Chapter 134 - In America: The 1980 Republican Primaries
Above: A campaign poster for former Vice President Ronald Reagan (R - CA), calling back to his 1972 campaign with former President Bush. (left); the cover of
Newsweek in May of 1980, declaring that Richard Nixon is back to contest the White House one more time (right).
“Well, the eagle's been flyin' slow
And the flag's been flyin' low
And a lotta people sayin' that America's fixin' to fall
Well, speakin' just for me
And some people from Tennessee
We've got a thing or two to tell you all
This lady may have stumbled
But she ain't never fell
And if the Russians don't believe that
They can all go straight to hell
We're gonna put her feet back
On the path of righteousness and then
God bless America again” - “In America”, Charlie Daniels Band
“A man is not finished when he’s defeated; a man is finished when he quits.” - Richard Nixon
“Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber, and as deadly as a hitman.” - Ronald Reagan
On January 21st, 1980, members of the Republican party of Iowa participated in their state’s caucus. A quadrennial tradition, Iowans take great pride in being the first stop on the road to the White House. This year was no exception.
Given how crowded the GOP field was this year, it was perhaps inevitable that the “Hawkeye State” would be even more inundated with would-be candidates than usual. Though former Vice President Ronald Reagan, the frontrunner, paid little mind to the caucus (his campaign strategy lay elsewhere), the other candidates fought tooth and nail for victory in Iowa. Many believed that their only prayer of defeating Reagan for the nomination lay in “unifying” the field. That is to say, they needed early wins to prove their viability, which they could then use to gobble up the support of other candidates. Though General Al Haig (R - MD) and Senators Charles Percy (R - IL) and Howard Baker (R - TN) toured the state extensively, giving speeches and appearing at social events, the results of Iowa were never really in doubt. Senator Bob Dole of nearby, demographically similar Kansas easily won the day, winning the majority of the state’s delegates. He was followed by Reagan, then Percy in a distant third.
Puerto Rico’s primary on February 17th likewise went to Dole, while Reagan scored his first victory, a commanding one, in the Alaska caucus on the 22nd. Though Senator Percy gave Reagan some trouble four days later, coming in a close second in New Hampshire, Reagan nonetheless carried the day. Bill Casey, Reagan’s campaign manager, issued the planned statement to the media about Reagan’s victory in the Granite State. Even in liberal bastion New England, Reagan held widespread Republican appeal. Following New Hampshire, Phil Crane (R - IL), Baker, and Al Haig all dropped out of the race. Though each of them felt that they could probably have contributed more, all of them, especially Crane, were running out of money. Baker and Haig endorsed Reagan. Crane endorsed Dole.
Above: Senator Bob Dole (R - KS), according to his campaign the only “serious” challenger to Ronald Reagan for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination.
Perhaps the biggest story to come out of the subsequent primaries - Massachusetts & Vermont (March 4th) and South Carolina (March 8th) - however, was the phoenix-like return of one Richard Milhous Nixon.
Despite years out of the public eye, Nixon had originally returned in late 1978, penning his memoir
I Believe in a Battle, in which he publicly defended his record, both as Eisenhower’s anti-communist vice president and George Romney’s interventionist Secretary of State.
Nixon cast himself as an “elder statesman” for the Republican Party, a throwback to a simpler time, a “better” time, when Republicans were the party to sort out the “messes' ' thrown up by Democratic bungles overseas. He claimed he was the “mastermind” behind Bush’s popular and widely admired China policy, as well as the “Walkers Point Accords”, where Bush had gotten Israel and Egypt to agree to early, tentative steps toward peace in the Middle East. Nixon’s appearance on
Firing Line with William F. Buckley helped reintroduce him to conservatives, as well. Though he espoused a more moderate line on domestic policy, he absolutely tore into Reagan on his “lack of any foreign policy experience whatsoever”. He accused the former vice president, with whom he had worked temporarily in the early days of the Bush Administration, of being “entirely unequipped to grasp the intricate realities of the Cold War world.” Though he fell short of actually insulting Reagan’s intelligence, when Nixon declared his own candidacy for the 1980 nomination, his campaign manager, Roger Stone, set his “hellhounds” - Lee Atwater and Paul Manafort - to the task at once. Beginning in New Hampshire and ramping up with each subsequent race, Atwater and Manafort released anti-Reagan ads that truly came to redefine the term “negative”.
Above: Paul Manafort; Roger Stone; and Lee Atwater. Together, these three men would revolutionize the negative campaign ad.
It started innocuously enough.
They called Reagan the “FINO” - “frontrunner in name only” - to try and rob him of some of his momentum. These early ads pointed out that Reagan lost several early primaries. Even the ones he won, they claimed, he did so narrowly. “Isn’t it time we had a nominee for all Republicans?” the ad asked. It then flashed to the image of Nixon’s face. “Isn’t it time we had a nominee that made our country proud?”
But this was only the beginning.
Beginning in South Carolina, then carrying on throughout the South, the Stone-Atwater machine began pumping out ads painting Reagan as a “liberal Trojan horse”, sent to the GOP to destroy the “true conservatism” of men like Richard Nixon. These ads highlighted several of Reagan’s decisions as governor of California. These included the tax increases he signed off on, his failure to outlaw abortion (his veto of a bill legalizing the practice had been overridden by the state legislature), and his support for basic gun control legislation. They accused Reagan of being an “opportunist” - a favorite line of Nixon’s on the campaign trail. Reagan was once a New Deal Democrat, they pointed out. He’d tried to unseat an incumbent Republican president in 1972. He’d been the president of a union (the Screen Actors’ Guild)! Could he really be relied upon to bring true change to the liberal malaise in Washington?
Though Reagan tried to counter these ads with positive, sunny ones of his own, showing off his charisma and personal charm, these were not as immediately successful as he might have hoped. Reagan managed squeaker wins in South Carolina and Alabama, only to be narrowly defeated in Florida and Georgia by Nixon. From there, the hits just kept on coming.
Ads played in the Chicago suburbs ahead of the Illinois primary played spliced-together clips of the former vice president stumbling over his words at press conferences and during debates. Though never stated outright, the ads seemed to question Reagan’s mental acuity, a damning charge indeed in the aftermath of President Udall’s decision not to seek reelection due to his Parkinson’s diagnosis. These were contrasted meanwhile, with ads where Nixon eloquently spoke about “the Silent Majority” of Americans, being left behind and ignored by the “new, radical left” in the nation’s capital. Reagan managed another win in Illinois, but lost Connecticut to Dole, of all people. Anger in the Reagan campaign grew at the “nastiness” being employed by Nixon’s people. Ditto for Dole, who called for “civility”. Nixon, bitter as ever, refused. He delighted in the misery being inflicted on Reagan, whom he privately considered “a boor”.
The last straw of this trend came in late March, just ahead of the New York primary, one of the largest in the race. In the lead up to the Empire State’s contest, Stone and Atwater released an ad based on rumors that they had managed to dig up surrounding the Reagans’ personal life, in particular Nancy Reagan’s affinity for astrology. The ad, entitled “The Oracle in Chief?” questioned whether, should Reagan be elected, the nation’s policy would be determined by some shadowy diviner in a dark, shadowy cloak, wielding a dagger, looking over tarot cards or into a crystal ball. The ad played into the stereotype of Reagan as a “Hollywood elitist” out of touch with the average American.
Unfortunately for Nixon, however, the ad, though slick in its execution and damning to Reagan’s image, ultimately backfired.
Just two days before the primary on March 25th, Reagan appeared at a press conference in Manhattan alongside real estate mogul and emerging celebrity Donald Trump, who offered the former VP his endorsement, and called the Nixon campaign’s tactics, “Nasty. Really nasty, folks.” Trump shared his personal opinion that quote, “‘Drunk Dick’ Nixon’s just trying to cover up for being at the bottom of a bottle. Believe me, alcoholism is bad news. I should know. Members of my own family had problems with it. I avoid the stuff.”
Reagan then delivered a clear, concise statement in which he defended himself and his record. He disarmed critiques about his age with typical Reagan wit. “I’ve been touring every state in this country. All thirteen of them, and let me tell you…” And later, “Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.”
After several months of vitriolic campaigning, the effectiveness of the Atwater ads diminished. The American people were hurting. The economy continued to sputter. Unemployment and inflation both remained high. The country appeared to be in decline. The last thing that voters wanted, it seemed, was for their prospective leaders to bicker and hurl insults while the ship they were supposed to be manning slipped below water.
Though it would take some time, over the next few months, Reagan’s sunny, hopeful optimism won out over Nixon’s bitter nihilism. The “Manhattan Speech” as it came to be known, stood as a moment of defiance for Reagan and the New Right as a whole. It showed GOP voters and the world that conservatism did not, in William F. Buckley’s words, “need to be the language of rage and fury”. Of course, Buckley’s arch-nemesis Gore Vidal pointed out in his own, nationally syndicated column that “Reagan and Nixon - though certainly opposite in persona - are virtually identical in terms of their politics”. Despite a few more Dole wins in his native Kansas and Michigan (following an endorsement from House Minority Leader Gerald Ford), Reagan managed to secure enough delegates to clinch the nomination before he reached the convention.
It seemed, at long last, like conservatism was about to have its triumph.
The 1980 Republican National Convention was held in Detroit, Michigan at the Joe Louis Arena from July 14th - July 17th. Reagan’s campaign slogan, “Come Home, America!” became the convention’s theme. In contrast to the deliberately diverse New York City convention that the Democrats were planning for August, the GOP favored a much more traditional, “middle America” type aesthetic, so to speak. Representative Guy Vander Jagt, often called “the most eloquent man in Congress” was chosen as the keynote speaker. Other prominent speakers included former president George Bush, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford, and Congresswoman Phyllis Schlafley (R - IL), who announced that she was “all in for Reagan!” The plan was for the convention to resolve the issues that had come up during the primary season and unite the party over its platform and behind its chosen candidate. Unfortunately for the GOP, Nixon had other plans.
To his previous humiliations, the former Secretary of State now added “beaten by Reagan”. Despite being, in his own mind, far more intelligent than that “huckster”, Nixon had failed to convince his own party that he was the better choice to represent them in November. Perhaps, he mused, he was defeated by the fact the other guys were going to nominate a Kennedy once more - Bobby this time. After all, the little shit was doing everything in his power to bring back memories of 1960. Why wouldn’t the Republicans? Who lost to JFK that year? Oh, that’s right! Tricky Dick! Well, they wouldn’t have Nixon to kick around anymore. He would show them. He would show all of them.
Nixon held enough delegates to demand floor time at the convention so he could deliver a speech. Though Reagan and his team had requested that the rules be changed, party chairman Bill Brock of Tennessee (who had succeeded Bob Dole when the latter ran for president) worried that such a move might provoke Nixon’s supporters to walk out of the convention on live television. Such a display of in-fighting, Brock argued, could only help the Democrats. Thus, Reagan tried a different tact.
He reached out to his old friend, Senator Barry Goldwater (R - AZ), the man whose 1964 candidacy had launched Reagan’s own political career. Goldwater in turn paid a call on Nixon, visiting him at his suite in the Hotel Renaissance, a few floors below. The entire conversation was caught on tape recorders that Nixon had planted.
Direct as ever, Goldwater nodded through the pleasantries, then got down to business. He knew Nixon well. The two had failed to work together to prevent a Romney nomination in 1968. Now, twelve years later, they’d found each other at odds once again. Goldwater tried to appeal to Nixon’s sense of pride.
“Well, you’ve made an ass of yourself, Dick.” Goldwater admitted. “But you can still come out of this alright. What’s it going to take for you to do the right thing? Hm? You want input on the platform? The running mate?” He raised an eyebrow. “You're going to press Ron to pick your little protege there, Rumsfeld?”
Nixon glowered.
“I’m giving that speech.”
“Why do you want to give a speech, anyway? Why’s it so important to you?”
“The people of this party,” Nixon spoke slowly, deliberately. “Deserve to know why I campaigned the way I did. They deserve to hear from me.”
“This isn’t about you.” Goldwater countered. “Come on, Dick. You can’t run down the candidate at the convention. They’ll bury you.”
“They can try.”
Goldwater frowned.
“Don’t you have any principles? This isn’t about you anymore. It’s about the party.”
Nixon’s face turned a beet, beet red. At that moment, Barry knew he’d put his foot in his mouth at the worst possible time.
“Now… you listen here, you… you son of a bitch!” Nixon shouted, angrily. “I’ve spent my entire adult life putting ‘the party’ first. You hear me? Rockefeller in ‘64. Then Romney. That little twerp George Bush! This ‘Grand Old Party’ has let every slick bastard have their way with her, except me. She’s too high class for me, right? Some bitch.”
Goldwater, stunned, stood there in silence.
“Old ‘Bonzo’ can put Rummy on the ticket if he wants.” Nixon continued. “If he has half a brain in that empty skull of his, maybe he will. At least Don knows foreign policy. The military. But come Hell or High-water, I won’t let him take this from me. This speech. I’ve earned that much, at least. All the funds I’ve raised. All the damn miles I’ve logged.”
He looked down into his glass of gin and downed it in one gulp. Then, looking up.
“Barry,”
“Yeah, Dick?”
“Get the fuck out of my hotel room.”
That night, Richard M. Nixon was called to the podium to speak at the convention.
He’d asked his star pupil, Senator Donald Rumsfeld of Illinois to introduce him. But Rumsfeld, nursing a growing ambition of his own, took one look at the proposed text of Nixon’s speech and declined. He refused to be associated with his mentor, who appeared to be shredding whatever remained of his reputation. Instead, Rumsfeld, who had previously abstained from doing so, used his own short speech earlier in the day to formally endorse Ronald Reagan for president. Witty and charming, Rumsfeld arguably stole the show on the second day of the convention with his speech and his bright, beaming smile. Already a major rising star in the party, Rumsfeld was indeed on Reagan’s vice presidential shortlist.
Instead, Nixon introduced himself.
The former Secretary of State stood at the podium, cast a glance out at the audience, who all waited with baited breath. What would he say? The insults and vitriol of the Atwater ad campaign was still fresh in all of their minds. From their place at the back of the arena, Ronald and Nancy Reagan watched, their hands tightly clasped together.
"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Republicans…”
As he spoke, his words echoed back to him over the powerful PA system.
“As we gather here in Detroit, I am reminded of the strength and resilience of our great party. For many years, we have stood together, united by our shared values and principles. We've faced numerous challenges, and together, we've charted a course for our nation.
But, my friends, today, we face a decision of utmost importance, one that will shape the future of our party and our nation. It's no secret that my own political journey has had its highs and lows. I've experienced the thrill of victory and the bitterness of defeat.”
“In the years since I left public office, I've watched as our nation has navigated turbulent waters. I've watched as others stepped into the role I myself sought, leading our great nation. Some of these leaders have taken our party in new directions, and that's what makes our democracy so strong – the opportunity for change and evolution.”
“Ronald Reagan, our party's nominee…”
Nixon paused. His heart was racing. This would be good. He’d show them. He’d…
He looked out, into the crowd.
In the front row stood his wife, Pat. There were tears in her eyes. She met his gaze and shook her head.
Don’t do it, honey. Those eyes said. Julie and Tricia were here too, along with their husbands.
Nixon couldn’t believe it. He was tired. Furious. More than a little tipsy. But he couldn’t let Pat down again, or his girls. Not here. Not now.
He drew a breath. He went off script.
“Ronald Reagan is one such leader.”
Nixon paused.
“I acknowledge the deep differences that have marked our political journeys. He has a… a vision for our country, as I had mine, and he seeks to lead in his way.”
The convention hall remained silent for a moment, then broke into a round of furious applause. As frightened as everyone had been that Dick Nixon would run down Reagan, would continue to spew the gutter talk he had all throughout the primaries, he managed to deliver a fairly eloquent endorsement of his great rival at long last, weaving his planned text with some off-the-cuff remarks.
“We must remember”, Nixon went on.
“That our party is a broad coalition. It is a coalition of different voices, different ideas, and different visions. It's a party that values robust debate and diverse perspectives.
“As we move forward into the 1980 election, we stand at a crossroads.”
“The Cold War isn't thawing; it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn't sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting. Our nation's challenges are too great, and our world is too dangerous for bitterness and division. It is my hope that our party can move forward united, respecting our differences, and working toward the common good.
I want to extend my gratitude to all who have supported me through the years, and to wish the Republican Party success in the upcoming election. Let us remember that in the end, it's not about the individuals who serve, but about the principles we uphold and the nation we all hold dear.
Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America."
Stepping down from the podium amidst sustained, thunderous applause, Nixon was greeted by a shocked and delighted Reagan. The two men shook hands.
“Dick, that was marvelous.” Reagan said. “I was deeply moved by what you said, just now.”
Nixon, one arm around Pat, managed to force a smile.
“Yeah, well… Guess I’m a better salesman than a candidate, huh Ron?” He nodded toward the crowd. “They’re cheering me now, but only because I support you. It’s you they love.”
“That may be,” Reagan admitted. “But you paved the way for me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without you. I owe you a great deal.” The nominee-to-be then leaned in and whispered in Nixon’s ear. “Those guys who wrote those ads for you. You think they’d work for me? Help me show ‘Prince Bobby’ what for?”
Nixon frowned.
Ironically enough, he held no real ill-will toward Bob Kennedy, nor for any of the Kennedys for that matter. He lumped them in with the other rich snots, but he knew that they’d taken their lumps over the years. Their Irish-ness set them apart. Forced them to work harder for respect, for the esteem their station owed them. In that sense, as a child of poverty, he respected the Kennedys. Then again, if it helped Roger, Paul, and Lee to still get paid after the primaries, he’d give them his blessing. Let them run wild, see where they end up.
Dick Nixon didn’t care any more.
“Sure. I’ll give you their cards.”
…
Above: Pro-life and pro-choice protesters clashed outside of the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit throughout the 1980 RNC, just as they had four years prior.
After the drama surrounding Nixon’s speech resolved itself, however, the convention continued to be plagued with infighting. When the time came to decide on the party’s platform, the issue of abortion once again led to shouting and verbal arguments on the convention floor, which mirrored protests of the same description happening outside. As far as that issue was concerned, the GOP were roughly divided into three camps.
The strongly “pro-life” faction, which included the nominee, wanted to overturn
Doe v. Bolton, the Supreme Court decision that had codified the right to choose back in 1973. If this proved impossible through the judicial process, then they wanted to write, adopt, and ratify a constitutional amendment protecting the right-to-life for the unborn. This faction believed not just in the utter morality of their argument, but felt that only by endorsing this view in the party platform would the Republicans stand a chance at peeling away Catholics from Bob Kennedy’s coalition come November.
Opposing them were the equally vocal “pro-choice” Republicans. Mostly “country club”, liberal Republicans from the Northeast and the West Coast, these delegates feared that by changing the party’s official stance on the issue, they would alienate moderates, particularly in light of the already very conservative policy slate advocated for by their nominee.
Finally, in the ever shrinking middle, were those who favored re-enacting the plank that had held four years earlier on the issue. In 1976, the GOP had called for
Doe v. Bolton to be overturned, as it was found to be too “sweeping”. In its place, the moderates wanted the issue to be decided once more on a state-by-state basis. They felt that this was an acceptable, fairly moderate position, that could reasonably be sold to just about anyone who would consider voting Republican.
In the end, the moderates won out for another four years. The ‘76 plank was re-adopted.
But, the liberals, unhappy with Reagan as the nominee, feared John B. Anderson’s Independent campaign (more on that in a moment). They wanted Reagan to moderate his rhetoric on abortion and to choose a running mate whose views (and voting record) were more in line with their own on the issue. This disqualified Donald Rumsfeld, who’d consistently maintained a pro-life position in the Senate. Instead, Reagan settled for the other finalist on his short list: Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee.
A well-liked, moderate consensus-builder, Baker seemed the perfect counterpoint to the sweeping rhetoric and majestic oratory of Reagan.
…
In his acceptance speech, nominee Ronald Reagan attempted to corral his party behind him, to leave behind the bitterness of disappointed Nixon supporters and the fights over abortion.
To his credit, he gave an eloquent, poignant address about America still being “that shining city on a hill”. Though he did not mention the presumptive Democratic nominee by name, Reagan attempted to get out ahead of Bob Kennedy, well-known for his inspiring words and Catholic moralism. Reagan concluded his speech by declaring.
“There are no easy answers, but there are simple ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.”
Unfortunately for Reagan’s campaign, because the platform vote and vice presidential nomination had taken so long to complete, his speech did not air until almost two in the morning Eastern Standard Time. The vast majority of Americans who had tuned into the Republican Convention on TV, who hadn’t already tuned out in disgust over the fury on display, were by then fast asleep.
In the days and weeks that followed, the major story to come out of the convention was for the press to dub it the “Republican Riot”. Pundits and commentators criticized the GOP for infighting that in William F. Buckley’s words, “caused them to verge on incoherence”. Reagan still received the customary “convention bump”, especially as the economy continued to stall as the summer wore on. But it was not as large as initially hoped.
Heading into the Democratic convention in August, Ronald Reagan led Robert Kennedy in opinion polls by only a handful of points, well within the margin of error.
1980 Republican Ticket - REAGAN/BAKER
Next Time on Blue Skies in Camelot: A Third-Party Campaign for President
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