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
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 (
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
James J. Kenneally, Professor Emeritus of History at
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
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
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 (
Wilma Goldstein, legendary Republican candidate-trainer and, since 2001, small-business 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
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