The Cult of Ronald Reagan
February 11, 2012 | 12:11 PM
There are a lot of young folks at CPAC, roaming the halls of the Marriott and listening to their elders go on and on in the most mythic terms about Ronald Reagan, who is repeatedly described as the last true conservative hero, and held up as a model to today's faithful.
Start with the landmark 1981 votes to cut taxes and spending. The Gramm-Latta budget resolution would not have happened but for the votes of the 63 Democrats who joined 190 Republicans.Well, maybe. Reagan did cut taxes and fuel the disintegration of the Soviet empire. But there is something that is left out of the narrative here: Reagan's gift at compromising.
It is an inconvenient fact for Republicans, but most of President Reagan's great accomplishments were bipartisan.
The fall of the Soviet Union? Anybody here see Charlie Wilson's War? Hundreds of congressional Democrats in both houses supported Reagan's anti-Soviet policies. Even the liberal Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill, saw it as a patriotic duty, in those Cold War years, to back Reagan on combatting Soviet influence in Latin America and the Middle East and in giving him a free hand in nuclear arms negotiations.
The historic tax reform act of 1986? A bipartisan accomplishment, from start to finish.
The equally historic deal, in 1983, to preserve Social Security? Reagan signed the bill into law with O'Neill at his side.
The seven tax hikes passed by Congress and signed by Reagan (the biggest under Majority Leader Bob Dole's leadership) to close the budget deficit? They were the result of bipartisan haggling, and ultimately, compromise.
Don't get me wrong. Reagan was a masterful president and had a super staff. The president's huge popularity intimidated moderate Democrats in Congress, and forced them to deal. Many in the liberal wing of the party always refused, and fought Reagan tooth and nail.
But in these days of legislative polarization, someone should be telling the kids at CPAC that Reagan was a pragmatist, as well as a conservative. He never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. By taking what he could get, wisely, he changed the course of American history - without threatening to shut the government down.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus