Brain-Jockey

Reagan Bytes: A Timely Look At A “Different Course”

Written by Audrie Zettick on December 15, 2008

Sometimes we don’t realize the good fortune we have to be living in the middle of historic events.  My early career was one of those times.

 

I was fortunate enough to work in the Reagan Administration for two stints.   The first was in the office of the Secretary of Transportation–initially as a staff assistant to Drew Lewis, then as a congressional liaison specialist for Elizabeth Dole.   My last position was at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the end of Reagan’s second term  (my title was nearly as big as the bureaucracy!).

 

I felt the anger and frustration of the air traffic controller’s strike, the anguish of the attempted presidential assassination, the wonder of a Gorbachev visit to the White House and fear the day of the concurrent Air Florida and D.C. metro crashes. I verbally tussled with bureaucrats who wanted to add abortion as the recommended policy for pregnant women with AIDS and worked closely with career government employees who “got it” as we worked to eliminate overlapping and unneeded programs and government bloat. 

 

Being a bit of an historical pack rat, I have some memorabilia from those days.  I have the small U.S. and Soviet flags I waved (yes, really) when I attend a cheer session for President Reagan and Soviet President Micheal Gorbachev on the White House lawn. 

 

I recently stumbled upon two gems: a large “photo essay” publication produced by the RNC for the first Reagan Administration Executive Forum (rally) I attended marking the First Anniversary of his inauguration and a program from the 2nd forum.  I was able to get Reagan to sign it (no autopen!) several years later, after a speech he gave at the Shrine of Czestochowa in Pennsylvania. 

 

The photo essay contains quotes and the Administration’s view of accomplishments.  With the perspective of a couple of decades–and with the prospect of Barack Obama in office–I think it’s timely to look at what was said and accomplished.  I will continue writing Reagan Bytes through at least the first year of the Obama administration.

 

Page one of the Reagan Photo essay contains this quote:   

 

“It’s time to recognize that we’ve come to a turning point.  We’re threatened with an economic calamity of tremendous proportions, and the old business-as-usual treatment can’t save us.  Together, we must chart a different course.”

 

Ronald Reagan, February 5, 1981

 

The quote seems strangely appropriate for today.  Yet, the “different course” we seem to be on portends to lead us to more Jimmy Carter- or New Deal-style policies, which led exactly to the challenges faced by the Reagan Administration.  George Bernard Shaw once said that “we learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” 

 

Guess I’ve been around the block enough to now know what that means.