Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America by Craig Shirley Read Free Book Online

heavy-handed aid of nobility or government connections. He was defining a new ideology of optimistic and enlightened conservatism that was unsettling to the powers-that-be that ran the Republican Party. They didn't understand it, so how could they possibly support it?

    He showed off both his literate side and his sense of irony as he told the young listeners, “I have seen the conservative future and it works.” 49 Of course, Reagan was paraphrasing Lincoln Steffens, a Communist sympathizer from America who uttered this line, minus the word “conservative,” upon returning from the Soviet Union in 1919.

    In the early days of 1977, the conservative movement was growing and extending its power and influence. These conservatives had aggressively explored a third-party option for the past several years, but now they concluded that the better option was to take over the feeble GOP. It was a practical decision: thetwo-party system was favored by the new federal campaign laws, which enhanced the ability of the two major parties to mail at lower rates than other political entities. It was at this CPAC where conservatives began to refer to themselves as “The Movement.”

     
    T HOUGH R EAGAN WAS ENERGIZING conservatives, he more and more had to contend with the burgeoning “age issue.” American Conservative Union staffer Jim Roberts spoke for many when he told Lou Cannon of the Post , “If he was four years younger, we'd be off and running right now.… But there is a nagging feeling that he may be too old.” 50
    If Reagan was too old, he certainly didn't show it. He appeared to be the picture of health, at least ten years younger than he really was. He was 6'1'', tanned, and broad-shouldered, with a crinkly smile and a ready handshake. The only signs of age were the blemishes on the back of his hands, a few wisps of gray in his temples, and the fact that he was hard of hearing in his left ear. He drank moderately and exercised daily, not including the heavy outdoor work at the ranch. He had quit smoking years earlier, using jelly beans to replace his nicotine craving. He hadn't lost a step, and actually appeared much more self-confident when speaking about national and global affairs than he had been just a year earlier. The Washington Post 's David Broder described him as “inexhaustible.” 51

    Reagan prepared better than most for his speeches, which he often wrote on his own. He was a perfectionist when it came to researching, writing, practicing, and delivering a speech. He was so superior in his speaking abilities that it was actually news when he turned in a poor performance.

    Reagan had worn contact lenses in public and glasses in private for years, as he was extremely nearsighted. Before he gave a speech, he would pop out his right contact lens to read the text and keep the left one in so he could see his audience and their reaction to him. Deaver and Hannaford often asked the governor if he just wanted to show up, make his speech, and then leave, but Reagan rarely took them up on this option. He liked to settle in, have dinner, and observe the other speakers, but especially the crowd, to judge its mood and temperament. He also hated missing out on the after-dinner dessert. Years later, as president, he was quickly hustled out of a CPAC dinner speech and later complained to an aide that he didn't get to stay long enough to have the apple pie à la mode that was being served that evening.

     
    A S THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT accelerated its upward trajectory, the “New Right” was developing new ideas on policy, politics, and, most especially, tactics.What distinguished the New Right from its progenitors was an attitude, a belief in ideas, and a “take no prisoners” approach. These Young Turks became a formidable new force in American politics thanks to their impressive use of technology, such as direct mail, Quip machines (the precursor to the fax machine), telephones, and computers; their ability to raise