Memories of Ronald Reagan

Murray Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum served as chairman of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1981-82 and was a member of the President’s Economic Policy Advisory Board for the remainder of his presidency.

Those of us who had the good fortune to work for Ronald Reagan have experienced a flood of personal memories in recent days. He was the man who joked about himself but took the job of being president very seriously—far more seriously than the public realized. He was the man who held strong views on public policy but who always treated those who disagreed with civility and respect—he did not know how to hate.

Of course, Ronald Reagan had a great repertoire of stories. But he knew how to use humor as an effective tool of management. On no occasion did I ever hear him say anything like “knock it off, we’ve heard that before.” Instead the signal was, “That reminds me of a story.” Quickly, we were off discussing another issue. In short, he was the best boss I ever had.

Nevertheless, the style of the Reagan Presidency was only the means—to successfully dealing with a host of difficult and important issues that faced the nation. In the area of economics, many of us have forgotten that escalating double-digit inflation was the number one problem on the mind of the American public when President Reagan took office in January 1981. The Reagan economic program—consisting of tax cuts, spending cuts, regulatory reform, and monetary restraint—quickly cooled the inflationary fever.

The economic program did not work painlessly. A sharp but very short recession occurred during the transition from rapid inflation to relative price stability. The goal of a balanced budget proved to be illusive. Nevertheless, we then experienced one of the longest peacetime expansions in American history. By the way, the process of writing the first major economic speech of the Reagan presidency revealed the nature of the man.

As the president and his advisors reviewed a draft of the speech, he held the master copy. He went over the speech paragraph by paragraph, listening to our comments. On several occasions, I questioned the accuracy of some statement. Rather than pulling rank—after all it was his speech—his response was always the same: “How do I make the point accurately?” Ronald Reagan did not command loyalty; he inspired it!

Perhaps the most lasting economic impact of the Reagan Presidency was to generate a new sense of realism and responsibility in business and personal decision making. Ronald Reagan—who reminded me on my first day on the job that he was an economics major at Eureka College—taught us all about “the magic of the marketplace.” Labor and management have both become more cost conscious and even aware of the awesome term “productivity” in a society in which government neither penalizes the winners nor readily rescues the losers in the marketplace.

A positive demonstrative effect occurred around the world. Witness the simultaneous spread of free-market economics in various parts of the globe. That includes some unexpected quarters such as the former Communist nations. Perhaps Ronald Reagan’s greatest single accomplishment was to help the West win the Cold War without firing a shot.

Through some very difficult times, President Reagan was always upbeat. I once sought an explanation from a senior White House staff member who had worked with him in California. The response was very enlightening: Ronald Reagan, in taking a more optimistic position than those around him, was right more often!     Ω

“To those who are fainthearted and unsure, I have this message: If you’re afraid of the future, then get out of the way, stand aside. The people of this country are ready to move again.”—Ronald Reagan