Linda Haido

History 574

05/08/2008

Transforming America: Politics and Culture During the Reagan Years

Robert M. Collins

It would be almost impossible to study the events in the United States during the decade of the 1980s while omitting the man who came to dominate that period, Ronald Reagan, Commander in Chief from 1981-1989. In Transforming America, Robert M. Collins sets out to address politics and American society under the Reagan Administration. The author’s goal is to assess that period of Republican leadership when politics took a right turn and American culture veered to the left. He examines changes in the economic, political, and cultural landscape while attempting to do so from a balanced, unbiased position. There have been many books about the “Reagan Era” written by both admirers of Reagan and his critics. It is up to the reader to decide in which category Collins falls in.

Transforming America is divided into 10 chapters. In the one titled “Malaise,” Collins briefly addresses the 1970s and the presidency of Jimmy Carter. The author depicts Carter as a highly intelligent and ambitious man whose outstanding characteristic in the eyes of the American public was the fact that he was “untainted by national scandal and experience.”(18) The American public was still reeling from the fallout of the tragic Vietnam experience and Watergate, and so there was a genuine distrust of government and the office of the presidency had lost much of its credibility. According to a pollster in 1976, “Trust in the government declined dramatically from almost 80% in the late 1950s to about 33% in 1976.” (14) Carter had to help heal a nation that still suffered from the gaping wounds inflicted by the previous administrations. The new president inherited economic woes that had begun in the early 1970s such as: the energy crisis, the decline in American workers’ productivity, increasing inflation, and the decrease of American economic power in the face of international competition. More Americans were buying foreign, especially Japanese, imports. Events in international relations took a disastrous turn when, in 1979, Iranian militants took hostages from the American Embassy in Tehran and a military rescue effort ended in tragedy. The combination or all of these factors were a blow to the morale of the American public. Carter’s role in mediating a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel and subsequent winning of the Noble Peace Prize were all but forgotten when he publicly stated in what has come to called the “malaise speech:” “We can no longer rely on a rising economic tide to lift the boats of the poorest in our society.”(24) As he continued in this pessimistic vein, Carter put himself in the vulnerable position of being challenged by someone with a positive agenda.

The chapter titled “Enter Ronald Reagan” addresses how the former actor and governor brought his message of optimism and hope for a brighter future to the presidential race in 1979. Described by Collins as a “reconstructive” president (242), Reagan’s “sunny” disposition and optimism starkly contrasted with Carter’s tired pessimism. Reagan was the product of a small midwestern town upbringing and had strong Christian beliefs. Although he was a Democrat, Reagan changed party affiliations while an actor and president of the Hollywood union SAG. He was known for his intense anticommunism and even worked for the FBI as an informer in the film industry.(35) As governor of California from 1967-75, Reagan brought with him to Sacramento his conservative agenda and commitment to defending what he considered moral values. For example, he “almost immediately” regretted having signed an act that allowed abortion for mental and physical health reasons. (41) Collins also emphasizes Reagan’s “pragmatic conservatism” – a position he held to both as governor, and, later, as President. A firm believer in opportunity over entitlement, Reagan had been an avid “New Dealer” and FDR had been his idol. Still, he entered the offices of governor and the presidency committed to limiting the expansion of the welfare state.

After entering the White House in 1981, Reagan inherited the problems left over from the previous administration. Carter had been blamed for nearly everything that went wrong during those years, and some even credited Reagan for the release of the hostages held by Iran. In fact, Carter had negotiated the terms for their release, however, not until Reagan had taken the oath of office did the planes take off from Iran.(50)

To achieve Reagan’s goal of promoting economic growth, the administration pursued a new economic policy, popularly called “Reaganomics.” It was based on tax cuts, deregulation, smaller government, and supply-side economics as opposed to the Keynesian aggregate demand program. Keynesian economists dismissed the supply-side movement as being in the hands of “cranks” or described the policy as “punk supply-sidism”.(66) However Democrat Lloyd Bentsen supported the supply-side camp as “the start of a new era of economic thinking.”(66) Despite the tax cuts (or, more likely, because of them), Reagan did not succeed in lowering the deficit. At the same time, the President was committed to increased military spending. Although he was determined to cutting federal spending, especially regarding social programs such as welfare, he was keen enough to realize that OBM director David Stockman’s advice that “the ruthless dispensation of short-run pain in the name of long-run gain” would be political suicide. (74)

The 1980s has become synonymous with materialism. Indeed, in the chapter “Greed is Good,” Collins uses that line from the film Wall Street to highlight the message that greed was touted as being something to be commended, not criticized. Of course the decade was rife with scandals involving unsavory tactics of those whose schemes and manipulations left many thousands of shattered lives in their wake. Many lay blame for the Wall Street and S&L scandals on the doorstep of the administration, but, as Collins points out, the culprits were members of both parties. Another outstanding development in the 80’s was the increased globalization of trade in products, capital, and communications. Americans purchased more imports than domestic products. Ironically, as Collins points out, some of our former World War II enemies were now exporting numerous products to the American public.(101) At the same time, more American firms and individuals were investing in foreign markets. For reasons of his own, Collins includes the computer revolution in his chapter on greed. The rise of the information age is an amazing development instigated by ingeniousness and brilliance on the creators’ part, but Collins emphasizes the materialistic aspect as much as he describes the benefits of those developments.

Chapter 5 addresses some of the social problems and issues and how the Reagan Administration dealt with (or attempted to deal with) them. The most terrifying occurrence that came to public awareness was AIDS. As Collins stresses, the administration did not support AIDS research nearly as forcefully as it should have.(139) The gay community, celebrities, private groups, and scientists actively pursued (and still are pursuing) efforts to find a cure. Homelessness and the existence of a chronic underclass were also issues that were brought to the public’s attention in the 80s. Advocates for the homeless in particular gained notoriety and controversy raged regarding the causes, extent, and remedies for the problem. Activists blamed the economy and public indifference whereas many sociologists and psychologists stressed mental illness and chronic substance abuse that required treatment as the primary factors contributing to homelessness. The underclass as defined by Senator Edward Kennedy in 1978 referred to people in the inner city who were in a dead end condition of grinding poverty doomed to be in the welfare system for generations. Many studies raised controversy just as Moynihan had in 1965.(126) Because African Americans in urban ghettos made up a disproportionate percentage of the underclass, the issue became racially charged. Blame was placed on the government, lack of jobs for the unskilled, and persistent discrimination. Many of the same arguments that were used in the days of the Johnson administration such as illegitimacy, fatherless homes, lack of education, fractured family units, etc., led to accusations of blaming the victim.(127) However, conditions did not improve until the mid 90s when a healthy economy drove down unemployment and more jobs were available even in the poorest communities. Also, Clinton’s welfare reform bill – a legislative reform Reagan never achieved – provided incentive for the unemployed welfare recipients to find jobs. (129) Another social problem that Collins addresses is that of the inequality gap. Although liberals did not blame Reagan per se for the widening gap, they maintained that he was remiss in not doing anything about it. Collins cites the causes of inequality as stemming from more jobs in the service sector that required technological skills and the rise in immigration that redistributed income from native workers to those who used the immigrants’ services. (132)

In Chapters 6and 7, Collins focuses on cultural movements and the friction between what he describes as the progressives and the traditionalists. He goes into detail about postmodernism, materialism, and the therapeutic culture. Collins uses a significant number of sources to support his descriptions of the similarities and subtle differences of the three areas, but his own assumptions do show through. According to Collins, all of these perspectives emphasize the self as being of primary significance. He cites several examples of how the media glorified materialism in programming from nighttime soap operas about the ruthless rich and MTV as one giant medium designed to sell music and products to young viewers-which it did and still does. (166) The culture war, the subject of chapter 7, affected universities and the media, and also manifested itself in issues such as abortion. The fight for a multicultural curriculum and “political correctness” in public life was successful. (183-5) The progressives also succeeded when the highly controversial and volatile issue of abortion rights became law in 1973 with Roe v. Wade case.(191-192).

Regarding the Cold War, Reagan advocates credit him for winning it and bringing on the demise the Soviet Empire. Reagan’s policy of negotiating from a position of strength and arranging summits was offset by the Euromissile and SDI controversies with the former straining relations with European allies. In the end, it was the economic squeeze that undermined the Soviets. The U.S. economically sabotaged the Yamal pipeline (208); SDI, or Star Wars, shook the Soviets’ confidence, and, according to a KBG general, “It [SDI] underlined still more our technological backwardness.” (204). Collins also notes that Gorbachev himself “deserves much credit for..letting the Soviet imperium slip away peacefully”. (226) Collins points out that according to Jack Matlock, a Reagan advisor, “Gorbachev was the most important influence in ending Communist rule in the USSR but credits Reagan with playing the major role in ending the Cold War.” (227).

In chapters 8 and 9, Collins discusses Reagan’s geopolitics. Whereas it appeared that the U.S. had triumphed by supporting the Mujahidin resistance against the Soviets in Afghanistan, using another group to fight for the U.S. in the Cold War turned out badly in what one scholar has termed “blowback.” (233) Foreign Muslim extremists infiltrated and took over the Afghans and their country with devastating results that manifested themselves on September 11, 2001. The Reagan Administration also made fundamental mistakes in Central America by supporting tyrants who were friendly with the U.S. but oppressed their own people. For example, the U.S. and the Soviets chose Nicaragua to fight the Cold War using the Contras and the Sandinistas as their respective proxies. The only results were billions spent and thousands of innocent Nicaraguans murdered and displaced. The scandalous Iran-Contra affair involving some of Reagan’s staff and military members almost cost Reagan the presidency as it veered towards becoming another Watergate. (229) Indirectly aiding Pol Pot, leader of the infamous Khmer Rouge, (232) was another costly blunder, and the CIA involvement in Angola was futile because that civil war continued for years. (218) Although some considered the operation in tiny Grenada the “most successful use of military might” since the 60’s, Colin Powel nonetheless characterized it as a “sloppy success,” as it left 19 dead and more than 100 wounded. (217-218).

Throughout Transforming America, Collins does attempt to present a balanced analysis of Ronald Reagan’s presidency and the events that took place in America during his two presidential terms. However, one reviewer, Doug Rossinow states that Collins is definitely a Reagan supporter (American Quarterly, V59 #4. Dec.207. 1279-89). There are some parts of the book that do lend credence to Rossinow’s criticism. On pg.237, Collins states, “It is impossible to realistically imagine the Cold War ending as it did, when it did, absent Ronald Reagan.” On the last page, 255, the author sums up his chapter on “The Eighties Legacy” concluding, “it remained possible for most Americans to believe Reagan still had it right. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.”