This interview was originally featured in the Spring 1989 edition of the Harvard Political Review.
Former president Reagan has returned to his home state of California where he will devote himself to writing his Presidential memoirs and assembling his papers for the Reagan Memorial Library. What follows are the President’s answers to a series of questions submitted to him last month by the HPR.
Harvard Political Review: The college students of today have grown up under your Administration. What influence do you believe your Presidency has had on our political attitudes and ideals?
Reagan: It is really for historians to evaluate the influence of the Reagan Presidency on our political attitudes and ideals. I would hope, though, that when the story of our Administration is written, it will point out that we did what we said we would do – we reduced inflation, cut taxes, and turned the economy around to the longest sustained period and prosperity in our history, we rebuilt our military and established a renewed credibility and effectiveness to our foreign policy, especially in terms of our relationship with the Soviet Union. And we got the government out of the peoples’ way and let them do what we do best.
HPR: What do you see as the most promising and the most disssapointing characteristic of today’s youth?
Reagan: I am supremely confident in the future of our country because of our young people. I have met many of our young people – at high schools and colleges across the county – and each time I came away deeply impressed with their intelligence, idealism, and enthusiasm. Today’s young people live in the most technologically advanced society in the world, with more changes coming every day. The information exchange which we now consider commonplace could not have been imagined when I was growing up. The opportunities ahead are exciting, and I know our country will be in good hands in the years to come.
HPR: If you had to do it all over again, what three specific things would you do differently?
Reagan: I believe anyone who leaves the Presidency does so with a sense of unfinished business. In my case, I wish we had succeeded in getting a Constitutional amendment calling for a balanced budget. I wish we had enacted the line item veto. I wish there had been established bipartisan blue ribbon panels in each state to supervise the drawing up of Congressional districts and I wish we had repealed the 22nd amendment. These are important issues to me and I will be speaking about them often in the days ahead.
HPR: Many of the members of our generation lack access to doors of opportunity available to most Americans; poverty among minority and single-parent households is increasing, as is drug abuse, the crime rate, and illiteracy in their neighborhoods. How do you answer the claims that for one segment of our generation, the Reagan years have meant less opportunity, not more?
Reagan: I am proud of our record of creating opportunities for many more Americans than ever before. In 1980, the poverty rate grew by 1.3 percentage points, the largest recorded one-year increase. Between 1983 and 1987, however, economic growth made it possible for nearly three million people to climb out of poverty. From the beginning of the economic expansion in november 1982, approximately 19 million new jobs were created. The percentage of working-age Americans employed reached a record level. The civilian unemployment declined more than 5 percentage points after November 1982 and reached the lowest level in 14 years. We preserved and strengthened programs that assisted the truly needy. Federal spending for basic low-income assistance rose by more than $23 billion from the 1981 to 1987 budget, a 41 percent increase. Crime has to be reduced. The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Survey reported that nearly two million fewer households were hit by crime in 1987 than in 1980. And we made progress in curbing drug abuse. Nancy has focused worldwide attention on this menace and we provided the tools necessary for Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and individuals to counter this threat. The number of Federal drug investigators more than doubled and the number of Federal prosecutors increased fourfold between 1980 and 1988. We also made impressive progress in the area of literacy.
While I am proud of what we accomplished, much remains to be done. I will not be satisfied until every person who wants a job has a job. I will not be satisfied until every person in this country is above the poverty line. I will not be satisfied until there is no such thing as crime statistics. I will not be satisfied until drug abuse is a memory of the past. I will not be satisfied until every man, woman, and child in this country can read and write. Our record is a good one and provides a strong base for even more progress .
HPR: As the baby-born generation moves into retirement during the next two decades, many fear that the comparatively sparse number of people paying into the Social Security fund will be insufficient to cover the huge increase in outlays. What hope can you offer our generation as to the continued solvency of the Social Security system?
Reagan: In my remarks at the signing ceremony for the Social Security Amendment of 1983, I said: “We promised that we would protect the financial integrity of Social Security. We have. We promised that we would protect beneficiaries against any loss in current benefits. We have. And we promised to attend to the needs of those still working, not only those Americans nearing retirement but young people just entering the labor force. And we’ve done that, too.
In 1982, Social Security faced bankruptcy despite the huge payroll tax increase enacted in 1977. The bipartisan commission recommended a solution. As a result, Social Security’s Old Age and Survivor and Disability program had a healthy reserve of $58.3 billion at the end of 1987 and were estimated to grow to $95 billion by the end of 1988, remaining solvent well into the next century.
Harvard Political Review Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Glueck ’91 and Managing Editor Cherie Harder ’91 prepared the questions for this interview.