heard a good many thoughtful
presentations here this weekend -- so I promise not to detain you
too long. In fact, I've learned a good many things from
President Reagan over these last few years but one of the most
important has to do with the proper length of speeches. He likes
to recall a story about a friend of his who had just become a
preacher out on the prairies. As he stepped up to the pulpit to
deliver his first sermon, he noticed that there was only one
person in the whole congregation.
Flustered, the preacher went down and asked the man's advice
about whether to go on. "Well," said the man, "I'm just a COW
poke, don't know much about these things, but if I loaded up my
wagon with hay and then found only one COW in the field, I'd feed
her."
"Good advice," the preacher said. Up to the pulpit he
went -- and he laid out a fire and brimstone sermon that went on
and on and on -- three and a half hours. After he was done, the
preacher went back down to the fellow in the pew and said, "What
did you think?"
The fellow paused and finally answered, "Well, I'm just a
COW poke, don't know much about these things
...
but if I went
out with a wagon full of hay and found only one COW in the field,
I sure as hell wouldn't feed her the whole load."
Page 2
Having lived along the Potomac for several years, I've
become accustomed to feeding out loads of just about any size,
but I'll try to keep to the assigned limits -- and then I would
welcome your questions.
But I must say that for a former simple Houston lawyer it is
somewhat intimidating to stand here in front of an audience that
contains so many important jurists.
I couldn't help but think this morning as I thought of
addressing all of you -- and of Judge Wester's address later
today -- of some of the humor we lawyers used to share about
those of you who sat in judgment on our cases -- the sort of
humor that tended to exaggerate the gulf sometimes separating the
members of the bar and the members of the bench. For example, I
remember the story of the lawyer who died and went to heaven
(and, believe it or not, some lawyers probably do make it that
far) and saw over in the distance a fellow strutting around
looking very impressive.
"Look over there," the lawyer said to St. Peter, "that
fellow looks awfully important, he must be a federal judge." "
"No" said St. Peter, "that's God -- he just thinks he's a
federal judge."
But perhaps because of your imposing credentials in the
field of law and government you too have noticed one of the most
disturbing trends of recent years, one that has led at home to
declining faith in our political institutions and abroad to
tremendous uncertainty among our allies. That trend, of course,
is the way successive American administrations have foundered and
Page 3
lost either their sense of direction or their ability to lead
long before they left office.
In a recent article in the New York Times, Professor Henry
F. Graff of Columbia University commented on the succession of
crippled administrations that have weakened America's credibility
at home and abroad. "Not since Dwight Eisenhower, he wrote,
"has a chief executive served two full terms or left Washington
with cheers ringing in his ears. "
The professor described how Lyndon Johnson, "the ablest
Congressional politician of this century, was somehow
metamorphosized into a riverboat gambler unworthy of his high
place, how Gerald Ford, "the best athlete ever to sit in the
Oval Office, became a caricaturist's delight as an oafish
stumblebum," and how Jimmy Carter, having been elected as "the
outsider brought in to straighten out the mess, became a failure
because he was not an insider."
The attacks now being made on President Reagan, Professor
Graff maintains, are only the latest chapter in "a denigration of
the Presidency that has gone on steadily for two decades. They
are not only directed against presidential policies but also
against the President's power to exercise his mandate."
This time, however, I feel we have reason to hope for a
better outcome. It is terribly important that our Presidents,
Democratic and Republican, begin succeeding. You cannot have a
strong country and a weak chief executive. The two are mutually
exclusive. I believe leadership in a democracy succeeds when it
is in tune with the truest, finest qualities and aspirations of
Page 4
its people. More than his recent predecessors, I believe that
this President is at one with the temperament and ideals of those
he serves.
You know Judge Cardozgo once said that a judge "is not a
knight errant roaming at will in pursuit of his own ideal of
beauty or goodness. He is to draw his inspiration from
consecrated principles."
I think a president, to be truly effective, has to have the
same source of inspiration. When Ronald Reagan took over the
presidency, he came into office with a very clear mandate from
the people. There was little question about where he stood and
the principles he believed in. He warned that there would be no
quick fixes or easy solutions to our economic crisis, but he did
say that if we remained true to the principles that had guided
this nation from its outset we would return to prosperity at home
and improve the chances for peace and stability abroad.
Look at the economic crisis the president inherited. I
think perhaps all of you remember double digit inflation 2 years
in a row, interest rates at 21.5 percent, unemployment and
business failures starting to skyrocket and the growth in federal
spending and taxation entirely unabated.
When Ronald Reagan walked into office, he said that through
spending restraint and tax cuts he would get this economy going
again. No, he didn't say he would do it overnight -- from the
very beginning he made the point that conditions built over
40 years can't be solved in 18 months or 2 years.
Page 5
No sooner did the President get his economic program through
Congress and sign it than the gloom and doom brigaders went to
work. I think though that the last couple of months shows their
march is over.
After 2 years of back-to-back double-digit inflation, we've
brought inflation down to 3.9 percent in 1982 -- and 1.1 percent
for the last 3 months of that year. In 1982, real wages
increased for the first time in 3 years. Interest rates have
dropped dramatically with the prime rate shrinking by nearly
50 percent. And in December, the index of leading indicators was
a full 6.3 percent above last March's low point and has risen in
8 of the last 9 months. Last month housing starts were up
95 percent and building permits 88 percent over last year at this
time. New home sales are up 75 percent since April and
inventories of unsold homes are at the lowest levels in more than
a decade. Auto production this quarter is scheduled to increase
by 22 percent and General Motors alone is putting 21,400 workers
back on the job. Last month's sharp decline in the unemployment
rate was the most heartening sigh of all.
Under Ronald Reagan's leadership we have turned the corner
on the economy. And even while we've done this, we've managed to
accomplish the long delayed reform of the Social Security
system -- a system that had become such a political football that
many said it could never be straightened out or stabilized.
Let's remember also that only 3 years ago, this country
seemed to have an insuperable energy crisis. President Carter
spent a good deal of his time trying to overcome it, but U.S.
Page 6
dependence on overseas oil continued at high levels. Ronald
Reagan promised to change that, and again he kept his promise.
Today, the U.S. imports over 40 percent less crude oil than it
did 3 years ago.
Let us remember too that only 3 years ago we were reeling
from a series of humiliations and defeats in the foreign arena.
From 1873 to 1980, seven different nations around the world -- as
far away as Vietnam and as close as Nicaragua -- were raising
Marxist flags for the first time. The seizure of our diplomats
and our embassy in Tehran only added insult to injury. Well,
Ronald Reagan promised us a more assertive, more muscular foreign
policy, and he has kept that promise, too. Not one square inch
of foreign land has been seized since Mr. Reagan took office; not
one of our foreign service officers has been kidnapped; our
adversaries know that America is once again ready and willing to
protect its interests; and during all of this time, we have kept
the peace.
Now, we are the first to concede that these changes have not
been without cost. Overseas, it is apparent that when we insist
upon being firm with the Soviets, that causes public uneasiness
among some of our allies. Here at home, it is also apparent that
the process of unwinding inflation has inevitably contributed to
revise
a slackening of the economy -- though that is certainly not the
chief reason for the recession. But when people look back
sometime down the road, I think they will conclude that this
period -- however painful in some respects -- represents a
long-overdue transition back to a more soundly based economy and
Page 7
a more secure America. And with regard to our allies abroad,
there is a growing conciousness that this is a firm and strong
president who can be both flexible and consistent.
Yet even while the President has been dealing with the twin
crisizes left us by the last administration: the crisis of our
economy and the crisis of our national security; we have been
this is
systematically addressing another major problem in American life.
a Dipentism
group were
That problem, of course, is crime in America. Next to
speaking to.)
economic concerns, it remains the subject most on the minds of
American citizens according to opinion polls. There is every
reason for this to be so. As the President has saidy Crime has
become an American epidemic. It takes the lives of
25,000 Americans a year, it touches nearly a third of American
homes and results in at least 8.8 billion a year in financial
losses.
Now no one knows better than those of you here today that
much of the crime problem has been fueled by the incredible
growth we have seen in the last decade in the illegal drug trade.
Last year, after the singular success of the South Florida Task
Force headed by Vice President Bush, the President announced the
formation of 12 such other task forces and this means that we
are adding 200 new prosecutors and 1000 new investigators to
fight the drug menace -- the first such increases in nearly a
decade. We're also getting underway with a special cabinet level
coordinating group on border interdiction of the drug trade.
But the President has made it clear that going after the
drug traders and smugglers is only the first step in solving a
Page 8
social problem that has too long been tolerated here in America.
I mean of course, the existence of regional and national crime
cartels -- the drug trade is only one symptom of this larger
problem of organized crime.
That's why the president will be announcing shortly a new
presidential commission headed by a distinguished jurist that
Take
Out
will closely examine the nature and structure of organized crime
that's why the Pres. has
in America.
He has also established a cabinet level coordinating
Pretnom to
committee for addressing organized crime problems, special
training for local police forces, and will be asking the Attorney
General for a yearly report on the progress in the war on
organized crime. He has also asked that other perchase specific initiatives
be examined.
In doing so, the President has hit upon a central insight.
Let me quote his words:
"Oftentimes we draw distinctions between violent
crime and sophisticated crime or between crimes like
drug-pushing and crimes like bribery. But the truth
is, crime doesn't come in categories -- it it part of a
pattern. If one sector prospers in the community of
crime, so ultimately do the others. The street
criminal, the drug pusher, the mobster, the corrupt
policeman or public official -- they form their won
criminal subculture of lawlessness. They need each
other, they protect each other.
I think it's this ability to see the crime problem whole --
to acknowledge the relationship between street crime, drug
Page 9
pushing, organized crime and public corruption -- that really
does set our Administration apart.
A great deal of this has to do with the President's personal
inability
insight into the crime problem. He sees the failure of our legal
system to cope with crime as a reflection of the same liberal
political philosophy that led to many economic problems stemming
(over)
Insert 1
from so much unnecessary and counterproductive intrusions of
Government
When he announced these new initiatives the President, I
think, went to the heart of the matter when he said:
"Much of our crime problem was provoked by a
social philosophy that saw man as primarily a creature
of his material environment. The same philosophy that
held that by changing that man's material
environment -- through massive Federal spending
schemes -- we could usher in an era of prosperity and
virtue also viewed criminals as the unfortunate
products of poor socio-economic conditions or an
underprivileged upbringing. Society, in short, not the
individual, was to blame for criminal wrongdoing. We
were to blame.
Insert Z
The challenge of addressing These problems is behind
I think Dexplains some of the President's thinking in
pushing for his new omnibus crime bill. You'll be hearing more
about our proposed reforms in this area. But I think many of you
will agree that we desperately need to straighten out the abuses
in the bail and parole systems, to tighten up on our sentencing
and
other
guidelines, to make 1 important changes in the area of the
Insert 1
He feels, and raw statistics shown bear him out, that handicapped our
when
it
legal system has largely parter itself to be
comes to
of dealing w/ The crime, We feel this is partly due
liberal social
to IX the unwise application of B political philosophy
to the indicial system -- a philosophy that tends to
hold society, not the criminal, responsible for crime.
as the President discribed it
Insert 2
Whether one agrees w/ this view or not, it must be
conceded that incertainty of punishment, lax parale
laws, the insanity defense, and procedural anomalies that
not only hamper
lead to hardened our crimmals getting off scott free
all a loss of gablic expidence insurer
legal get its ability to effectively punish,
and therefore deter, crime; they 2:20 have also led to a
damaging loss of public confidence in the legal system.
Page 10
that will make the system more offective effective and therefy reinspire public
exclusionary rule, capital punishment, the insanity defense and
confidence,
so on.
But if there's one point I could make about our crime
program it is this: It is not a hastily thrown together group of
initiatives -- it flows directly from the President's own
carefully established political principles. While he thinks the
expansion and intrusions of Government need to be cut back in the
economic area but at the same time the President feels Government
has ignored its truely essential functions.
As Government has expanded into areas where it had no
business and actually served a counterproductive function -- the
drain on the economy, for example, from more and more spending
and higher and higher taxes -- it neglected its crucial functions
like maintaining a workable and just legal system and protecting
our national security through a strong defense establishment.
Many of us have seen a similar problem in the private sector
when a new management team takes over a failing business or
corporation. Inevitably, they find money is being wasted on
frivolous or hastily launched projects while the real productive
divisions have been ignored and neglected.
You know, those of us at the White House are very confident
about this crime program and all the other programs I've
mentioned -- and we think Democrats and Republicans are going to
accept Ronald Reagan's invitation to work together for the good
of the country and get many of these proposals passed by the
Congress.
Page 11
But as effective as I think these programs are to be, I also
think it is vital not to overlook another -- perhaps unique --
contribution Ronald Reagan has made during the first 2 years of
his Administration.
It goes back really to the style of leadership -- the
personal qualities -- the President's security of mind and
maturity of judgement. He's made us believe again in our future,
he's done this by offering us not just a series of legislative
proposals but a vision of that future.
The President has made it very clear he does not just want
this Nation to put its financial house in order or rebuild its
defenses -- he has, even from the earliest days, begun planning
for what he hopes will be a kind of America in the
rebuilding of th of the American soirit.
years ahead.
He talked about it in one of his speeches and I would like
to read you a few of his words.
"We have to offer America and the world a larger
vision. We must remove Government's smothering hand
paraphrase, not quote
from where it does harm; we must seek to revitalize the
proper functions of Government. But we do these things
to set loose again the energy and the ingenuity of the
American people. We do these things to reinvigorate
those social and economic institutions which serve as a
buffer and bridge between the individual and the
State -- and which remain the real source of our
progress as a people."
Page 12
The President said that his Administration was making
long-term plans -- plans that would hold out to America the
prospect of "an orderly, compassionate, pluralistic society -- an
archipelago of prospering communities and divergent
institutions -- a place where a free and energetic people can
work out their own destiny under God. "
That's why the President views our economic program as only
a first step toward reordering the relationship between citizen
and Government. A first step toward making Government responsive
again to the people. A first step toward ending the illusion
that the power of the State rather than the power of a free
people is the principal vehicle of social change.
Actiontion; should naking theme work instead in of
We've achieved long-term tax reductions and reform, we've
worked to eliminate waste and fraud and to restore integrity of
all our Federal departments, we're looking to a legal system that
protects the innocent and punishes the career criminal, to a
renewed federalism and a revitalized sector of private,
calership
to
charitable and religious institutions. And, most of all, for an
destrengths
America whose defenses are strong and whose resolute will never
America
at
crisis
be questioned by those who denigrate the value of human freedom.
spirit,
This is Ronald Reagan's vision and I believe it is also
to
America's vision. I think in the first 2 years of this
Administration we have come a long way in making that vision a
reality.
I hope and believe that history will remember this
Administration as one of vision, one that had new ideas and was
not afraid to try them. And I hope too it will remember out time
Page 13
in Government and say it marked a return of national confidence
and an era of national renewal. You'll forgive me if I end on a
personal note. I've gotten to know Ronald Reagan in the past few
years. I've seen up close how accurate the popular perception of
the President is: Ronald Reagan really is a good and inspiring
man. It's been an honor to work for him. I know he'll be
remembered as one of our greatest Presidents.