American History Tellers - Encore: Political Parties | The Reagan Revolution | 6

Episode Date: October 14, 2020

The year 1968 marked a watershed in American politics. Anti-war protests were roiling the country. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead in Memphis. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s approval rating was plummeting. The assassination of Democratic presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy would throw the party into disarray, toppling the New Deal coalition built by Franklin Delano Roosevelt two generations earlier and leading to a conservative surge.The political sea change would drive Republican nominee Richard Nixon to the White House in 1968. And it would eventually elect a former actor and California governor who would change the face of American politics in ways that are still being felt to this day. His name was Ronald Reagan.Listen ad-free on Wondery+ hereSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. This is a special encore presentation of our series on political parties in the United States. As we head into November and face a contentious and consequential election, it seems a ripe time to revisit how we got here in the first place. It wasn't always Democrats and Republicans. And if you'd like even more insight into our American political process, search for

and subscribe to another one of my podcasts, American Election's Wicked Game. It chronicles every single presidential election from 1789 to 2020. Both in this series and in that podcast, you'll find our current strife isn't so new, and certainly not any worse than it has been. Hopefully, that's a comfort. Imagine it's around noon on May 17th, 1968. You're an anti-war activist in Catonsville, Maryland. You and a group of eight others have just arrived at the Knights of Columbus building on the west side of town. It's a two-story building with white siding and peaked windows at the front. The local office of the Selective Service is on the building's second floor. You're standing in a small circle at the foot of an exterior staircase

that leads up to the second floor entrance. The group's leader, Father Daniel Berrigan, takes a moment to look everyone carefully in the eye. Now remember, don't speak a word unless you absolutely have to. If anyone attempts to interfere, Father Philip and I will take care of it. You just focus on gathering the files. Carrying a wire basket in your hand, you follow the others up the stairs and into the building. The office is down the hall and on the right, and you follow Father Daniel through the door. Inside, a clerk looks up to greet you. Good afternoon. Can I help you with something, Father? Father Daniel doesn't respond.

Instead, he walks past the clerk's desk and straight for a row of filing cabinets. You and the others follow close behind. He opens the first filing cabinet and you hold your basket out as he begins to toss files into it. Your comrades open other cabinets and begin to do the same. The clerk's eyes widen suddenly. What are you doing? You can't have those files. The clerk attempts to take the basket from you, but Father Philip grabs her by the arms and holds her while you continue your work. She struggles with him for a moment before finally giving up. Other clerks in the office just watch with stunned expressions.

One picks up the phone to call the police, but no one attempts to stop her. It only takes a few moments, and all the baskets are overflowing with A1 draft records. Father Philip releases the upset clerk, while you and the rest hurry back outside to the parking lot. A cameraman and several reporters are there waiting for you. Father Daniel told them of your plans in advance. You toss the bulging wire baskets into a heap and then help pour homemade napalm on the stack.

Reporter asks where you got the napalm and holds out a microphone. We all took part in making this napalm on the stack. Reporter asks where you got the napalm and holds out a microphone. We all took part in making this napalm. It's made of gasoline and ivory soap. We took the recipe right out of the United States Special Forces handbook. People in Vietnam are suffering from napalm, so we're burning these draft files with napalm in solidarity with them.

With the cameras rolling, everyone stands in a semicircle. Each of you lights a match, and Father Daniel steps forward. We're all part of this. In unity, we burn these draft records. And on the count of three, you toss your matches together into the pile.

The files burst into flame, and everyone steps back. As a group, you each cross yourself and then clasp hands. As the stack of files burn, you hear police sirens in the distance. It's a windy afternoon and bits of charred paper swirl into the air.

Father Daniel says a short prayer. May God make it possible for this action to allow our troops to live. May he make it more difficult for men to kill one another. We make our prayer in the name of that God whose name is peace and decency and unity. When he's finished, the group recites the Lord's Prayer, and then the police cars begin to arrive. The officers use a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Once the fire is out, you are led into the back of a white police paddy wagon

that looks like a large hearse. As you enter, Father Daniel speaks again for the cameras. We have chosen to be powerless criminals in a time of criminal power. We have chosen to be branded as peace criminals by war criminals. We ask through this action that the peace negotiators in Paris take their work seriously and put an end to this evil war. With Audible, there's more to imagine when you listen. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love,

you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, new ways of thinking. And Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained as a part of your everyday routine without needing to set aside extra time. As an Audible member, you choose one title a month to keep from their ever-growing catalog. Explore themes of friendship, loss, and hope with remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Find what piques your imagination. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca to sign up. Kill List is a true story of how I ended up in a race against time

to warn those whose lives were in danger. Follow Kill List wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Kill List and more Exhibit C true crime shows like Morbid early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. The Catonsville Nine, as they came to be known, were led by peace activists, fellow priests, and brothers Daniel and Philip Berrigan. Their provocative break-in of the Selective Service Office, followed by the burning of the records with Napalm, galvanized the anti-war movement.

Protesters began mimicking their actions, burning draft cards, holding marches and sit-ins, and even raiding more draft offices. The group was eventually convicted of destroying government property and interfering with a selective service, but they would become heroes of the Catholic left and of the growing anti-war sentiment in the United States. That sentiment would eventually split the Democratic Party and help lead to a realignment in American politics. In this episode, the New Deal coalition established by Franklin Roosevelt more than three decades earlier collapses under the weight of the turbulent presidential election of 1968. Afterwards, a new wave of conservatism sweeps the nation, headed by a former actor and

California governor, Ronald Reagan. Reagan's standards of low taxes and deregulation come to dominate the political landscape and reshape the platforms of both Republicans and Democrats. By the summer of 1968, opposition to the war in Vietnam had been steadily growing. In April of that year, nearly half of Americans said it was a mistake for the U.S. to be involved in the war. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson's approval rating had plummeted. In the spring, major protests had taken place at Columbia University, where students had occupied a number of buildings on campus to protest the war. Police officers armed with tear gas had violently dispersed them.

More than 100 people were injured and over 700 arrested. Just a few weeks before that, Martin Luther King Jr., who in addition to fighting for civil rights had also vocally opposed the war, was shot dead in Memphis. And in February, a gruesome photograph was published showing the summary execution of a handcuffed Vietnamese prisoner of war by U.S. allies. The photo sparked outrage across the country and the world. And all of this came on the heels of the massive Tet Offensive of the North Vietnamese in January. Americans had been led to believe that the communists were on their last leg and heading towards certain defeat, but the scope of the Tet Offensive proved that the optimistic narrative coming from Washington was a lie.

Within a few months, approval for the war would drop below 50% for the first time. And for the rest of the war, Gallup polls would consistently show a majority of Americans believed the war was a mistake. Lyndon Johnson was born in rural Texas in 1908, the son of a farmer and state politician. His father's populist political leanings had significant influence on the young Lyndon. He would become a champion of the rural American, fighting to aid farmers, combat poverty, and promote the rights of minorities. His Great Society program was an ambitious reimagining of Roosevelt's New Deal from a generation earlier. It was a hugely successful program. Out of some 252 legislative recommendations by Johnson, 226 were passed by Congress. But by the time the election of 1968 rolled around,

Johnson's struggles in managing the Vietnam War had long since begun to overshadow his legislative successes at home. Despite these problems, Johnson was expected to easily win the Democratic nomination. Prominent Democrats with known presidential aspirations remained on the sidelines and supported Johnson in the name of party unity. Only Eugene McCarthy, a senator from Minnesota, was willing to run against the powerful Texan. A liberal intellectual, McCarthy ran on an anti-war platform, earning strong support from students and young adults. These young people were the voice and the face of the anti-war movement, and they embraced McCarthy as a hero.

He focused all his energies and finances on the New Hampshire primary, the first primary of the election season. And when the vote was held on March 12th, he shocked everyone by earning 42% against Johnson's 49. Though Johnson eked out a victory, McCarthy's strong showing rang a death knell for Johnson's hopes of re-election. It revealed vulnerabilities that the party machinery had been hoping to overcome. Within days, Democrat Robert Kennedy entered the race on an anti-war platform. The brother of Democratic President John F. Kennedy, Robert was then a

senator from New York and the former U.S. Attorney General. He had tacitly supported Johnson's candidacy right up until McCarthy's strong showing in New Hampshire. With the president's vulnerability now obvious, Kennedy decided to bring his name and his vast resources into the fight. Three weeks after his week showing in the New Hampshire primary, Lyndon Johnson went on television to give an update on the military's progress in Vietnam. At the end of the speech, he stunned the nation by announcing that he was bowing out of the presidential race. I have concluded that I should not permit the presidency to become involved in the partisan divisions

that are developing in this political year. Accordingly, I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. A month after Johnson's withdrawal, his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, officially announced his campaign for the presidency. Fighting for many of the same primary voters, McCarthy and Kennedy dominated the conversation throughout the spring. With his popularity and name recognition, Kennedy defeated McCarthy in the first two primaries where they went head-to-head. But when McCarthy won a surprise victory in Oregon in late May, it set the stage for a vital showdown in California.

Both candidates spent significant time and money campaigning there. McCarthy focused on colleges and universities where he was a star among the crowds of students and white intellectuals. Kennedy campaigned throughout large cities and metropolitan areas, including many low-income areas where adoring crowds gave him a hero's welcome. In the end, Kennedy won the primary by just a few percentage points, but it instantly pushed him to the front of the field. Though McCarthy vowed to fight on, Kennedy was suddenly in the ascendancy. But the elation of the Kennedy campaign would be tragically cut short. Imagine it's June 5th, 1968.

It's just after midnight, and you're a maitre d' at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Robert F. Kennedy has just won the important California primary and is speaking to a crowd of supporters in the ballroom at the hotel. You're standing nearby, ready to help lead the candidate and his entourage to where the press corps is waiting in another part of the building. There's a winding shortcut through the kitchen, and Kennedy's handlers have tasked you with leading the way. Finishing up his speech, Kennedy taps the podium before him. My thanks to you all, and now it's on to Chicago.

And let's win there. Thank you very much. The young lawmaker gives a thumbs up and a peace sign, then brushes his hand through his lank brown hair. He turns to leave and is immediately mobbed by the crowd. Together with one of his bodyguards, you grab Kennedy's arm and pull him towards the rear door. This way, Senator, please. This way. There's another group to address, right? There's no time. Your staff has decided to take you straight to the press. Please come with me. Holding Kennedy's arm, you guide him into the hotel's kitchen, followed by his entourage and a bevy of supporters and well-wishers. It's chaotic and crowded, and you have to stop every few moments

as Kennedy pauses to shake people's hands. Mr. Kennedy, this way, please, sir. You guide the senator past a row of stainless steel prep tables and cabinets stacked with dishes. Kennedy stops to shake hands with a busboy. In front of you, a man you don't recognize abruptly steps out from behind an ice machine. He's almost touching you when he raises his arm and fires a gun over your shoulder at Kennedy, who is standing right behind you. The blast is deafening in the confined space, and it's followed quickly by more shots. You grab hold of the man's arm

and shove him down against a table, gripping his wrist in your hand. He's still pulling the trigger, and you are only vaguely aware of the mayhem around you as people scream and bullets fly. One of Kennedy's bodyguards jumps to your assistance, and within moments, you and the gunman are on the floor. You're trying to take the gun from his hand, but he's holding it in a vice-like grip. Get the gun! Get the gun! The man keeps pulling the trigger, but the gun is empty. You finally manage to twist it out of his hand as Kennedy's bodyguards beat him with his fist. You hear people screaming for a doctor. Don't kill him! We don't want another Oswald! You and a few other men hold the man still while others attend to the wounded senator. Over your shoulder, you can see blood on the floor as someone cradles Kennedy's head.

Other people are injured too, crying and calling for help. As you wait for the police to arrive, you wonder how this catastrophic election here can possibly get any worse. The whole world seems to be falling apart. Now you're right in the middle of it. Robert Kennedy was rushed to surgery following his shooting. He died the following day. He was only 42 years old in the summer of 68 and had come to the campaign bearing the most famous and tragic name in America. To many people, he was the personification of his older brother John, the beloved and martyred president. He was viewed as little less than a messiah by the farm workers,

minorities, and laborers who supported him. At the 1964 Democratic Convention, he'd been given a 22-minute standing ovation before he even started speaking. His murder shocked the nation, a nation already reeling from the murder of Martin Luther King a few months earlier. before he even started speaking. His murder shocked the nation, a nation already reeling from the murder of Martin Luther King a few months earlier. A second martyred Kennedy was almost too much to bear. His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was a disaffected Palestinian who was upset with Kennedy's support of Israel in the Six-Day War a year earlier.

He was convicted and sentenced to death, though that sentence was eventually commuted to life in prison. Kennedy's murder threw the 1968 Democratic presidential contest into uproar. Never before had a major candidate for the presidency died during the campaign. A party that was already fracturing now cracked wide open. Eugene McCarthy continued his campaign, but many of Kennedy's backers declined to support him. Instead, they encouraged Kennedy supporter Senator George McGovern of South Dakota to run in his place. Kennedy had won the South Dakota primary the same night he won in California, and McGovern was one of the last people Kennedy spoke to by phone before his assassination. McGovern had also been one of the first to denounce the Vietnam War, publicly arguing

against involvement as early as 1963. Just a few weeks before the National Convention, McGovern entered the race, vowing to pick up where Kennedy had left off. The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago would become one of the most memorable and controversial in history. Numerous anti-war protesters staged demonstrations in the city. Their clashes with police became headline news. In an effort to combat the demonstrations, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called out the National Guard. The venue itself was protected by a fence topped with razor wire, and police in riot gear patrolled the National Guard. The venue itself was protected by a fence topped with razor wire, and police in riot gear patrolled the area inside.

Security roughed up prominent journalists on live television. It was like a war zone. Mayor Daley was one of the most powerful forces in the Democratic Party and was criticized severely for his handling of the demonstrations. He was infamously shown on live television swearing and using a racial epithet when a Connecticut senator denounced the city's heavy-handed actions from the convention podium. In the end, Hubert Humphrey won the party's nomination on the first ballot. As Johnson's vice president, he was seen as a natural successor and a safe choice for the Democratic Party machinery.

But his quick victory at the convention belied a deeply fractured party. There was a sense that the will of the people expressed in those states where primaries had been held had been subverted. Instead, the party bosses at the convention had played kingmakers. For 35 years, the New Deal coalition formed by Franklin Roosevelt had held the upper hand in Washington. Urban political machines, together with powerful labor unions, helped nominate Humphrey and now became the primary torchbearer of the Democratic Party. But college students and intellectuals, long part of Roosevelt's coalition, had backed McCarthy and now felt disillusioned and alienated by the party.

Kennedy, and later McGovern, had garnered wide support among minorities, Catholics, and the poor. They felt that they'd been minimized and pushed to the side by the party machinery. Finally, Southern Democrats, already increasingly estranged by the party's support of civil rights, began turning in increasing numbers

to the conservative faction of the Republican Party. In a single campaign season, the New Deal coalition had collapsed. Republicans were experiencing a conservative surge and would quickly step in to take advantage. A revolution was coming to American politics that would mirror what had happened during the Great Depression. Only now, the tables are turned. It would be the conservatives calling the shots. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island.

It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn. And it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it,

people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes. Even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today.

The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous abilities. From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily, comes the new podcast, The Real History of Dracula. We'll reveal how author Bram Stoker raided ancient folklore, exploited Victorian fears around sex, science, and religion, and how even today we remain enthralled to his strange creatures of the night. You can binge all episodes of The Real History of Dracula exclusively with Wondery Plus.

Join Wondery Plus and The Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. In 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace had made a name for himself as a defiant segregationist. He infamously stood in the doorway of the Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama to block two African-American students from enrolling. His stunt forced President Kennedy to federalize the Alabama National Guard and order it to remove him. Wallace was already widely loved by Southern conservatives thanks to his staunch defense of segregation. At his inauguration a few months earlier, he had proclaimed, In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow,

and segregation forever. After his actions at the University of Alabama, he became a hero in much of the South. In 1964, he ran in the Democratic presidential primary, attempting to capitalize on his notoriety and spread his message of hardline states' rights. He ran again in 1968, but this time he was determined to actually make it onto the ballot. He knew he had no chance of competing for the

mainstream Democratic nomination. Instead, he accepted the nomination of the newly minted American Independent Party. The party had been formed in California a year earlier to support ultra-conservative values. Its Declaration of Principles stated, Both of the existing parties have become the proponents of big government, crushing taxation, dictatorial federal power, unwholesome and disastrous internationalism, and compromise with our nation's enemies. Knowing California was an important piece of any presidential election, Wallace immediately joined forces with the new party and used it as his vehicle for the 1968 presidential campaign. He managed to get on the ballot in every state, campaigning vigorously around the country. He preached a message of states' rights, abolition of federal taxes, and the dismantling of welfare. The party's official platform called for the rededication to a love of God and country. Wallace accused the federal government of usurping the rights and privileges of the states.

Among other things, he condemned the 1964 Civil Rights Act, arguing that it had created a form of class and race warfare. He vowed to restore the power and authority of state and local governments and free them from interference by the federal government. He didn't act like a normal politician. He spoke bluntly and without apology. Foreign aid, he said, was money poured down a rat hole. Name-calling was one of his specialties. Hippies were punks, and the only

four-letter words they didn't know were work and soap. Intellectuals were pointy-head snobs and morons. Southern conservatives loved it, but so did a significant portion of voters throughout the country, especially blue-collar workers. Wallace was able to reach a key segment of the population that had been growing increasingly uncomfortable with the Democratic Party's push for equal rights and assistance for the poor. They were upset and felt out of place in the new world of the 60s. To them, it was a world of riots and demonstrations, a world of rising crime rates and drug use. It was a world where God and country were being constantly undermined by lawlessness and loose morals. Wallace sensed their rage and reached them with a style of political coarseness that was ahead of his time. In a speech while visiting New York, he stated, We don't have any riots down here in Alabama.

They start a riot down here. First one of them to pick up a brick gets a bullet in the brain. A journalist covering the rally described the scene as Wallace whipped up the crowd. There is a menace in the bloodshout of the crowd. You feel you have known this all somewhere. Never again will you read about Berlin in the 30s without remembering this wild confrontation here. Wallace is the ablest demagogue of our time.

In the end, Wallace managed to win more electoral votes than any third-party candidate since Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. He took five states in the South and won nearly 10 million votes overall, including fair showings in Midwestern states. But it wasn't enough to alter the outcome. Republican Richard Nixon eked out a victory over Democrat Hubert Humphrey, winning by just a few hundred thousand votes. The victory marked the end of the Democratic Party's 36-year dominance of the presidency. After 1968, Democrats would lose six of the next nine presidential elections, and the few they did win showed sign of their decline.

In only one did their candidate get more than 50% of the popular vote. The old solid South, the bulwark of Democratic strength, was broken, and the New Deal coalition was gone for good. In its place, a new day was about to dawn for American conservatism. Since the disaster of the Great Depression, the Republican Party had been in an almost constant state of factionalism. Moderates and liberals who supported a stronger federal government generally controlled the party after 1932. Conservatives, however, maintained a distinct voice in party politics, often teaming up with conservative Democrats to block liberal legislation. The split was largely a geographic

one. Moderates and liberals controlled the so-called Eastern establishment, while Midwestern and Southern conservatives held onto the old Republican ideals of small government. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, conservatives were generally outmaneuvered in presidential nominations and congressional leadership. The party consistently nominated eastern moderates in presidential elections, including Dwight Eisenhower. The popular general was the only Republican to serve in the White House throughout the period. But the moderate control of the party began to crack in the 1960s. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller emerged as the party's moderate leader after the retirement of Dwight Eisenhower.

But in 1964, he lost a closely contested primary race to conservative stalwart Barry Goldwater. Goldwater went on to be defeated by Democrat Lyndon Johnson in one of the most lopsided elections in history, but he managed to win five states in the Deep South, more than any Republican since Reconstruction. Goldwater's humiliating defeat set the conservative faction back, and the party nominated moderate Richard Nixon in 1968. Nixon easily won re-election in 72, but then his vice president, Spiro Agnew, became embroiled in an investigation about receiving kickbacks and other financial irregularities. A year later, after pleading no contest to tax evasion charges, he resigned in disgrace. Nixon chose moderate Republican

Gerald Ford to replace Agnew. At the time, Ford was the minority leader of the House of Representatives, but a year later, he became president when Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal. Ford became the only person in history to serve as vice president and then president without being elected to either office. Upon taking office, Ford pardoned Nixon, ensuring the disgraced president could never be tried for any crimes relating to the Watergate scandal. The move was unpopular. the disgraced president could never be tried for any crimes relating to the Watergate scandal. The move was unpopular. Gallup polls showed only 35% of Americans supported the decision,

and Ford's approval rating dropped by more than 20 percentage points. By 1976, Ford faced an uphill battle, not only in the general election, but also to earn the nomination within his own party. His challenger was a popular former governor of California and noteworthy Hollywood actor, Ronald Reagan. Imagine it's early in October 1946. You're a board member of the Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood, California. You've just finished having dinner with your friend and fellow board member, Ronald Reagan, at his home in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. Now the two of you are sitting in the parlor, enjoying an after-dinner drink. You take a sip of your gin and savor it.

Ah, I see you're buying only the top-shelf stuff these days. Well, enjoy it while it lasts. The government takes 90% of my paycheck, and Jane and I are trying for a third child. I may not be able to afford top shelf for much longer. You roll your eyes dramatically. Oh, come on, Ronnie. Don't get started with that again. I never heard you complaining about taxes when you were living on a working actor's salary. Back then, you always said the wealthy owed it to the rest of us to help out. You're imagining things. I never said that. What I did say was that everyone has to do their share, even the rich. That was a different time,

anyway. The war's over now. The depression's over. It's time to start thinking about how we can make everyone wealthier, rather than hanging on to policies that run their course. You've heard this argument from your friend a lot lately. Tax rates on the highest earners are currently set at 91%. That's only slightly less than a high of 94% during the last two years of the war. You're going to make a great Republican one of these days, Ronnie. Yeah, now you're really imagining things. He gets up to pour himself another drink.

Besides, right now, I'm more concerned about this problem with the CSU and what we're going to do about it. Reagan's talking about the Conference of Studio Unions, which represents a portion of the industry's craftsmen. They've been on strike, off and on, ever since the war ended. They recently began again, and the board of the Screen Actors Guild has been trying to decide whether to support or repudiate them. Well, it's becoming clear to me that the CSU isn't really fighting for wages and better working conditions. The leaders are fighting a jurisdictional battle,

trying to destroy their rivals. So you plan to inform the members that we shouldn't support the strike? I think it's the only option. We can't ask our members to strike in support of a union that's trying to destroy its competition. That's not what unions are for. And besides, you know as well as I do that the CSU has backing from the damn commies. Like yourself, Reagan is a new dealer and a disciple of Franklin Roosevelt.

And a lot like other liberals, you both went through a period in the 30s when the Communist Party was alluring. They seemed like allies in the fight against fascism. But now you both know that the communists aren't at all what you once thought they were. They're corruptors who are seeking to undermine American democracy. You're just about to respond to Reagan. Oh, hold on. This is a late call. Excuse me.

Hello? Reagan pauses for a moment, his face drawn up in concern. Who is this? There's a tense pause. Listen, just who do you think you are? Whoever is on the other line, though, has hung up.

Disgusted, Reagan puts the receiver back in its cradle. What the hell was all that about? I have no idea. Didn't say his name, but he threatened me. Must have been a goon from the CSU. Threaten you? What did he say? He said that unless we support the strike,

the squad would make sure I would never be in pictures again by fixing my face for me. You shake your head. They won't stop at anything, will they? It's a bad sign, that's for sure. I'm going to have to protect myself from these people. And I always thought us union folks were the good guys. Ronald Reagan was born into a modest Illinois family during the presidency of conservative Republican William Howard Taft. His father was a Democrat, and Reagan spent the first half of his life supporting the party of his father. Already an adult when Roosevelt entered office in the

early 30s, Reagan became an ardent New Dealer, supporting the liberal policies of Roosevelt and later Truman. In 1941, he became a board member of the powerful actors union, the Screen Actors Guild. He became its president in 1947. But during the 1950s, Reagan's politics began to change. He had seen the dirty underside of labor union politics, and as his own income grew, he began to resent the high taxes that continued after the end of World War II. While leading the Screen Actors Guild, he worked as an undercover informant for the FBI, providing names of possible communist sympathizers. He also testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee about the influence of communism in the motion picture industry.

Like many liberals of the period, he believed the Soviet Union had betrayed liberal principles of freedom and equality. He saw the post-war Communist Party as an insidious group seeking to undermine America's democratic ideals, wealth, and power. These experiences drove him to become a fervent anti-communist. But it wasn't until the 1950s that he would begin to turn away from liberalism and the Democratic Party. His shift was spurred initially by a continuing recession in Hollywood that was caused in large part by the advent of television. But Reagan came to believe it was made worse by the heavy-handed policies of the federal government. In particular, he criticized antitrust regulation,

calling it needless government harassment, and high tax rates that he called discriminatory. The taxes, he argued, kept high-earning actors from doing more movies. After all, if they made too much in a given year, it would all just go to the government. This meant that those who made up the backbone of the industry, the set builders and camera crews and stagehands, had less work and less job security. He began to believe that if the high-earning actors were given a substantial tax cut, they would do more movies and thus stimulate the Hollywood

economy. Everyone would benefit. Then in 1954, Reagan began working for the first time in television, hosting the popular General Electric Theater. As part of his contract with the show, he became a spokesman for General Electric, touring GE plants and speaking about the company to employees. This work in the world of big business broadened his perspective and pushed him further away from the liberal politics of his younger years. He began to see that his struggles with government and regulation in Hollywood and the film industry applied to the larger world of business as well. In 1957, he stated, A great many of our freedoms have been lost.

It isn't that an outside enemy has taken them. It's just that there's something inherent in government which makes it, when it isn't controlled, continue to grow. By the early 1960s, Reagan had joined the Republican Party. In 1964, he officially entered politics by campaigning publicly for the conservative Barry Goldwater. Within a few years, he'd been elected governor of California. He served two terms there before leaving office in 1975. Carrying the torch of the conservative faction of the Republican Party, he was well-positioned in 76 to challenge Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination. Ford attempted to appease the Reagan faction by replacing his more liberal vice president,

Nelson Rockefeller, with the conservative Bob Dole of Kansas. Though Reagan won a number of primaries in that year's campaign, Ford managed to squeeze out a narrow victory for the nomination. Meanwhile, Democrats nominated Southerner Jimmy Carter for the 1976 presidency. It proved to be a good strategy, as Carter became the first Democrat to sweep the South in over 30 years. It was enough to give him a slim victory over Ford and take the presidency. But Carter's hold on the presidency was fragile. Faced with an oil crisis, rising inflation, and Americans held hostage overseas, Carter looked vulnerable to Republicans.

With Gerald Ford sent into retirement, Reagan was now the favorite for the 1980 Republican nomination. He won easily, and then faced off in the general election against Carter and moderate Republican John Anderson, who was running as an independent. In a landslide defeat, Carter lost all but six states. As for the South, only Carter's home state of Georgia voted for him. Reagan was the clear winner. The solid South had been the backbone of Democratic presidential campaigns since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s. But it had been slowly breaking down for 35 years. During that time, Democrats became more strongly associated with civil rights and minorities, while Republicans began drawing wide support from white, blue-collar workers.

With Reagan's election, the old Solid South was broken for good. And the Reagan revolution of fiscal conservatism was set to begin. In November 1991, media tycoon Robert Maxwell mysteriously vanished from his luxury yacht in the Canary Islands. But it wasn't just his body that would come to the surface in the days that followed. It soon emerged that Robert's business was on the brink of collapse, and behind his facade of wealth and success was a litany of bad investments, mounting debt, and multi-million dollar fraud. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show Business Movers. We tell the true stories of business leaders who risked it all,

the critical moments that defined their journey, and the ideas that transformed the way we live our lives. In our latest series, a young refugee fleeing the Nazis arrives in Britain determined to make something of his life. Taking the name Robert Maxwell, he builds a publishing and newspaper empire that spans the globe. But ambition eventually curdles into desperation, and Robert's determination to succeed turns into a willingness to do anything to get ahead. Follow Business Movers wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. In a quiet suburb, a community is shattered by the death of a beloved

wife and mother. But this tragic loss of life quickly turns into something even darker. Her husband had tried to hire a hitman on the dark web to kill her and she wasn't the only target. Because buried in the depths of the internet is the kill list, a cache of chilling documents containing names, photos, addresses and specific instructions for people's murders. This podcast is the true story of how I ended up in a race against time to warn those whose lives were in danger. And it turns out, convincing a total stranger someone wants them dead is not easy. Follow Kill List on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Kill List and more Exhibit C true crime shows like Morbid

early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Check out Exhibit C True Crime shows like Morbid early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Check out Exhibit C in the Wondery app for all your true crime listening. Under Ronald Reagan, conservative Republicans began to change the face of American politics, much the same way liberal Democrats had done a generation earlier under Franklin Roosevelt. Never again would the country have the kinds of extreme, hands-off governing that characterized the Republican administrations of the 20s. The New Deal and the events of the post-war era had ensured that a large federal government and strong involvement in domestic affairs was the new normal for American government. But the conservative model of more

self-determination for the states, a private sector unhindered by government regulation, and low taxes became the new goal of national politics. Like conservatives Barry Goldwater and George Wallace before him, Reagan believed the government was the cause rather than the solution of the nation's problems. Reagan saw himself as bringing to fruition the seeds of national conservatism Goldwater had planted in 1964. Additionally, many of his stances and much of his states' rights rhetoric was similar to what had worked so well for George Wallace in 68. Though toned down to be more politically acceptable, Reagan's ideas reached many of the same white, blue-collar workers that Wallace had engaged 12 years earlier.

But Reagan had a big advantage over Goldwater and Wallace. He had the broad backing of his party establishment. And under Reagan's leadership, that establishment grew increasingly conservative. The moderates and liberals who had dominated the party for so long steadily became marginalized. Most either retired or left politics altogether and were replaced by more conservative lawmakers. Some liberals and moderates switched parties, while others simply moved rightward in their own political views. Reagan took over during a time of high unemployment and a growing sense of distrust in government. Through his personal charisma and vision, Reagan helped restore national morale and presided over a period of economic expansion.

He sought to lower taxes and decrease government regulation of businesses and big corporations. He supported what is known as supply-side economics, which predicts that large tax cuts, especially for businesses, entrepreneurs, and the wealthy, would spur economic growth and benefit everyone. This was an idea that he had first come to embrace in the 50s, during the recession in Hollywood, but now he applied it to the whole country. Critics, in turn, sarcastically called it trickle-down economics, claiming that it would drive up the budget deficit and do little to draw down high unemployment. Though it was a new idea to most people in 1980, it had been around in various forms among economic

conservatives for almost a century, and its critics had been around in various forms among economic conservatives for almost a century, and its critics had been saying much the same thing the entire time. In 1896, progressive Democrat William Jennings Bryan had stated, there are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. During the 1932 election, humorist and commentator Will Rogers asserted that the idea had, in fact, become the policy of Hoover and the Republicans. The money was all appropriated to the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Reagan's aim upon taking office was to reinvigorate the economy by slashing tax rates to put more money in people's pockets.

According to the theory, this would encourage people to spend and invest more. As a result, businesses would profit twice, first from a cut in corporate taxes and then second from increased sales. The result of increased profitability would be more hiring and lower unemployment. Within a few months of taking office, Reagan had sold the plan to Congress.

With bipartisan support, Congress passed a major tax cut, reducing taxes across the board. It also reduced corporate taxes and a tax on capital gains, the money earned from investments. Finally, it greatly increased the exemption on the estate tax up to $600,000. Reagan and the Republicans expected the new law to quickly improve the economy, which had been struggling to return to normal since a brief recession a year earlier. Instead, the first attempt at trickle-down economics proved disastrous. Imagine it's late June of 1982.

You're in your car on the way to a meeting on a rainy day in Scranton, Pennsylvania. You're a construction worker, but today the weather has rained out the project you're working on. So instead, your foreman told you in an early morning phone call that there would be a company-wide meeting today at 8 a.m. With the rain still coming down heavily, you pull into the parking lot and hurry inside. Make your way to the meeting room and choose a chair near the back, next to your co-worker, Becky Ferris. She's the only woman on the crew, and the two of you become good friends. She greets you as you sit down. Calling us in for a meeting on short notice, this can't be good, can it?

You shrug and settle into your seat. I just hope they don't keep us here all day. I'd like to get back home to my bed. I want to thank all of you for coming in today in this horrible weather, but we have a few things we want to go over with you this morning. During a short break, you turn to Becky. Uh, I didn't realize things were this bad. Why is business down so sharply? It's the economy, I'm sure.

You know, Reagan couldn't get those taxes cut fast enough for his wealthy supporters. Now the deficit has soared and the economy is tanked. Just like the Democrats said it would. Oh, please, that has nothing to do with it. We've been in and out of recession for years. It's just not over yet. The man's only been in office for a year. Give it some time.

You and Becky love to argue politics, and she tends to be much more liberal than you are. She also has more seniority with the company, and she's seen rocky times in the past. It does seem pretty ironic that Reagan came in with both guns drawn on lowering taxes, and almost the moment the bill passed, the economy began to slump. But you never admit that to Becky. You turn your attention back to the president. And so, as a result of the present realities,

the executive leadership team and myself have been forced to make some difficult choices. In order to ensure that we remain financially stable in the upcoming quarter, we've decided that layoffs are unavoidable. The president pauses for a moment. You and your co-workers sit in stunned silence. Finally, Becky stands up. How many layoffs are we talking?

Two dozen. There are audible groans and gasps around the room. Several men drop their heads in despair. Two dozen? That's almost a quarter of our crew. We're already working shorthanded as it is. If you take 24 people away from us, we'll never get the work done. Nods and murmurs of affirmation go around the room. We've been asking for months for more help. Now you're taking people away from us? What about all that money you're saving from the tax cuts?

Doesn't that count for anything? Unfortunately, profits are down, and the whole company is at risk if we don't do something drastic right away. Becky is worried about the workers who are left after the purge. But you've only been with his company for less than a year. You're not sure if you'll even make the cut. Your wife's a school teacher. You've got a baby on the way.

You can't get laid off. It's almost as if Becky can read your mind. And what about the people who do lose their jobs? You've always said that Brady Construction takes care of its employees. You're going to take care of the people you fire? When the market picks up again, as it surely will, we may recall some of the laid-off employees. That's the best I can say at this point.

Unfortunately, this is the stark reality we're all facing. Notices will be sent out with next week's paychecks. A week later, you don't even have to open the envelope. You can see the little pink square right through the paper as you pull it out of the mailbox. Seems to stare at you like an executioner's warrant. Critics of Reagan's 1981 tax cut were vindicated when, following the passage of the bill, the budget deficit increased and the economy fell into a recession. Unemployment spiraled upward, peaking at almost 11 percent in

late 82, its highest rate since the Great Depression. The construction industry was hit hard, together with manufacturing and mining. Responding to the new crisis, Congress passed another bill in 1982 repealing many of the provisions in the original tax cut. Reagan reluctantly signed it, and the economy began to rebound. But the event did not change Reagan's basic belief in the long-term economic benefit of reduced taxation. More tax cuts would come later, especially in a comprehensive 1986 bill that simplified the tax code. By the time Reagan left office, the highest tax bracket had dropped from 70% to 38.5%. Reagan ultimately succeeded in his goals of cutting taxes, curbing federal regulations,

and increasing the military's budget. But largely because of these things, he failed in his goal of cutting federal spending. Instead, throughout his presidency, spending increased dramatically and the budget deficit soared. Reagan had argued that tax cuts would pay for themselves by stimulating economic growth and expanding the tax base. But this never really came to fruition. He had also hoped to balance the budget by cutting non-military government programs and turning many social programs over to the states. But many of these efforts were blocked by the Democrats in charge of Congress. The budget cuts that did occur didn't go far enough. The result was, by the time he left office, the budget deficit had

more than doubled. It would be up to his successors to find a way to deal with it. Reagan left office with an approval rating matched only by the role model of his early political life, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Though his presidency had not been without its controversies and criticisms, he had held the nation together with his personal charisma and charm. Even those who disagreed with him politically frequently held favorable views of him. And by the time he left office, Reagan's conservative ideology had become the Republican Party's ideology. Reagan himself would become a hero to the right, much the way Roosevelt, a generation earlier, had been a hero to the left. But while Reagan's politics realigned the power and priorities within his own party, his time in office changed the opposition, too. In the years during and after his presidency,

Democrats would moderate many of their old ideas. Party came to be dominated by a centrist faction called the New Democrats. This group wed moderate fiscal strategies to liberal social policies. Their most prominent figure, Bill Clinton, won the presidency in 1992. As president, Clinton moved the party rightward on economic policy, working with the Republican Congress to balance the budget for the first time since the 1960s. He championed the North American Free Trade Agreement over the objections of labor unions. And he enacted comprehensive welfare reform, a longtime goal of conservatives.

But personal scandals marred his presidency and underscored a growing partisan rancor in the country that began in the wake of Reagan's conservative revolution. In 1992, conservative Republican Pat Buchanan stated, there is a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be, as was the Cold War itself. Powerful lobbying groups like the Moral Majority,

led by Southern evangelist and activist Jerry Falwell, helped integrate traditional religious values into the Republican Party. The battles they engaged in, over school prayer, abortion, equal treatment of women and racial minorities, helped set the stage for the culture wars that have dominated politics for the last two decades. Since the turn of the millennium, both major parties have moved to their respective ideological corners. The Republican Party has become the home of political, religious, and cultural conservatism, while the Democratic Party represents its progressive opposite. Factions have emerged, and their rhetoric has grown even more intense.

Our current two-party system has been in place since the Civil War. It's what George Washington warned about all those years ago, the alternating domination of one party over another, back and forth in a never-ending cycle. Washington called it a frightful despotism. Yet beneath the raging debates of the day, whether over cultural clashes, taxes, or foreign wars, the underlying and enduring questions persist. How should a well-meaning people organize? How should they guide their government? The struggle to answer these questions continues today. From Wondery, this is American History Tellers. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Wondery.com,

or wherever you're listening to this right now. If you're listening on a smartphone, tap or swipe over the cover art of this podcast. You'll find the episode notes, including some details you may have missed. You'll also find some offers from our sponsors. By supporting our sponsors, you help us offer this show to you for free. If you'd like to hear more of American History Tellers and other Wondery shows, in addition to receiving extra content, early access, and exclusive perks, you can subscribe to Wondery Plus. Go to wondery.com slash plus. That's wondery.com slash P-L-U-S. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Sound design by Derek Behrens. This episode is

written by B. Scott Christmas. Edited by Dorian Marina. Edited and produced by Jenny Lauer. Produced by George Lavender. Our executive producer is Marshall Louis. Created by Hernán López for Wondery. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.