Ronald Reagan 100 Days Post Mortem

TW: This piece is different from the Carter critrique as it was column by Hugh Sidey rather than a longer feature as was the case with Carter. I liked Sidey greatly, back then he was one of the few newsweekly columnists and yet a straight reporter as opposed to the partisan hacks who occupy most of the American newsweeklies now. The other big difference was as you recall Reagan took a bullet in the middle of his first 100 days so that detail dominated his opening months diluting the whole "100 days" concept.

Yet Sidey hit upon the two themes which to this day define the Reagan presidency- economic and military renewal. One could debate the efficacy of either but that is not for this post. Carter had a hodgepodge of issues and a complex leadership style that left few inspired. Reagan for better or worse kept things very simple. He was a Republican when Republicans were entering the highest ascendancy of their recent era (1966-2006).

From Hugh Sidey at Time (May 4, 1981):
"...In his 100 days, Ronald Reagan got no major legislation passed; not a single program became operative, and he held only two press conferences in two months. He is, however, the only President in the past ten years to have worn white tie and tails three times, chopped half a cord of wood, ridden a horse, shortened the Inaugural parade, received a ton of jelly beans, got eight pints of new blood and floated enough good humor to buoy, after a 17-year drought, the hopes of those people who compile books on presidential wit. But these things are not the stuff of...legend.

In truth, there is more. Even though his momentum was all but halted by the assassination attempt, Reagan made leadership the issue and established a clear purpose and direction. He set two priorities: the first on economic renewal and the second on revitalizing American military strength. Reagan assembled a package of proposed budget and tax cuts and insisted that they be presented as a whole and not fed piecemeal into the congressional grinder. He established a matrix for decision making and, even as F.D.R. did, he maintained a confident and sunny disposition through all the tribulations of starting up a concern ten tunes larger than General Motors and infinitely more complex.

...Reagan remains more of a promise than a fulfillment. The hope that has been sustained and the excitement and upbeat mood of the Reagan forces have not reduced inflation by much, nor have they significantly cut interest rates. The tests lie in the next 100 days, and maybe even the next 1,000 days.

...The country remains immensely strong and prosperous. But the nation is not certain where it wants to go, and there are grave doubts about both the skill and power of the presidency and the ability of the Government to devise an effective agenda for the perilous years that are ahead. In his 100 days Reagan has merely set the stage. This drama is going to be far more than a one-act play."