294 a short history of the united states
It did not take long for the Democratic leadership to be overwhelmed
by the deft political maneuvering of Reagan and his incomparable
staff. The President inherited an economy crippled by high infl ation
and high interest rates. Indeed, the prime lending rate in 1981 fl uctu-
ated between 20 and 20. 5 percent. For one thing, Reagan insisted on
strict party discipline. Coupled with the support of southern conserva-
tive Democrats, the huge majority “we enjoyed during the Carter years,”
said Speaker O’Neill, “disappeared.... The new president jumped in
with both feet.” A masterful politician and manipulator, Reagan pro-
vided extraordinary leadership of Congress. Some House members
claimed that they saw Reagan more during the first few months of his
administration than they could recall seeing Carter during his entire
four years in offi ce.
Democrats soon discovered they could work with the President.
They had many arguments, some of which grew very heated, but they
learned, as Tip O’Neill said, “to disagree without being disagreeable.”
That sentiment infi ltrated Congress. “Speaker Tip O’Neill and Presi-
dent Reagan would be competitive and partisan in their business deal-
ings and cordial after hours,” reported Donald Sundquist, a Republican
from Tennessee. And indeed Tip and Reagan regularly met after six
PM to have a drink together. “And the same was true for most of the
rest of us. After the House adjourned, everybody was decent to each
other and could share a laugh.”
As a result, Reagan got his Economic Recovery Act passed in 1981 ,
providing a tax cut designed to reduce the size of government and
stimulate business expansion. It was supply- side economics writ large.
An unbelievable total of forty-eight Democrats, most of them southern
conservatives who called themselves “Boll Weevils,” broke ranks with
their party and voted for the measure, while only one Republican de-
fected. “We saved Ronald Reagan’s programs his first four years,”
boasted one Boll Weevil. Because there were enough Democratic de-
fectors, Republicans “controlled the agenda on economic issues.” Con-
sequently, Medicare benefits and student loans were lowered, nutrition
programs for children were cut, and unemployment compensation was
reduced. Passage of the tax bill and the Budget Reconciliation Act,
which projected reduced spending by the government for the next three
years, prompted Reagan to declare that his proposals represented “an