His Darkest Hour?

Underestimating Ronald Reagan is a thriving cottage industry along the shores of the Potomac. Periodically, pundits converge to pronounce the end of the Reagan Administration. Veteran Reagan-watcher Lou Cannon did it first, concluding his 1982 book, Reagan, with the bold statement that, although Ronald Reagan had promised much, he had delivered little, and would be only a oneterm President.

Doomsayers of 1987 point to a 12-month string of woes. They begin with the loss of the Republican majority in the Senate one year ago. Next, the Iran-Contra affair. Then, a mournful series of lost skirmishes with the newly Democratic Congress, notably the budget-busting battles over the highway and water bills, both ending in unsustained vetoes, the hallmarks of dwindling presidential authority. Then, the lamentable Bork/Ginsburg debacles. Finally, George Shultz appears to have removed the Contra movement’s spark plugs by saying that no military aid will be sought until the next session of Congress. Little wonder that Ed Rollins, director of the President’s 1984 landslide re-election campaign, says that 1987—Reagan’s seventh year in office —makes the case for a single-term, six-year Presidency. Has the sun set on Reagan’s White House? Or can the President rally one last time?

JM

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John McLaughlin

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Underestimating Ronald Reagan is a thriving cottage industry along the shores of the Potomac. Periodically, pundits converge to pronounce the end of the Reagan Administration. Veteran Reagan-watcher Lou Cannon did it first, concluding his 1982 book, Reagan, with the bold statement that, although Ronald Reagan had promised much, he had delivered little, and would be only a oneterm President.

Doomsayers of 1987 point to a 12-month string of woes. They begin with the loss of the Republican majority in the Senate one year ago. Next, the Iran-Contra affair. Then, a mournful series of lost skirmishes with the newly Democratic Congress, notably the budget-busting battles over the highway and water bills, both ending in unsustained vetoes, the hallmarks of dwindling presidential authority. Then, the lamentable Bork/Ginsburg debacles. Finally, George Shultz appears to have removed the Contra movement’s spark plugs by saying that no military aid will be sought until the next session of Congress. Little wonder that Ed Rollins, director of the President’s 1984 landslide re-election campaign, says that 1987—Reagan’s seventh year in office —makes the case for a single-term, six-year Presidency. Has the sun set on Reagan’s White House? Or can the President rally one last time?