Washington Abandons the Family

In political rhetoric, there has been a resurgence of family life. Even allowing for the element of hypocrisy, the family has made, in terms of campaign appeals, the most spectacular comeback since Gloria Swanson’s in Sunset Boulevard.

Ronald Reagan sings the family’s praises; Mario Cuomo echoes and garbles them. The 1984 Republican platform proclaimed, and Bill Moyers’s CBS special later discovered, the family’s essential role as the building block for a civil society. Even the Democrats in control of the House of Representatives have jumped on the trend, establishing a Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. A predominantly Republican group of senators is trying to do the same in its chamber. And within the Administration, efforts are underway to carry out the President’s State of the Union pledge to have a family policy initiative by the end of 1986.

WG

About the Author

William J. Gribbin

Featured Tags

Equal Rights Amendment

Feminism

Republican Party

Conservatism

In political rhetoric, there has been a resurgence of family life. Even allowing for the element of hypocrisy, the family has made, in terms of campaign appeals, the most spectacular comeback since Gloria Swanson’s in Sunset Boulevard.

Ronald Reagan sings the family’s praises; Mario Cuomo echoes and garbles them. The 1984 Republican platform proclaimed, and Bill Moyers’s CBS special later discovered, the family’s essential role as the building block for a civil society. Even the Democrats in control of the House of Representatives have jumped on the trend, establishing a Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. A predominantly Republican group of senators is trying to do the same in its chamber. And within the Administration, efforts are underway to carry out the President’s State of the Union pledge to have a family policy initiative by the end of 1986.