CHAPTER 1:
“More than anything else, I want my candidacy to unify our country, to renew the American spirit and sense of purpose. I want to carry our message to every American, regardless of party affiliation, who is a member of this community of shared values.”
-- Ronald Reagan’s speech at the 1980 Republican National Convention
Every breath hurt. Each gasp, worse than the one before it. What was worse, no matter how much air he tried to breath in, it never felt like enough. So that meant another breath in, and another bout of sharp pain in his ribs.
He joked to those around him that he felt fine but in truth, every move he made hurt. Lights hurt to look at, so tinted shades covered his eyes. His sleep, when he could sleep, was interrupted by the ever-present agony that tormented his waking life, pulling him back into consciousness.
The beating, and the message that went with it, gave a clear order: Go away, and stay away.
The Nicaraguan soldiers of the Somoza regime had said as much: “Go home, dog. Tell the rest of the scum what happened to you”.
The vicious beating that he and his interpreter endured served was to serve as a warning any journalist who came to Nicaragua would suffer the same fate, given the perception of foreign journalists as "part of the vast network of communist propaganda".
When they returned to the United States on a plane chartered by his employer, ABC News, the world saw what had happened to them. It was recorded by a cameraman inside of the van they were operating out of.
His interviews with his fellow journalists only served to further fuel the anger of the American public, aimed squarely at Somoza regime.
His President, Jimmy Carter, personally met with him and expressed his condolences over the torment inflicted upon him and awarded he and crew medals for their bravery.
He described the violence as “an act of barbarism that all civilized people condemn” and withdrew US support from the Somoza regime.
A month later, Somoza fled Nicaragua and the Sandinistas took control shortly thereafter.
Denied asylum in the US, Somoza settled in Paraguay, where he was assassinated by Sandinista agents in 1980.
The event brought Bill Stewart no joy or closure.
Despite the senseless violence of what occurred, he felt his business in Nicaragua was not yet finished. All the fame, respect, and attention afforded to him as a recognisable figure meant very little.
He was a nationally and internationally renowned figure, but that he was known for being a victim – and that was not why he went to Nicaragua. He went to break a story, to be a journalist, to live his dream.
If he was to reclaim himself, he needed to be known as something other than the guy who filmed getting his ribs caved in by Somoza’s storm trooper.
A few months after Somoza’s death, he made up his mind knew - he would return to the site of his defining moment and find some way to move beyond the violent act done to him.
Nicaragua was not done with Bill Stewart, and nor was he done with it.
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“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government
is the problem.”
It was those words in Reagan’s inaugural address that had set Walter Mondale on the path to run for President in 1984.
Mondale was a political disciple of Hubert Humphrey, and had seen firsthand the positive, transformative power of government when President Franklin Roosevelt had lifted his community, alongside so many others, out of the Great Depression with his New Deal agenda.
The beliefs he gained in childhood still shaped him to this day, and he was not about to let anyone – even the 40th President of the United States, trample on them.
For now, he had to sit, smile for the camera, and accommodate Reagan as part of the peaceful transition of power. But in 1984, he knew he would have a chance to respond.
However, Mondale had to be realistic. He, and the great President he had served under, had lost a landslide election. Reagan had won 44 states, and in a 3-way contest, attained a popular vote margin of 9.7%. A sober look at the facts told Mondale one thing – Jimmy Carter’s administration was not popular.
So he would approach the next for years carefully, and use them constructively – he would teach at a university in Minnesota, examine issues at his own pace without the pressures of day-to-day crisis management, read extensively, and speak to people from outside the Washington bubble to get a fresh perspective.
He would be a whole new Mondale, refreshed intellectually and spiritually, and he would take his time in building up the right staff, and coalition, to sweep Reagan out of office. Because in the end, Reagan was, as his mentor Hubert Humphrey once said was “just George Wallace sprinkled with eau de cologne”.
Remembering that line made Mondale crack his first genuine smile of that day.
Something else brightened that chilly January 20th day. The thought of 1984.
Mondale knew the liberalism he stood for, the ideals of good governance and caring for ones’ fellow man, would propel him to the White House. And in 4 years’ time, it would be him delivering an inaugural address from the State Capitol.
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On March 30th, 1981, President Ronald Reagan strode out of the Washington Hilton Hotel, following a speaking engagement with members of the AFL-CIO.
He was still riding high in the glow of a massive landslide victory the previous November.
America’s newly elected 40th President had brought with him several new Republican faces to the House and Senate, and with any luck, they would soon pass a bill that would substantially lower taxes, stimulate the economy and end Carter’s recession.
Reagan, ever the optimist, looked at the next four years as being full of endless possibility. He was determined to give to the world the America he had inside him – the shining city on a hill.
Little did he know, however, that a figure skulking in the crowd that afternoon was moments away from putting an end to all that promise.
John Hinckley Jr stood in wait. This would be the ultimate expression of his love. He knew he might die, but it didn’t matter – Jodie Foster meant too much to him. He would do this, and she would see him as an equal, and she would have to love him.
Reagan approached now. Hinckley was about to have his chance, with Reagan right in front of him.
Hinckley assumed a crouch position and attempted to draw his Röhm RG-14 revolver.
However, his nervous meant that his motion to draw the weapon was clumsy.
Rather than smoothly draw his weapon, he awkwardly tried to pull the weapon from his pocket, initially getting it caught on the fabric, then forcibly jerking it out.
This motion caused him to drop the weapon onto the ground, resulting in it going off and a bullet hitting Washington DC police officer, Thomas Delahanty, in his left shin.
A nearby labor union official, Alfred Antenucci, saw Hinckley’s fumbled assassination attempt and tacked him to the ground, before landing several punches to the back of his head,
The moment the gun went off, Reagan was shoved into his limousine by Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr, who dove on top of the President to protect him. As he did so, a sea of police and Secret Service agents converged on Hinckley.
Parr inspected Reagan, who was unhurt except for bumping his head as he was shoved into the limousine. They returned to the White House, and he made a brief statement thanking “the brave DC police and Secret Service members who may well have saved my life” and brought particular attention to “Officer Tom Delahanty, who was wounded in the line of duty”.
Reagan took his survival as a sign from the heavens that things were looking up for America – there would no national shock from the death of a President, no “what if?” as to his legacy, and no period of national mourning. Nancy was, of course, frightened by the incident but relieved that her husband was unhurt.
The attempt of the President’s life caused his approval rating to jump slightly, then subside to previous numbers shortly thereafter.
The failed attempt on Reagan’s life by a man obsessed with Jodie Foster would ultimately prove to be an odd curiosity, rather than a defining event of Reagan’s first term.
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Joseph Crane rubbed his eyes. He took in a long drag of the cigarette in his hand.
I should’ve just not showed up and taken the ban, he thought to himself. Better than working himself half the death so Ronnie Reagan could look like the tough cowboy he played in movies.
The irony was not lost on him – PATCO had supported Reagan in his election against Jimmy Carter.
He recalled the arguments amongst the boys.
“He’s a former union man!”
“Carter is a sissy. Reagan will whip the Russians.”
“He’s for us. Remember that letter he sent to Robert Poli?”
Hell, after a while Crane himself started to believe it. Maybe Reagan was the shining hero, right out of a movie coming to save America and help out the members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization.
What a lie that was. President Reagan had strung the whole of PATCO along, then left them out to dry the moment negotiations got tough.
The bosses organized a sickout, and Reagan had responded with an ultimatum – come to work, or lose your job.
Well, Joe had come to work. Most of his buddies hadn’t.
And now he and the other poor saps who showed up were dumped with extra work while the White House rushed around trying to find non-union replacements or Air Force guys to pick up the slack. They were overworked, understaffed, and demoralized. Not a great combination, Joe thought.
He didn’t so much sip his coffee as chug down what was left of the cup.
He and his fellow air traffic controllers were in for a long night.
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America woke on the morning of August 9th, 1981, to news of a horrible accident.
A commercial airliner, a Boeing 747 flying from Japan to New York City, crashed into the World Trade Center, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.
The tragedy occurred at around 3:30 AM in the morning, and as such, the only people present in the tower were cleaning staff.
The event could have been much worse, but for the fact that the plane was at the end of a long journey and had spent half an hour circling JFK, waiting for permission to land.
This had meant the fuel tank was relatively low when the plane made contact and lessened the size of the blaze that occurred when flaming jet fuel meant flammable office furniture and whatever paper materials were left around the office.
Firefighters rushed to the scene, and spent hours putting out the inferno and rescuing anyone trapped inside.
In total, 285 people, making up passengers and crew, were killed, along with 11 others in or around the Tower when it was struck by the Boeing 747. Three firefighters would lose their lives in the line of duty responding to the disaster.
While the economic, social, and political fallout would only be evident later, the outpouring of grief at the loss of life in this terrible accident was immediately apparent.
The World Trade Center was a cultural icon, a symbol of not just New York, but Americana itself, and an international tourist destination and symbol of the financial might of the United States.
To see it damaged as it had been sent a shudder through the national psyche of the United States – for Ronald Reagan, whose whole presidency was predicated on restoring America’s sense of pride in itself, this was a great blow indeed.
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To say that the Reagan White House panicked in response to what was being called the World Trade Center 747 Accident was something of an understatement.
Reagan called an emergency cabinet meeting to address both the federal response to this tragedy, and the political and public relations response to the controversy that was sure to come from it.
As the Cabinet bickered, debated, deflected, and suggested, Reagan sat silently and stared around the room, as though looking for someone to save him from the predicament he now found himself him in.
He had played hardball with the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, firing more than 10,000 air traffic controllers, and only a few days later the United States had its worst aviation disaster in the history of the nation.
The two men, alongside Reagan, who were sure to receive the most political heat were Secretary of Transportation, Drew Lewis, and Attorney General William French Smith.
Both men were present at the press conference were Reagan issues his ultimatum and both were seen as key players in the President’s controversial decision to fire the striking PATCO workers who did not comply with his demand.
“Mr President,” Lewis said, “If we back flip on this, we’re dead in the water. You laid down the law and were clear as can be – the strike was illegal, and the strikers broke the law and must be punished. Your word is final. Hire these people again and everyone from Tip O’Neil to Leonid Brezhnev will think your words mean nothing.”
“We’re going to get blamed for this. No two ways about it.”, interjected Edwin Meese, a mainstay of Reagan’s political circle since his days as California Governor, and current Counselor to the President.
James Baker, the President’s Chief of Staff, sought to get to the heart of the matter and turned directly to the Reagan.
“Mr President, now’s the time for you to be seen as a leader during a national tragedy. If the Democrats or anyone else tries to pin this on you, then they’re just trying to use a terrible accident for partisan mudslinging. We’ll prepare a speech for you to give in the Oval Office.”
The art of public performance. That was something Reagan knew he could do. The clear directive for Reagan to do what he did best – appeal to the nation through public address – focused and calmed the President.
“Well, I can certainly do that.”, the President responded, with a wry, nervous smile.
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“My fellow Americans, events that transpired this morning in Lower Manhattan have shaken the city of New York, and this nation, to the core.
Nancy and I share the grief felt by millions of you at home, as we watched alongside so many of you, the footage of that plane hitting The World Trade Center. Others heard the reports over the radio or got a call from a frightened neighbor.
However any of us received the news, one thing is certain – we are all bound together by our grief and by our sympathy for the lives lost and the families impacted by this terrible occurrence.
Experts tell us that this is the worst aviation disaster in American history, and almost 300 people have lost their lives. But these are not just statistics, and each life lost has a story behind it – a family that will mourn them, friends who will cherish their memory, the dreams, and the people they’ve left behind – this is a true measurement of this unspeakable tragedy that has befallen this nation.
To those who have lost friends and loved ones – we cannot bare as you do, the full burden of such an inconceivable loss. But we feel your pain, and you are in our thoughts and our prayers.
There will be an investigation, to be sure. This White House will do all it can to get to the bottom of this tragic event and do our utmost to make sure it never happens again. While do not know the exact cause of today's events, we do know one thing for sure – our first priority is, and must be, the safety of the American people. It is for this reason that as President, I am ordering a 24 hour halt to air traffic in American airspace, with the exception military, police, and medical flights.
Our administration is in close contact with state and local officials in New York, and we’re working tirelessly to get the city back on its feet.
In times of national tragedy, we as a nation have always found a way to come together and remember those we have lost, determined to forge a new path dedicated to their memory, together.
For almost a decade, the World Trade Center has stood as a symbol of ingenuity and accomplishment – towering pillars of excellence that stand watch over a dynamic and vibrant sprawl, so renowned for excitement they called it “The City That Never Sleeps”. Today those proud pillars were damaged, but they can and will be rebuilt, stronger than ever.
And perhaps we’ve forgotten that the ideals the World Trade Center represents are stronger than steel and concrete. For it is called the
World Trade Center – not the
American Trade Center. We know that there are millions more people across the globe who mourn with us.”
The speech was classic Reagan, soaring rhetoric, dripping with American exceptionalism, designed to bring the nation together and preempt any efforts by Democrats to blame Reagan’s decisions as being a contributing factor in the crash.
While Reagan sought to console and calm the nation with a resonant speech, his cabinet secretaries were tasked with handling the more practical matters of addressing the crisis.
Members of the Reagan administration were in close contact with New York Governor, Hugh Carey, and the Mayor of New York City, Ed Koch.
The effect on New York City, an area that had already become synonymous with urban decay and the “malaise” of the 1970s, was profound.
Mass transit in and around The World Trade Center were completely shut down minutes after the plane hit the tower and would resume days later.
Many financial institutions based in Lower Manhattan were closed on the day of August 9th. Most were operating as normal by the 12th.
The South Tower would be closed for repairs for months, while the rest of The World Trade Center would resume regular activities in the days and weeks following the accident.
Hundreds of already struggling small businesses were crippled by the events of August 9th, and the subsequent disruptions that continued thereafter. As a result, thousands of jobs were lost.
For a city already saddled by economic woes, high rates of crime and racial tension, this was yet another misfortune.
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In the days, weeks and months following the World Trade Center 747 Accident, a congressional investigation was launched, and countless media exposes were released to the public.
Whistle-blowers inside the aviation industry spoke of the conditions they were put under, following the mass firing of 11,345 striking air traffic controllers. They were forced to work long shifts, with fewer breaks and in workplaces with critically low morale.
The United States Senate Select Committee to Study The World Trade Center Aviation Accident, better known as the Packwood Committee, made a finding that the conditions which led to the fatal accident “were the result of human error, and abetted by critically low manpower and improper workplace practices among those responsible for air traffic control”.
This made Reagan’s decision to fire them over the labor dispute incredibly divisive. On one hand, his detractors stated that Reagan’s harsh decision had created the conditions that allowed for the incident to happen.
Inversely, those who supported Reagan, claimed that his detractors were politicizing a tragedy and the fault rests with the individual air traffic controller and pilots whose errors caused the crash. They also blamed the union for being unreasonable, breaking the law, and forcing Reagan’s hand.
Thus began the first truly divisive flashpoint in Reagan’s presidency – his decision to break the PATCO strike and fire the striking workers.
In the aftermath of the event, Reagan’s approval rating briefly went up a few points, then as more information was released to the public about the causes behind the crash, his approval rating sunk to 44% by October of 1981. This was no doubt enhanced by the continuing recession that plagued the US and much of the world.
However, perhaps the biggest impact of the day of August 9th was on the national psyche – Ronald Reagan had campaigned on improving America’s shaken national confidence following the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. What began with the assassination of President Kennedy, through the Vietnam War, civil unrest, Watergate, the Oil Crisis, and Iran Hostage Crisis, had continued with the World Trade Center 474 Accident.
It was the first sign that perhaps Reagan’s talk of American renewal in the 1980s was not all it was cracked up to be.
Perhaps America’s hard luck was set to continue, after all.
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October of 1981 saw the passage of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981.
It was a bill primarily built on compromise between the Republican executive and Senate, and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
Senator Bob Dole was a central figure in the final version of the ERTA that was signed into law. It closed several tax loopholes, introduced stricter compliance and tax-collection measures, increased excise taxes on cigarettes and telephone services, and corporate taxes were not lowered to the extent Reagan and his fellow supply siders would have wanted.
Reagan got his income tax cut through, however. Within 3 years, the top tax rate would be lowered from 70% to 50%, while the lowest would be reduced from 14% to 11%.
Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 into law at Rancho del Cielo, his vacation home.
Located on top the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara, California, it would come to be known as the Western White House by the public and the media, given Reagan’s frequent visits while in office.
In signing the legislation, Reagan called it “the culmination of months of tough negotiation between the White House and the Congress. I would like to give particular thanks for Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for his work in seeing the passage of this vitally important piece of legislation.”
He went on to highlight how this tax bill was “the most sweeping overhaul of tax code in our nation's history… that encourages risk-taking, innovation, and that old American spirit of enterprise.”
The passage of this legislation lifted Reagan’s approval rating, which sat around 46%, to 50%. His Presidency had been marred by the PATCO/World Trade Center controversy and partisan gridlock for much of his first year, but the passage of major legislation did much to redeem his first year, in his own eyes if nothing else.
Despite touting it as a major success, behind the scenes, conservatives were frustrated at the number of concessions Reagan had accepted to get it passed. It was not the piece of legislation that Jack Kemp and William Roth envisioned.
The anger of conservatives had to go somewhere, and in the end, it was directed at James Baker, Reagan’s chief of staff.
Baker was a former Democrat and had endorsed George Bush in the Republican primary of 1980. His influence, particularly on domestic legislation, was considerable. He had facilitated much of the negotiations between the White House, the Senate, and the House, and encouraged Reagan to seek compromise where he could, to get the bill passed.
Howard Phillips and Clymer Wright, two conservative activists and early Reagan backers, were central figures in galvanizing opposition to Baker, and encouraging Reagan to dismiss him. Baker, they argued, was undercutting the conservatives in both the White House and the Congress, and had to go. He was the reason for the President’s disappointing first year in office.
Reagan had no intention of doing so, but the increased stress on Baker began to affect him. Weight gain, depression, and a lethargy soon followed.
By early 1982, Baker was ready to leave.
“Mr. President”, he said, “It’s been an honor working for you. But I just can’t do this anymore. I think it’s time for me to go into the private sector.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, James.” Reagan replied.
Baker knew he would never hear from Reagan again, unless Baker himself reached out.
It was classic Reagan. For as gregarious and warm he seemed in public, in private, he was a deeply reserved person. This was especially true in political settings.
In the words of his biographer, Lou Cannon, Reagan was “humanly accessible to people who had never met him and impenetrable to those who tried to know him well.”
There was a barrier between Ronald Reagan and the rest of the world. For as much as foreign dignitaries and world leaders called him the most gregarious world leader they had ever met, his own staff found him oblivious to the needs their needs and almost completely passive in the face of any decision or hardship.
He gave no orders, no instructions. He gave no emotional support to those around him. Long-time staff could go away for months at a time on sabbatical, and they would return unsure if Reagan had even noticed they were gone at all.
It was not as if he was cruel or rude – quite the opposite, he was consistently polite to everyone in his circle – he simply kept an emotional distance between himself and everyone else around him that only Nancy could penetrate. And even then, only to a point.
This did not bode well for the internal culture of the Reagan White House – aides competed for Reagan’s favor, not knowing they would never get it. Many young, Reagan staffers and even hardened political operates would destroy themselves trying to gain the acknowledgement of a leader who seemed unwilling, or unable, to give them that attention and affection.
As a result, this created a White House with critically low morale at almost all times, and even the most capable aides who departed would soon write tell all memoirs about the inner workings of the Reagan White House – most of which, were not positive.
Reagan’s detached passivity made his most central staffing appointments, such as the Chief of Staff, utterly central to his Presidency. They were the true power inside the White House, who moved it along, gave the orders and guided everything.
It was any wonder that the job left Baker a burnt-out mess within a year. Reagan never scorned him, and even regretted the “campaign of harassment” directed at his departing Chief of Staff. But he never really thanked him – that was not Reagan’s way.
As such, a major cabinet reshuffle was conducted in early 1982, with James Baker’s departure from the White House.
Baker’s role of chief-of-staff would be carried out by Donald T. Regan, the incumbent Secretary of the Treasury. George Shultz was invited to return to government as Secretary of the Treasury, replacing Regan, which he accepted. Haig would remain as Secretary of State, in spite of his tensions with Caspar Weinberger, the incumbent Defense Secretary. Meanwhile, Reagan’s Secretary of Transportation, Drew Lewis, was quietly let go, and replaced by William Milliken, the long-time Republican Governor of Michigan.
With any luck, this new team would produce better results for Reagan’s next year, compared with his turbulent first year. With mid-terms rapidly approaching, Reagan needed some major victories that conservatives could get behind.
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Bill Stewart touched down in Nicaragua in January of 1982. He was unsure of how he might feel – nervous? Excited?
In truth, he felt calm. Relaxed. This is where he was supposed to be.
Here, he would build a new legacy for himself – one built on his journalistic talent, not his suffering.
Many people within Nicaragua recognized him, and a representative of the Sandinista government met him at the airport in Managua when he landed.
If he wanted a story, they told him, he could report on how much better life was for the people of Nicaragua now that the Sandinista government, led by Daniel Ortega, were in charge.
Stewart politely declined – there was another aspect of Nicaragua he’d come to report on. Conflict had brought him to this troubled nation in the first place, so it was conflict he sought to return to.
He had heard about a group of right-wing rebels conducting a campaign of guerrilla war throughout Nicaragua, in an attempt to overthrow the Sandinista government. This would be his story, nothing less would do.
He smirked and asked the government representative one question.
“What can you tell me about the Contras?”
