June 11, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Reagan's legacy, through the eyes of his aides

by Jocelyn Dong

When Martin Anderson served President Ronald Reagan as a domestic and economic policy advisor, he saw a side of the Great Communicator that went beyond the affable, grandfatherly public image.

Reagan, in short, was "the toughest boss I'd ever worked for."

"He was warmly ruthless -- with an emphasis on warmly," Anderson told the Weekly earlier this week. That meant if Reagan was trying to do something and you got in the way, "you were moved aside."

But as tough as Reagan could be, Anderson said, he was never mean, rarely placed blame and never looked back. The president simply kept striving toward his goals.

Among the thousands who flocked to Washington D.C. for Reagan's memorial ceremonies this week were a local contingent of his former cabinet and staff members -- like Anderson -- who helped the former California governor shape his presidency and political agenda.

All fellows at the Hoover Institution -- a think tank on war, revolution and peace at Stanford University -- the former aides worked out the details of the president's policies on everything from foreign affairs to the domestic economy. Some -- like George P. Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state -- participated in key negotiations between Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, others stood by him through the Iran-Contra scandal and still others hammered out his policies on tax cuts and military spending.

Though the hub of Reagan's administration was 3,000 miles away from Palo Alto and ended 15 years ago, his legacy lives on locally through the scholars at the institution. Over the years, they have researched and written books and papers that have reshaped perceptions of the 40th president of the United States. Stanford University was even Reagan's location of choice for his presidential library and museum. The bid was opposed by many at Stanford, however, and Reagan eventually built it in Simi Valley.

Reagan himself was an honorary fellow with the institution.

Among the president's accomplishments, Anderson said, was a lasting impact on the Republican Party.

Today, the GOP controls the White House, Senate, House of Representatives, Supreme Court and the majority of state legislatures, he observed.

"It wouldn't have happened without Reagan," Anderson said.

Where once Republicans were the party of pessimism and remembrance of past glories, Reagan brought an optimism and can-do spirit, his former aides said.

Peter Robinson, a former adviser and speechwriter, observed in his book, "It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP": "When he spoke of his beliefs -- in God, in the goodness of the nation, in the wisdom of the people -- he changed the very spirit and temper of the country, replacing the bitterness of Vietnam and Watergate with a buoyant, self-confident patriotism."

Republicans these days, Anderson said, even wear buttons that read, "What would Reagan do?" -- a take-off on the Christian "WWJD?" movement, "What would Jesus do?"

"He becomes the guide," Anderson said.

Even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger models himself after Reagan, taking issues directly to the people, trying to get what he wants and not stopping until he succeeds.

Much has been made about Reagan's seeming incompetence; one political observer once called the president an "amiable dunce." His staff members defend his mental acuity, saying he led by steadfastly focusing on the big picture.

Robinson, who drafted the famous "Tear down this wall" speech delivered in Berlin, viewed Reagan as not mere jetsam riding a political wave, but the wave itself.

"We, his speechwriters, were not creating Reagan; we were stealing from him," Robinson wrote in the Weekly Standard in 1997. "Reagan's policies were straightforward -- he had been articulating them for two decades."

In a 1993 interview with TV show host Charlie Rose, Shultz recalled that Reagan possessed an unwavering vision.

"He had a general vision of the importance of freedom in political and economic life, and the confidence that free people and free institutions would work well," Shultz said. "He had great faith ... we could make those things work."

His adherence to the vision remained constant, even in the face of opposition.

"In passing the tax cuts of 1982 and 1986, he overruled much of his own senior staff," Robinson wrote in an article published in the American Spectator. Furthermore, Reagan "flouted the opinion not only of many in his administration but of virtually the entire American scientific establishment," over the Strategic Defense Initiative, colloquially known as "Star Wars."

Over time, commentators have noted, Reagan's principles have become the principles of the Republican Party.

For his book on the GOP, published in 2000, Robinson talked to people about their politics.

"Nearly every person with whom I spoke was able to articulate reasons for being a Republican. A belief in individual responsibility. The conviction that any government that absorbs a full one-fifth of the goods and services its citizens produce is too big and too intrusive. The desire to see American military might remain unassailable, even in the post-Cold War world. An eagerness to bring market forces to bear on social problems, introducing voucher programs, for example, to improve our schools, or replacing welfare with workfare."

That Reagan was not merely the "yes" man to his inner circle of experts can be attested to in his own writings, uncovered by Hoover fellows over the years, Anderson said. Anderson has authored or co-authored numerous books on the late president, including "Revolution: The Reagan Legacy," "Reagan, In His Own Hand," "Stories in His Own Hand," and the upcoming "Reagan: A Portrait in Letters." Through the writing, one can see how engaged and knowledgeable the late president was, he said.

For all of his famed charisma, Reagan's influence was rooted not just in style, but in style with substance, said Anderson. Had Reagan simply been a great communicator, he would have been ineffective.

"He had great ideas -- and they worked," Anderson said. Senior staff writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.

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