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Ten: Getting the Job Done
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116 • chapter eight whoever happened to be the press aide at the time). So we were talking about this and that, and then the reporter said, “You know, there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you.” “What’s that?” “Well, the thing is this: you’re supposed to be a top speechwriter, but your boss isn’t exactly known for being articulate or being able to rouse the troops. Doesn’t that bother you, writing for a guy who’s not known as an inspiring speaker?” “I look at it this way,” I said. “Bob goes to the floor, or he makes a speech back home or to a trade group here in Washington. Different kinds of speeches, different topics. But the one thing they all have in common is this: he has to make a good argument in every speech. And that’s what I do. Making sure his arguments are made in the best way possible.” “Oh,” said the reporter, “I see.” But I knew he didn’t see. To him, as to many reporters, rhetoric meant Kennedyesque “eloquence.” But I knew arguments are more important. And, more importantly, so did Bob Michel. We worked together as a team for eighteen years, making the best arguments we knew, as best we could. • 117 C h a P t e r n i n e working with the gipper, again In 1978, as I was learning about how to write in the House, I got a call from Marty Anderson. He asked me to attend another meeting at Reagan’s home. Reagan was going on the campaign trail for Republican congressional candidates. He needed a stump speech. Would I be willing to give it a try? The same group was there as the last time I had visited the Reagan home, minus one or two, plus Lyn Nofziger, Reagan’s canny, no-nonsense press aide. Dick Wirthlin briefed us about his polling, various aides spoke on the topics of their expertise, and that evening we all dined with Reagan. He and Mrs. Reagan had ordered in chili from Chasen’s restaurant, a favorite of movie stars for many years. I sat directly across from Reagan as he regaled the table with stories of Hollywood (for instance, Errol Flynn, unsure of his ability, was a far better actor than he thought he was), jokes (“Insanity is hereditary—you get it from your kids”), and a discussion of his relationship with Senator Barry Goldwater, for whom Reagan had given “The Speech” in 1964, a televised address that galvanized Goldwater voters and was the first step Reagan took toward running for office himself. I got the strong impression that although their relationship was cordial, Reagan believed Goldwater had never given him adequate credit for “The Speech” and never really thanked him for it. • • • [3.88.254.50] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 20:05 GMT) 118 • chapter nine After flying home, I got to work on a stump speech that contained what I later called “the litany”—five simple words: Family. Work. Neighborhood. Peace. Freedom. This was the very essence of the Reagan blue-collar strategy. Reagan liked the speech and used it throughout his speaking tour. Peter Hannaford, in The Reagans: A Political Portrait, wrote: “Reagan was touching the right chords [with the speech] . . . but reporters who covered these events for the most part did not notice anything different. It was reported as just another political speech by a man who was already one of America’s best public speakers.” Reagan was openly telling the media and the Democrats exactly what kind of campaign he was going to run in 1980, but they were not listening, because they all believed he was a joke. Blessed is the politician who is underrated by his foes. Between 1978 and 1980, as I worked for Bob Michel I kept in touch with Reagan’s aides, particularly Peter, and in 1980 I sent a memo to Peter outlining what I thought should be in Reagan’s acceptance speech. Peter, in turn, wrote to Reagan: “As Bill Gavin put it in a memo . . . a good acceptance speech should have something Old (in this case a reweaving of some of your best themes and lines since millions of Americans have yet to come to know them); Something New (in this case the American Compact); Something Borrowed (quotes from Lincoln, the Federalist and Tom Paine), and Something (Red, White and) Blue (‘the renewal of the...