Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America

by Shirley, Craig

  Carter attacked Reagan so vehemently that even some of his out-of the-loop aides worried that it was too much. These advisers believed that while the American people may have thought the Georgian was not up to the job of the presidency, they at least thought he was a decent and honorable man. Now the president's men worried that Carter was squandering this reservoir of good will. But when this concern was pointed out to the president, he responded “with an ambivalent shrug,” Newsweek reported.46

  In fact, Carter was following to the letter the campaign script written by his maven, Pat Caddell.47

  REAGAN RECEIVED HIS FIRST good coverage in weeks when he finally got off the defensive. During a campaign stop in Jacksonville, Florida, he went after the Carter administration, accusing it of deliberately leaking information about the new “Stealth” plane in development. The GOP nominee accused Secretary of Defense Harold Brown of a breach of security, saying that it was “unacceptable and intolerable for [Brown] to play politics with America's national security.”48 Reagan pinned Carter with giving the Soviets the jump on developing anti-stealth technology because of the leak of the classified information.

  Pentagon civilian officials began to bicker publicly with the military brass over the Stealth Bomber leak. At the White House, Jody Powell called Reagan's accusation “false” and “unforgivable,” saying it “goes far beyond the acceptable bounds of political partisanship.” Powell also claimed that no damage had been done to U.S. national security since the Soviets had known about the Stealth technology for years.49 Yet a handful of former military brass, including retired admiral Thomas H. Moorer, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, former chief of naval operations, blew Carter out of the water over the leak.50

  Watching the president flail around over the Stealth issue, Reagan joshed to an audience about Carter's famous “I'll never lie to you” statement of 1976. “After hearing that line about twenty times,” Reagan said, “I was reminded of Ralph Waldo Emerson's line: the louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.”51

  Reagan was finally making some headway. But then, on the morning of September 5, a rumor swept Wall Street that he had suffered a heart attack. When traders began minor sell-offs, nervous investors called offices across the country to find out why the market was declining. As they were told of the rumor, the selling off of stocks became much more intense. Not until almost the time of the closing bell was an alert sent out by the Dow Jones News Service that Reagan was hale and hearty. By then, the market had dropped 22 points.52

  Some thought the rumor had been planted deliberately as a way for investors to make money by going short. Reagan denounced the scheme as “sleazy.” Later, he kidded reporters, “Well, if any of you want to make some money in the market, just let me know.”53

  Still more bad press came Reagan's way when Angela Fox Dunn, the daughter of his drama coach at Warner Brothers, alleged that astrologers guided the Reagans' lives. Reagan was forced to write a letter defending himself to a group of Nobel laureates who had complained about the astrology charge via the Federation of American Scientists. “Let me assure you that while Nancy and I enjoy glancing at the daily astrology charts in our morning paper (when we are home, which isn't too often these days), we do not plan our daily activities or our lives around them,” the Aquarius whimsically wrote. He was happy to report, though, that astrologer Jeane Dixon supported his candidacy.54

  CARTER WAS PUSHING HARD for early-and-often debates with Reagan, believing that his opponent would make more mistakes and that the contrast with the president would convince voters Reagan was just not presidential timber. “The more debates there are, the greater the chance Reagan will screw up,” chortled one confident Carter staffer.55

  There remained the sticking point of whether John Anderson would be included. The League of Women Voters was holding to its 15 percent threshold for Anderson, and Reagan had already agreed to abide by whatever the league wanted.56 Carter, of course, didn't want Anderson making his presidency the issue or taking attention away from any verbal miscues by Reagan. He also was miffed at the ladies of the league because they hadn't chosen a site in the Deep South for one of the four debates being considered.57

  Reagan and Carter disagreed over debate format as well. Reagan wanted a freewheeling affair, with the opportunity to show off his style and passion. Carter wanted the nondebate debate format, with reporters and a moderator, who would focus on more technical and quantitative aspects of the office, which Carter's men believed would favor their man, the engineer. One Carter man would live to rue what he told Newsweek about Reagan in such a debate setting: “He gives the best 30-second answers in America. The question is what's beyond the 30 seconds if he gets extended.”58

  IN NEW ORLEANS, REAGAN spoke to a group of supporters aboard a riverboat. He told the crowd, “I know it's tough when you have got a brother who has been a national disgrace for three and one half years. But so far Billy has not complained!”59 Reagan had been given a gift from the campaign gods when it was revealed that First Brother Billy Carter apparently had a second secret deal in the works with the terrorist nation of Libya, and it seemed the Justice Department was not on the ball in pursuing the issue. Billy claimed the $220,000 the Libyans had given him was a “gift.”60 Over in the Reagan camp, Bill Casey called for the resignation of Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti over contradictory statements involving the president's brother.61

  Reagan needed such a gift, since his decline in the national polls was now showing in state-by-state polls. Florida, where Reagan once had a massive lead, was neck and neck. Carter was slightly ahead in New York, Illinois, and Minnesota. In California, where Reagan once led Carter 51–20 percent, he'd fallen to 39 percent and Carter had climbed to 29 percent. Connecticut was tight. Carter was slightly ahead in Alabama and only slightly behind in Mississippi, two states Reagan was aiming to pick up.62

  For Carter, the bad news in the polls was that Anderson was definitely costing him. In many states where Carter was behind, Anderson's votes, when added, would have vaulted Carter into the lead. The “Anderson Difference” was taking on a whole new meaning for the Carterites.

  As a result, it was a blow to Carter when Anderson won the support of New York's Liberal Party. The Liberal Party had broken with the Labor Party in New York in the 1940s when the Laborites had refused to ban Communists from joining. At one time, Liberals had been a real power in the state, often providing the margin of victory for statewide candidates. They were now a sleepy party dominated by aging Manhattanites. In New York, the bigger the party, the higher on the ballot the party was listed. The Liberals had been reduced to Row E.63 Still, it was not a vote of confidence for the sitting Democratic president that he could not win the Liberal Party's nomination.

  Running on the Liberal line was a plus for Anderson but was a sad lot for an ailing old lion of the Senate, Jacob Javits, who had been defeated in the Republican primary by Alfonse D'Amato. Javits was one of the last of New York's “Tom Dewey Republicans,” his old friend Nelson Rockefeller having died the year before. D'Amato had run a vicious campaign against the old man, with commercials whose tagline was: “And now, at age seventy-six and in failing health, he wants six more years.”64

  Speaking on background—perhaps knowing how vengeful D'Amato could be—someone who knew the young politician said frankly, “He is … the toughest, meanest, nastiest guy you'd ever want to meet.” Javits, in contrast, was beloved by his staff and took care of them, even in retirement or sickness. He loaned them money and then somehow forgot to collect.

  The final sad irony was that in running on the Liberal line, Javits was aiding D'Amato by taking away votes in the general election from Elizabeth Holtzman, the Democratic nominee.

  THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN Voters was moving toward its deadline in the hope that all three candidates would debate. Reagan wanted in unconditionally. Anderson wanted in unconditionally. Carter wanted in, conditionally. His position w
as “no” on Anderson or it would be “no” for Carter.

  Jim Baker, Reagan's cool Texan, and Bob Strauss, Carter's calm Texan, were going eyeball to eyeball with each other. Strauss was waiting to see whether Baker would really allow Reagan to go into a debate with Anderson and without the president of the United States. When the deadline came and Anderson was over the necessary 15 percent in the polls, Baker said he certainly would allow that. Strauss blinked first and said no, Carter would not debate under these terms.

  Reagan could not resist tweaking Carter, telling reporters, “I can't for the life of me understand why Mr. Carter is so afraid.”65

  The president complained that Anderson should not be included because he was “primarily a creation of the press.” Then Carter did what no southern gentleman should ever do: he attacked Anderson's wife, saying, “He doesn't have a party. He and his wife handpicked his vice-presidential nominee.”66 That was it. Any lingering doubts about the animosity Anderson and Pat Lucey had for Carter were gone.

  GERALD RAFSHOON WAS GEARING up his productions for the fall, as was his Republican counterpart, the equally talented Peter Dailey. Rafshoon was producing spots depicting Carter in the Oval Office, wearing a white sweater, the weight of the world on his shoulders. The spots made it clear that the burdens of the office were awesome and only a few men could stand up to the pressure. “The responsibility never ends,” intoned the voiceover, accompanied by violins. “Even at the end of a long working day there is usually another cable.”67

  Dailey knew what few others knew: the best and indeed only way to sell Reagan was to let Reagan be Reagan. Most of the Dailey spots, whether the five-minute or thirty-second ads, were of Reagan looking into the camera, in a library setting, speaking his mind.

  Dailey finished each spot with the new slogan for the campaign: “The Time Is Now for Reagan—Reagan for president.” The voiceover was done by Reagan's old buddy Robert Stack, famed for his role as Eliot Ness on the television series The Untouchables. Sometimes a choir would sing the tagline. It was hokey but it worked.68

  While the ad creators were trying to sell their candidates to the American people, campaign surrogates played hardball. Walter Mondale hit the road to hit Reagan. Mondale loved politics, the give and take, the speechifying, and was relishing his role as attack dog. And clearly he had better joke writers than Carter. He joshed about Reagan's prior statements on evolution and the Bible, saying that the Republican had picked up “a hot potato last dropped by William Jennings Bryan fifty-five years ago.”69

  Someone who knew about hardball politics—hell, he practically invented the game—was Richard Nixon. The former president sat down for a series of taped interviews with famed political author Teddy White for the Today show. Nixon was unimpressed with Reagan's staff, saying they weren't covering for him enough. “The candidate makes a boo-boo—you go out and take the heat yourself, and that's what the Reagan staff had better learn.” He was more impressed with Carter's staff, which he called “ruthless.” “They're a tough bunch … these Georgia boys. They may play softball down in Plains, but they play hardball in the country.”70

  The former president said that Carter was “very tough,” “very shrewd.”71 Nixon had never liked Reagan much, once telling his own ruthless White House staff that his fellow Californian was odd. This from a man who ran the air conditioning at the same time as logs crackled in the fireplace in the White House residence.

  Academics also began weighing in on the candidates. James David Barber, a professor and expert on presidential temperament at Duke University, worried that if elected Reagan would be a weak president. “The character-rooted danger of the Reagan type in the presidency is that he will cave into pressure. Mr. Reagan hates a scrap, especially close up.”72

  REAGAN WENT TO CHICAGO to make a major economic speech to quell a growing controversy about his tax plan.73 For months, a battle had been waged against his tax-cut proposal. Anderson had come up with a good sound bite: when asked how Reagan could cut taxes, maintain social spending, and build up the military, Anderson said, “It's very simple. You do it with mirrors.”74 Reagan's Chicago address, unofficially among the staff, became known as the “mirrors speech.”

  Addressing the three hundred attendees of the International Business Council, Reagan answered the establishment's questions about his program by explaining that going after the billions in waste, fraud, and abuse would not do the trick alone. Fixing the terrible economy and the crumbling military were, he said, bigger priorities than balancing the budget, though his plan did call for a balanced budget by the fifth year.75 When asked how long it would take for his plan to take effect, Reagan said, “It took Mr. Carter three and a half years of hard work to get us into this economic mess. It will take time to get us out.”76

  In the speech, Reagan said that revenue from a restarted economy would not by itself pay down the deficit and so some already scheduled tax increases would have to go forward as well. He also abandoned his earlier support for elimination of taxes on interest and inheritance.77

  But the Chicago address did not end the controversy over his economic plan. It only angered the business community and supply-siders. The National Federation of Independent Businesses and the National Association of Manufacturers blasted Reagan for proposing more tax cuts for individuals than for businesses.78 Meanwhile, doctrinaire supply-siders found Reagan's speech appalling. These purists screamed that establishmentarian economists from the Nixon and Ford administrations, including Alan Greenspan, had watered down Reagan's original bold proposals. And it was true that the Reagan campaign had shunted aside Jude Wanniski and Art Laffer, architects of the original economic proposal. Even a Reagan favorite, Jack Kemp, was not being sought out for his economic advice. One new Reagan insider opposed to the supply-side philosophy said, “None of us wanted to have to sell that notion in a political campaign, because none of us really believes it.”79

  Reagan seemed to be doing better with working people. When Mondale, a union champion, went to Columbus, Ohio, to tour a Western Electric plant, he was unexpectedly greeted with signs that read, “Happy Retirement, Walter Mondale, Jan. 21, 1981,” and “I used to be a Democrat.” Reporters talked to the workers and several said they thought Reagan would carry a majority of the seven thousand employees there.80

  Reagan embarked on a blue-collar tour that took him to Cleveland, Buffalo, and Erie, Pennsylvania. In Cleveland at Public Square, Reagan pummeled Carter over the administration's energy policies, saying they had discouraged domestic production for nearly four years. Carter had to deny the charge, which gave Reagan a new opening. In Erie, the Gipper told the sign-waving, button-sporting crowd, “My analysis of our energy situation evidently touched a nerve in the administration, because Mr. Carter responded immediately and personally.”81 He added that Carter had engaged in “half-truths.” Anyone who thought Reagan was not competitive or did not keep score knew nothing about the man.

  That morning, Reagan had breakfast in Buffalo with Thomas Gleason, president of the International Longshoremen, making a bid for the union's endorsement. At a planned rally, however, only around fifty longshoremen showed up, including a small group of protesters.82 More dockyard workers might have shown up for Reagan if there was work to be had, but a boat had not pulled into to be unloaded in almost two years, such was the sorry state of the shipping industry.

  CARTER HIT A BUMP in the road when it was disclosed that his nominal campaign manager, Timothy Kraft, was under investigation for possible cocaine use. Given that Hamilton Jordan had faced similar charges previously, this was the last thing Carter needed. Kraft took a leave of absence from the campaign and Jordan shortly reprised his 1976 role, having been cleared of the drug allegations.83

  Kraft was an old Carter hand, though he was not a Georgian. After the 1976 campaign, a retreat was organized outside of Washington for the staff. Jordan led the meeting and introduced each, most with a wicked comment. When he came to Kraft, he pointed out that the tr
adition of the campaign had been for the staff to sleep in the homes of supporters to show a feel for the people. “I want to introduce a guy who's slept with more supporters than anyone in the campaign. In fact, instead of sending Tim his salary each month, we send him a dose of penicillin.” Kraft reportedly was not happy with Jordan's comments, but did not back down. In front of a crowd that included Jordan's wife, Nancy, he said, “Well thank you, Ham. And I'd like to say you've been an inspiration to us all.”84

  REAGAN WAS STILL GETTING pummeled in the news media about his campaign's poor decisions, his gaffes, and the way that his advisers were sequestering the candidate to prevent further adlibs. Words like “problem,” “damage,”85 “ill-prepared,”86 and “disarray”87 peppered the news stories analyzing the problems of the Reagan campaign. Reporters quoted officious GOP operatives, most not affiliated with the campaign, offering their unwelcome advice to Reagan, Bill Casey, Meese, and others. A Republican from California showed up in Washington and when reporter Bob Shogan of the Los Angeles Times asked why, he replied, “I'm here to see old-foot-in-the-mouth.”88 The major newspapers rolled out stories recounting past misstatements by Reagan—or past misunderstandings, depending on one's point of view.