European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes monday january 23,1989 columns Andrew j. Glass Bush shows class while waiting for first crisis Enas platoons of res Irfan. Eve s platoons of presiden tial grandchildren Romp through the White House our local certified cynics Are wagering How Long it will be before the weekly news magazines run cover stories about George Bush s first whatever the answer it s a Safe bet that the honeymoon phase of the presi Dency won t last forever. In the real world crises can t be avoided. That should t upset anyone so Long As Bush shows he can handle them. If he does so he could Well emerge from such an Epi Sode As a stronger president. Although it was t evident at the time its now Clear that Ronald Reagan s for tunes Rose when he overcame two grave crises Early in his presidential career. The first Reagan crisis came when he was shot. That happened Only two months into his presidency a crucial period when the Champagne in the Politi Cal honeymoon glasses tends to go Flat. By peppering his doctors with one liners during a life threatening procedure Rea Gan showed everyone that he had what intakes. The second crisis came several months later still in his first year after he fired striking government air controllers despite warnings that the trans portion system could collapse. In breaking the controllers Union Reagan elicited respect among voters for his Tough Guy stance and fear among other government workers that they could suf Fer the same Fate. Reagan s predecessor Jimmy Carter arguably had More brainpower but alas worse Luck Gas shortages and the iranian hostage taking both struck Well into his presidency. Carter probably could have delayed his return to Georgia for four More years by bombing Tehran but that was not his style. And what of Reagan s successor is George Bush a swashbuckling Elbow grabbing texan in the tradition of Lyn Don Baines Johnson is he a reticent and finicky sock darning Yankee in the tradition of Calvin Coolidge or is he rather an establishment patrician drawn by James j. Kilpatrick let 1u� Hong Nevdon commence family tides to Public service in the Mold of John Kennedy and Nelso Rockefeller those who know George Bush say All three facets can be found in his makeup. What s so Odd about enjoying some Blue grass music while wearing your Skull & Bones Blazer or tossing horseshoes on the front Lawn while munching pork rinds you Don t have to be a real Bush in Sider however to unearth his main priorities. They Are 1 to win re election in 1992 and 2 to ensure a Good place i history. Those Aren t a bad set of goals for a National Leader so Long As a fatal Case of Nixon Ian style megalomania can be averted. In any event to improve his Odds on retaining office Bush needs to demonstrate a level of competency in governing that was never demanded from the affable Ane Todal Reagan. In some ways Bush s dimensions Are so obvious that they tend to be Over looked. He is the first president since Gerald Ford to have served in the con Gress. The contacts he has made As a longtime Washington resident in the House As a gop chairman and As vice president have served As the catalyst in cobbling together the new administration. He is also the first president Ever to have served As director of Central Intelli gence. That greatly improves the Odds As new presidents go that a will be Able to sift the inevitable St an of gossip and rumours and demand cod hard Intelli gence data. Since winning office Bush has already engaged in the kind of easy give and take with congressional types pressure groups and reporters that Rea Gan s handlers would never have Al Lowed. It s yet another Way for Bush to show that he is different and Independent from his former Boss without at the same time seeming to trash the Reagan legacy. Cox news service Reagan administration a class act All the Way 5torians just now Are Settine around to a a Larch Hie for Montc i. 1 i. ,_.,. historian getting o measured perspective on Woodrow Wilson. They have yet to get judiciously to Harding Coolidge and Hoo ver. We should allow a decent interval to elapse before fixing a permanent place for Ronald Reagan in the pantheon of presidents but let me give it a try eventually he will rank toward the top of a second Echelon. Reagan is no Lincoln nor was he meant to be. He had none of the unprecedented opportunities of George Washington he never had to Deal with de pression and War in the fashion of Franklin Roosevelt. His greatest achievement in foreign affairs the breakthrough toward peace with the soviet Union still is wet Concrete. It has t set yet. The key element of the Reagan presidency rests in political philosophy. He came to the White House with fixed principles. He never abandoned them and he rarely even compromised them. Curiously in this regard Reagan and Lyndon John son had something in common. Johnson was the perfect contemporary Liberal he believed that through the instrumental ties of the Federal government a great society could be achieved. Thus Johnson sought and obtained a significant expansion of the Federal role in our lives. For Good or ill the major entitlement pro Grams apart from social Security Date from the John son Era. Reagan s political principles flowed in precisely the opposite direction. He believed with Madison that the Powers of the Federal government Are limited he placed his Faith primarily in the states the localities the private sector and in the character of the people themselves. Over and Over in his Farewell address he returned to the theme of individual Freedom. The most the National government should do in the Reagan View is to promote an atmosphere in which the people have an Opportunity to pursue happiness in their own Way. After that it is up to them. It was in the name of Freedom that Reagan sought and obtained the dramatic tax reductions of his first year. He Felt then and feels now that government at every level takes away too much of the peo ple s resources. Some social ills and some perceived Public needs Are not properly the responsibility of Congress or the White House. God helps those who first help themselves. We Are not governed by abstract principles. We Are governed by Ordinary mortals. Reagan s greatest achievement Here at Home probably will be found in the nomination of conservative judges to the Federal Bench. They will be shaping the Constitution into the next Century. But an important intangible achievement came As a direct consequence of his personality. The nation Wanned its cold hands Over the warmth of his confident Good nature. Carried into a Hospital with an Assassin s Bullet in his left lung he could joke about wanting a Republican doctor. Challenged Over the size of the Federal deficit he could deflate his critics with humor he was t going to worry about the deficit it was big enough Totake care of itself. Reagan was never smarmy in the wheedling fashion 01 Lyndon Johnson. He had none of the darkness of Richard Nixon and surely he was Miles removed from the hooked rugs and Gingham affected by the Carters. He did not take himself too seriously but he took the presidency very seriously indeed. He and Nancy brought a special Grace to the White House. Their was a class act All the Way. Yes historians will find plenty of weights to put in the scale of liabilities. It is nonsense to assert As a writer m the Washington Post asserted the other Day that the deficits were "92 percent the fault of Reagan 8 percent the fault of one wonders at so meticulous a calculation. He provided leadership he made requests but Congress Cut the revenues and 5 Tropf drug Many Point alon8 the path to Ward the $2 trillion debt Congress had the Power to cry halt. Congress never did. Nevertheless Reagan must Bear some of the responsibility. The Iran Contra affair was a Blunder but 10 years 6 v love Fae ? from memory his administration suffered from the improprieties of some of his top Stan never overcame the hostility of Blacks. He probe Mac my magnitude of environmental hated h rides into his Odi affect on of our Star and he has c Universal press Syndicate
