THE REAGAN REVOLUTION ★^1059He “rose at the crack of noon,” as one reporter put it, and relied on his wife to
arrange his official schedule. Unlike most modern presidents, he was content
to outline broad policy themes and leave their implementation to others.
Reagan, however, was hardly a political novice, having governed California
during the turbulent 1960s. He was an excellent public speaker, and his opti-
mism and affability appealed to large numbers of Americans. Reagan made
conservatism seem progressive, rather than an attempt to turn back the tide
of progress. He frequently quoted Thomas Paine: “We have it in our power to
begin the world over again.” Reagan repeatedly invoked the idea that America
has a divinely appointed mission as a “beacon of liberty and freedom.” Free-
dom, indeed, became the watchword of the Reagan Revolution. In his public
appearances and state papers, Reagan used the word more often than any pres-
ident before him.
Reagan reshaped the nation’s agenda and political language more effec-
tively than any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Like FDR, he seized on
the vocabulary of his opponents and gave it new meaning. Reagan promised
to free government from control by “special interests,” but these were racial
minorities, unionists, and others hoping to use Washington’s power to attack
social inequalities, not businessmen seeking political favors, the traditional tar-
get of liberals. His Justice Department made the principle that the Constitution
must be “ color- blind”—a remark hurled at the Supreme Court majority by Jus-
tice John Marshall Harlan in 1896 to challenge a system of legal segregation— a
justification for gutting civil rights enforcement.
Overall, Reagan proved remarkably successful at seizing control of the
terms of public debate. On issues ranging from taxes to government spending,
national security, crime, welfare, and “traditional values,” he put Democrats on
the defensive. But he also proved to be a pragmatist, recognizing when to com-
promise so as not to fragment his diverse coalition of supporters.
Reagan’s Economic Policies
Like Roosevelt and Johnson before him, Reagan spoke of “economic freedom”
and proposed an “economic Bill of Rights.” But in contrast to his predecessors,
who used these phrases to support combating poverty and strengthening eco-
nomic security, economic freedom for Reagan meant curtailing the power of
unions, dismantling regulations, and radically reducing taxes. Taxation, he
declared, violated the principle that “the right to earn your own keep and keep
what you earn” was “what it means to be free.”
In 1981, Reagan persuaded Congress to reduce the top tax rate from 70 per-
cent to 50 percent and to index tax brackets to take inflation into account. Five
years later, the Tax Reform Act reduced the rate on the wealthiest Americans to
How did the Reagan presidency affect American aims at home and abroad?