Sublime

When the president proposed reducing Social Security benefits in 1981, Congress rebuffed him.[7] Throughout Reagan’s eight years in office, antipoverty spending did not shrink. It grew and continued to grow after he left office.

Then there was the man who gave his name to the era, Ronald Reagan, crusader against big government, defender of deregulated markets, standard-bearer of what he called “the decade of the entrepreneur.” For the Great Communicator, no place or industry better exemplified American free enterprise at work than Silicon Valley, and he was particularly en

President Reagan used to frequently observe, “They say hard work never killed anyone, but why take a chance?”

No one better demonstrated the virtues of American free enterprise—particularly the low-tax, low-regulation variety beloved by Reagan—than the high-tech entrepreneurs (“no older than you,” he reminded the students) who started out tinkering in suburban garages and ended up leading hugely successful computer companies.

The next year, on September 29, 1987, Reagan attached a signing statement to a debt bill, declaring his right to interpret it as he wished, saying the president could not be forced “to follow the orders of a subordinate.” While few people paid attention to it, this statement was a shot across the bow of American democracy. It advanced the theory of

“President Kennedy’s eloquence was designed to make men think; President Johnson’s hammer blows are designed to make men act.”