The House Republican Saga, 1974 to 2010

  

TEXT and AUDIO BACK-UPS for this BOOK

 

Even though the research and interviews center on Congress, this country's political parties, for good or ill, are mostly defined by their Presidents... 

Discovery Institute founder and former U.S. Census Director Bruce K. Chapman writes: "Rule and Ruin takes advantage of the time that has passed since the moderate vs. conservative battles of the ‘60s and now is yielding archival letters and memos that have not been reported before..." He's referring to the 2012 book by Geoffrey Kabaservice (Oxford University Press, 482 pages), a major contribution to modern GOP history. "What Kabaservice has written is thorough, fair, and sometimes very entertaining. That doesn't mean I agree with some of its conclusions."

Left-wingers of all types caused him grief during 1969-74, but President Nixon's legacy torments constitutionalists and especially conservatives to this day. He made reckless concessions on environmental controls and welfare-state growth -- to buy space to carry out a Machiavellian foreign policy that boosted the Soviet Union's technological base. And yet -- believe it or not -- Richard Nixon was a skilled communicator: He knew his material, the language was direct, and the main choices were always clarified. In this prime-time press conference from June 29, 1972, Mr. Nixon is at the top of his game: Strong GDP while price controls hold off inflation, summits in Moscow and Peking, and on the way to beating Democratic nominee George McGovern by 23 points. Audio only, and the playing time is 37 minutes. And the lesson is? If you are an introvert in public life, and are drained by crowds and most human contact, you can offset those negatives by learning to use the language crisply, for whenever the cameras come on.

Now zip ahead 36 1/2 years: George W. Bush had much of Ronald Reagan's conviction about military strength and global freedom. Unfortunately, he carried out a modified Nixon when it came to regulation and spending: Whereas the Nixon inflation became general, Bush's version produced a housing bubble that blew up the financial system after his SEC dozed and his HUD touted "record levels of home-ownership" (as long as equity wasn't needed for the ownership). Whereas Nixon and Reagan, while President, could each make strong cases for their actions, "Bush 43" was a marbles-mouth. He told his speechwriters not to include stories, and he ended so many of his public sentences with the same grating inflection. His final press conference as President is a marvel of sincerity, nervousness, principle, and cheerful obliviousness -- 35 minutes, again just audio. Eight years, 2,000 appointees, and apparently not one of 'em was a speech coach? Sorry to say...                                       

Produced for the book, former Member Q&As: David F. Emery (Maine), Marjorie Holt (Maryland), Ron Sarasin (Connecticut), Claudine Schneider (Rhode Island), and Steve Symms (Idaho)


Manuscript sources that are books


www.ExactingEditor.com/Judiciary-Seven.mp3 -- seven House Judiciary Committee GOPers (including freshmen Bill Cohen, Harold Froehlich and Trent Lott) confront the impeachment of Richard M. Nixon

www.ExactingEditor.com/Nixon-Kissinger-Ford.pdf -- the Soggy '70s, including extracts from magazine articles and text taken from audiotaped broadcasts

All GOPers who take public policy and campaigns seriously should absorb this account of a year featuring House candidacies by George W. Bush, Bill Clinger, and Newt Gingrich -- www.ExactingEditor.com/Close-Elections-1978.pdf

"The Relentless Innovator," a draft chapter on Gingrich in the House, 1980-84

Reaganomics? www.ExactingEditor.com/Reaganomics-Rigorously.pdf

Here's Frank Gregorsky, on October 20, 1995, a few weeks before the first of the two governmental shutdowns, the second of which made the federal GOP bleed while turning Clinton into a centrist champion. Playing time is 14 minutes, the venue a Bionomics Conference in San Francisco.

James J. Kenneally, Professor Emeritus of History at Stonehill College, discusses his book A Compassionate Conservative: A Political Biography of Joseph W. Martin Jr., Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (Lexington Books, 333 pages, ISBN 0-7391-0676-7).

Congressional interviews completed

Helen Bentley (2nd district of Maryland, 1985 thru '94)

Ed Bethune (2nd district of Arkansas, 1979 thru '84)

Tom Campbell (12th district of CA 1989-92 and 15th 1995-2000)

David F. Emery (1st district of Maine, 1975 thru '82)

Bill Frenzel (3rd district of Minnesota, 1971 thru '90)

Porter Goss (Southwestern Florida, 1989 to Sept. 2004)
Melissa A. Hart (4th district of Pennsylvania, 2001 thru 2006)

Tom Hartnett (1st district of South Carolina, 1981 thru '86)

Pete Hoekstra (2nd district of Michigan, 1993 thru 2010)

Marjorie Holt (4th district of Maryland, 1973 thru '86)

Sue W. Kelly (19th district of New York, 1995 thru 2006)

Norman F. Lent (4th district of New York, 1973 thru 1992)

Bob Livingston (1st district of Louisiana, 1977 thru '98)

Trent Lott (5th district of Mississippi, 1973-88, then U.S. Senate)

Dan Lungren (Long Beach 1979-89 and Sacramento 2005 to now)

Bob McEwen (6th district of Ohio, 1981 thru '92)

Alex McMillan (9th district of North Carolina, 1985 thru '94)

George Nethercutt Jr. (5th district of Washington, 1995 thru 2004)

Michael G. Oxley (4th district of Ohio, 1981 thru 2006)

Tom Petri (6th district of Wisconsin, 1979 to now)

Deborah Pryce (15th district of Ohio, 1993 thru 2008)

Arthur Ravenel Jr. (1st district of South Carolina, 1987 thru '94)

Ronald A. Sarasin (5th district of Connecticut, 1973 thru '78)
Claudine Schneider (2nd district of Rhode Island, 1981 thru '90)

Christopher Shays (4th district of Connecticut, 1987 thru 2008)

Denny Smith (2nd district Oregon 1981-82, 5th from 1983 thru ’90)

Steve Symms (1st district of Idaho 1973-80, then U.S. Senate)

Bob Walker (16th district of Pennsylvania, 1977 thru '96)

William Wampler Sr. (9th district of VA, 1953-54 and 1967-82)

 

IN MEMORIAM

        Joel T. Broyhill (d. 2006) -- Washington Post obituary 9-27-2006

        Jennifer Dunn (d. 2007) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Dunn

        Gilbert J. Gude (d. 2007) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Gude

        Henry Hyde (d. 2007) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hyde

        Dave Treen (d. 2009) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Treen

        Guv Vander Jagt (d. 2007) -- www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/washington/23vanderjagt.html

IN MEMORIAM, Part Two (uploaded July 2010)

        Jo Ann Davis (1950-2007) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Ann_Davis
        Robert W. Davis (1932-2009) --  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_William_Davis
        Jack Kemp (1935-2009) -- http://www.conservapedia.com/Jack_Kemp
        Rick McIntyre (1956-2007) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_McIntyre
        Stan Parris (1929-2010) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Parris
        Matt Rinaldo (1931-2008) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_John_Rinaldo

 

Non-Member interviewees as of December 2012

Merrick “Mac” Carey, CEO of the Lexington Institute and former chief-of-staff to Rep. Jim Courter

Donald J. Devine, author, political scientist and former OPM Director -- www.exactingeditor.com/DonDevine.html

Richard B. Dingman, executive director of the House Republican Study Committee during the Carter Miasma and veteran conservative operative

Dr. Jeffrey A. Eisenach, economic consultant and professor (George Mason Law School), and before that think-tank president, government official (Reagan White House and FTC) and executive director of GOPAC

Wilma Goldstein, legendary Republican candidate-trainer and, since 2001, small-business consultant

Carlyle Gregory, long-time southeastern GOP campaign consultant

David J. Gribbin, senior aide to Richard B. Cheney from 1979 to ‘92

Jack Howard, top aide to U.S. Representatives Bob Walker and Trent Lott (1980s); and House Speakers Newt Gingrich and Dennis Hastert (1990s). Howard also held high-level jobs in both Bush Administrations ("41" and "43")

Michael S. Johnson -- Principal, The OB-C Group LLC

Geoffrey Kabaservice, author of Rule And Ruin (Oxford University Press, 2012, 482 pages)

Charles Kolb -- President, Committee for Economic Development

Edward Lujan -- New Mexico Republican Party Chairman, 1983-88

Connie Marshner, longtime conservative activist and founder of www.ConnieMarshner.com

Ron Nessen -- Brookings Institution "journalist in residence" and press secretary to President Gerald Ford

John Sununu Sr. -- Governor of New Hampshire 1983-88 and White House chief of staff 1989-91