by Henry Olsen
Reagan and, xviii–xix, 187, 193–95, 214, 260–61, 265
Stockman and, 192–93, 217
what it is, 194
Taft, William Howard, 4
Taft-Hartley Act, 42
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), 119
taxes
bracket creep, 49, 132, 162–63, 190, 191, 299n8
California’s propositions on, 124–25
capital gains, 215, 241, 242, 307n29
child tax credit, 265
Clinton tax hike, 231
conservatism and “no new taxes” mantra, 103
conservative view of, ix, xviii, 80
corporate taxes, 265
days Americans work to support the government, 7
federal gas tax, 266
Herlong-Baker tax bill, 47–48, 195
high marginal tax rates, xiii, 18, 21, 37, 38, 47, 194, 195
Hoover and tax cuts, 7
Libertarian Party platform (1980) and, 176–77
low marginal tax rates for the wealthy, xviii
progressive income tax, 36, 37
property taxes, 80, 124, 125, 127
Reagan and, xiii, xv, xix, 36, 37–38, 41, 47, 48, 49, 56, 76, 100, 162–63, 165, 192–95, 264–65
Reagan’s conservative principles and, 132, 194
Reagan’s plan (1979), 260
Reagan’s tax cuts, xvi, 142, 163, 176, 190, 193–94, 196, 197, 200, 206, 260
Reagan’s tax hikes, 103–4, 109, 118, 124, 186, 201, 202, 206, 260, 266
Reagan tax reform, 213, 214–15
Reagan versus Klausner on income tax, 138–39
Republican Party’s Path to Prosperity plan, 242
rising, 1960s, xiv
Ryan’s Roadmap agenda and, 241
as threat to free enterprise, 38
top rate rise under FDR, 9
Trump tax cut, 254
Tea Party, xviii, 44, 241, 249
elections of 2010 and, 240, 307n22
Teeter, Bob, 132
Teixeira, Ruy, 246
terrorism, 251
Trump’s Muslim ban and, 252, 253
Thatcher, Margaret, 219–20
That Printer of Udell’s (Wright), 76, 284n13
Thurmond, Strom, 24–25, 77, 117
“Time for Choosing, A” (Reagan), xiv, 22, 53–54, 111, 120, 133
appeal to Democrats, 54, 55–56
endorsement of key public New Deal elements, 56, 218
focus on Reagan not Goldwater, 55
full Reagan philosophy in, 54
interpretation of New Deal’s promises, 52
nomination acceptance speech, 1980, as variation of, 174–76
Reagan’s rocket to political stardom and, 53, 54, 70
on Social Security, 164
theme of assault on freedom by Communism and liberals, 53, 56
theme of federal government taxing, regulating, and commanding away American virtues, 53, 56
theme of people need to take back control of the government, 53–54
themes of, in other speeches, 49, 51–52, 53
underscoring of his authorship of, 55
Torrijos, Omar, 148
Tower, John, 117
Town Meeting of the World (TV show), 115
trade
Reagan and, 187, 196–97, 212, 213, 230, 253, 265
Republican Party and, 4
Trump and, 244, 251, 253
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), 251
trickle-down theory, 193, 195, 299n12
Triumph of Politics, The (Stockman), 217
“truckers and cashiers test,” 235, 245, 249
Truman, Harry S., 15, 18, 25, 39, 209
as anti-communist, 17
civil rights and, 77
competing ideas about the Democratic Party and, 15–17, 18, 32, 143, 146, 161, 209, 228, 230, 231, 258
Democratic Party of, 50
expansion of government and, 15, 18, 50
fighting communism, tactics of, 198–99
platform of, 16, 17, 277n65
public philosophy of, 20
Reagan and Hollywood for Truman, 1, 17, 33
Reagan on, 17–18
social welfare programs and, 74
Soviet Union opposed by, 161
Taft-Hartley Act veto, 42
War Production Board abolished by, 15–16
win over Dewey and Wallace, 18
working-class support for, 18
Trump, Donald, xix–xx, 4, 225
abortion and, 251–52
appeal to working-class, 251, 252
ban on Muslim immigration, 252
“cares about people like me” voters, 255
conservatives and, 225, 256
Democratic states carried by, 228
deregulation and, 254
Disaffected voters and, 244
election win, 2016, 255–56
Electoral College and, 254
feud with Jeb Bush, 252
illegal immigration and, 244, 251, 253
loss of high-education, high-income voters, 256
“morally moderate” voters and, 251–52
Pew Research Center’s “Beyond Red versus Blue” 2011 findings and, 244
presidential campaign, 2016, 252–55
Reagan coalition and, 253–54, 255–56
Reagan Democrats and, 254
Reagan’s “citizenship” and, 253
Romney’s votes compared to, 254, 255, 256
Social Security and Medicare supported by, 252
tax cuts and, 254
trade and, 244, 251, 253
as voice for working-class, 251
Wisconsin win and, 255
working-class voters and, 230, 241, 251, 253, 254–55, 309n69, 310n73
Turkey, 16
Tyrell, R. Emmet, 194
unemployment insurance, 5, 9, 165, 295n62
United Republicans of California, 109
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 33–34
University of California (UC) system
Reagan and imposing tuition, 103, 105–6
Reagan’s promise to investigate Communist infiltration, 110
University of California, Berkeley, 80, 81
student protests at, 114, 148, 288n40
Unruh, Jesse, 105–6
urban renewal, 74
U.S. Congress, 182
U.S. Constitution
conservative constitutionalists, 44, 74, 85, 112
enumerated powers doctrine, 39, 44, 85
federal bureaucracy not envisioned by, 35
Goldwater and Buckley on civil rights legislation and, 79
property rights and, 26, 79, 112
Reagan’s study of, 14
Reagan’s theme that government is violating mandates of, 53
Sixteenth Amendment, 177
U.S. Department of Energy, 191
U.S. Senate
ACU and ADA ratings of senators, 183, 298n115, 298n116
Republican majority, 1980, xvii
senators of 1980, 182–83
See also specific elections; specific senators
U.S. Supreme Court
school prayer and, 166
Trump nominee for, 254
Warren as Chief Justice, 95–96
values, 267
American individualism and ideals, 41
conservative view of, 80
FDR and traditional American values, 9, 11
Reagan’s core values, 21, 165
traditional American, xiii–xiv, 189
as transcending party, 149
working-class and, 113–14, 228, 230, 246, 248–49
Vanocur, Sander, 95–96
Veterans Administration, 39, 48
Vietnam War
anti-war demonstrations at UC Berkeley, 80, 81
antiwar movement and, 114, 116
defense spending and, 134
Reagan’s anti-communism and, 115
Reagan’s support for, 1
14–15, 140–41
Tet Offensive, 116
Town Meeting of the World, Reagan-Robert Kennedy discussion on, 115
Viguerie, Richard, 201
volunteerism, 20, 157
Voting Rights Act of 1965, 73
Voting Rights Act extension, 201
Wagner, Lorraine, 46, 107, 168, 293n29
Wagner Act, 9, 42
Wallace, George, 104, 112
Wallace, Henry, 2
economic vision of, 16
ideas about the New Deal (as state-centric), 15–16, 17, 39, 134, 146, 161, 168, 209, 211–12, 228, 230, 258
loss to Truman, 18
New Left as neo-Wallaceite, 32
peacetime economic planning and, 15–16
planned society of, 91
socialized state and, 16, 21, 75
Warner, Jack, 30, 71
Warner Bros., 33, 291–92n11
War Production Board, 15–16
Warren, Earl, 95–96, 143
welfare. See social welfare programs
“What About Reagan” documentary (1967), 110
Where’s The Rest of Me? (Reagan), 273–74n11, 283n47
White, Theodore H., The Making of the President, 1960, 50–51
Williams, G. Mennen, 143
Willkie, Wendell, 10
Wilson, Woodrow, 8
Wisconsin, 143, 151, 173, 181, 240–41
support for Trump, 228, 255, 310n73, 310n74
working-class Americans
anti-communism of, 114
George W. Bush and, 234
in California, 82, 93, 94
“compassionate conservatism” fails with, 234–36
Democratic Party and, xii, 8–9, 113–14, 162, 231, 247
ideals supported by, 113–14
as key to winning elections, 247
midterm elections, 2014 and, 251
New Deal’s core promises and, 249
Pew Research Center’s “Beyond Red versus Blue” 2011 findings, Disaffecteds, and, 243–44, 245, 252
Reagan as candidate, appealing to, 175
Reagan as devoted to the working man, 11, 12
rejection of progressive agenda by, 240–41
Republican Party ignoring, 230
Romney-Ryan ticket rejected by, 246
support for Clinton and New Democrats, 231
support for Eisenhower, xiii, 22
support for Obama, 239, 246, 254
support for Reagan, xvi, xvii, 18, 93, 94, 121, 162, 180–82, 212–13, 235
support for Republicans, xiii, xiv, 4, 155–56, 180–82, 212, 240–41, 251
support for Roosevelt, xi, 8–9, 10, 18
support for Truman, 18
support for Trump, 230, 241, 251, 253, 254–55, 310n73, 310n74
“truckers and cashiers test,” 235, 245
values of, 113–14, 228, 230, 246, 248–49
workman’s compensation insurance, 96
workplace safety and injury compensation laws, xii
World Federalists, 2
World War II
FDR’s domestic policy changes halted by, 10
Reagan in Army reserves, 1–2, 28, 34
Reagan’s experiences with bureaucracy and, 28–29
War Production Board, 10
Wright, Harold Bell, That Printer of Udell’s, 76
Wyman, Jane, 14, 34, 273n2
“Year of Decision” (Reagan campaign record), 96
Yorty, Sam, 81, 82
About the Author
Henry Olsen is a senior fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a DC think tank. An incisive political analyst, he is a regular contributor to such leading publications as The National Review, The Weekly Standard, National Affairs, Commentary, The National Interest, The American Interest, and The Claremont Review of Books. He has also published op-eds and book reviews in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and The Washington Examiner. He is the coauthor, with Dante J. Scala, of The Four Faces of the Republican Party: The Fight for the 2016 Presidential Nomination.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Copyright
the working-class republican. Copyright © 2017 by Henry Olsen. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
first edition
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Olsen, Henry (Political consultant), author.
Title: The working-class Republican : Ronald Reagan and the return of blue-collar conservatism / Henry Olsen.
Description: First edition. | New York : Broadside Books, 2017.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017009422 (print) | LCCN 2017016583 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062475282 (ebk) | ISBN 9780062475268 (hardback) | ISBN 9780062475275 (pb)
Subjects: LCSH: Reagan, Ronald—Political and social views. | United States—Politics and government—1989– | Political culture—United States—History—20th century. | Conservatism—United States—History—20th century. | Progressivism (United States politics)—History—20th century. | Right and left (Political science)—United States—History—20th century. | Republican Party (U.S. : 1854– )—History—20th century. | United States—Politics and government—20th century. | Presidents—United States—Biography. | BISAC: HISTORY / United States / 20th Century. | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Presidents & Heads of State. | POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory.
Classification: LCC E877.2 (ebook) | LCC E877.2 .O46 2017 (print) | DDC 973.927092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017009422
Digital Edition June 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-247528-2
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-247526-8
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com