(Aug. 15) Let me take you back to another Aug. 15 so as to put to bed a meme prevalent on the Right today — namely, the idea that the only way to win politically is to be mean and to be willing to go low against opponents. The meme is claptrap.
When then-President Ronald Reagan approached the podium of the Republican National Convention 36 years ago, his vice president, the elder George Bush, trailed Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis by 17 points in the polls. Reagan’s address that night, his last-ever great political speech — he made good speeches afterward, but of a more unifying or elegiac nature — jump-started what had seemed like a moribund campaign. Bush ended up winning in a 426-111 Electoral College landslide.
The speechwriter and political consultant who worked with Reagan on that speech, Ken Khachigian, released last month a memoir of his time writing for both Reagan and former President Richard Nixon, but the Reagan chapters predominate. What comes across most clearly is that Reagan, the biggest political winner in modern American history, showed toughness and firm personal agency while still being a remarkably nice human being. Nixon repeatedly expressed worry to Khachigian that, in one iteration among several, he should “not let Reagan carry the nice guy thing so far,” but Reagan knew that bedrock toughness could easily co-exist with human decency.
8/15/1988 President Reagan saluting the crowd at the Republican National Convention in Superdome New Orleans Louisiana
In Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan and Nixon, one of Khachigian’s most fascinating accounts is about his meetings with both Ronald and Nancy Reagan in preparation for that 1988 speech. Nancy wanted the speech to be “visionary and emotional. … This is not the place of a hard political speech, but to play on the emotions of the day and to show a lot of love.” It was the president, though, who wanted something that drew sharper contrasts with the Democrats who were tearing down his administration’s accomplishments and belittling Bush.
Khachigian agreed: “I could write it either way, but it was contradictory to deliver a nonpolitical speech at a political convention, especially when the president clearly wanted a vigorous defense. … I didn’t invent Reagan the ‘tough guy.’ His indignation and combativeness for issues about which he cared” were “honed” for decades.
What emerged was a tour de force, combining Reagan the uniting visionary with Reagan the policy advocate and promoter of his vice president to finish the job….
Yet amid all this, Reagan’s tone wasn’t harsh, nor was his mood of anger. He appealed not to his countrymen’s fears and resentments, but to their better selves…. [The full column is at this link.]
