Stanley Kutler: The System Works, Even if These Bozos Don’t
[Stanley Kutler is the author The Wars of Watergate (Norton), Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes (Free Press), The American Inquisition: Cold War Political Trials (Hill & Wang), and numerous other books and articles.]
Politics are paralyzed. The minority party is motivated by a desire to have the president of the United States fail, while the squishy majority is in disarray, drawing into question its capacity to govern. Congressional leadership of both parties is inept and ineffective. The result is drift and inertia, a pathetic situation, befitting a banana republic.
However, divided government need not mean gridlock. Political history demonstrates that despite partisan differences and jockeying for favor, the system works.
Dwight Eisenhower swept to victory in the 1952 presidential election, carrying with him a Republican Party that had been rejected for 20 years. The Republican majority proved short-lived, and for the last six years of Eisenhower’s two terms he worked with a Democratic Congress. He governed effectively, aided, no doubt, by the fact that real congressional power often belonged to the alliance between Republicans and Southern Democrats. (That alliance fell apart years later when the Republican Party, in true bipartisan fashion, overwhelmingly supported civil rights legislation in 1964-65.)
Richard Nixon, who took pride in his “firsts,” had the dubious distinction of being the first president elected twice without carrying his party to power in Congress. Still, Nixon governed effectively for the most part until his self-inflicted wound. Conflict and hostility surely existed, yet Nixon and Congress agreed on some notable legislation. The same holds for Ronald Reagan, whose party never controlled the House during his terms, and ruled the Senate only sporadically.
The notion of “divided government” apparently had popular approval then. The concept had significant appeal to students of the Constitution who saw it as a virtue for ensuring the effectiveness of the separation of powers. “Gridlock” seemed an alien, distant concept.
Effective, inspiring leadership can prevail, even in the face of partisan or ideological opposition. Leadership in this country means presidential leadership. Given the now-prevailing gridlock and the resulting failure to implement promised changes, the focus inevitably is on President Barack Obama. What went wrong?...
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Politics are paralyzed. The minority party is motivated by a desire to have the president of the United States fail, while the squishy majority is in disarray, drawing into question its capacity to govern. Congressional leadership of both parties is inept and ineffective. The result is drift and inertia, a pathetic situation, befitting a banana republic.
However, divided government need not mean gridlock. Political history demonstrates that despite partisan differences and jockeying for favor, the system works.
Dwight Eisenhower swept to victory in the 1952 presidential election, carrying with him a Republican Party that had been rejected for 20 years. The Republican majority proved short-lived, and for the last six years of Eisenhower’s two terms he worked with a Democratic Congress. He governed effectively, aided, no doubt, by the fact that real congressional power often belonged to the alliance between Republicans and Southern Democrats. (That alliance fell apart years later when the Republican Party, in true bipartisan fashion, overwhelmingly supported civil rights legislation in 1964-65.)
Richard Nixon, who took pride in his “firsts,” had the dubious distinction of being the first president elected twice without carrying his party to power in Congress. Still, Nixon governed effectively for the most part until his self-inflicted wound. Conflict and hostility surely existed, yet Nixon and Congress agreed on some notable legislation. The same holds for Ronald Reagan, whose party never controlled the House during his terms, and ruled the Senate only sporadically.
The notion of “divided government” apparently had popular approval then. The concept had significant appeal to students of the Constitution who saw it as a virtue for ensuring the effectiveness of the separation of powers. “Gridlock” seemed an alien, distant concept.
Effective, inspiring leadership can prevail, even in the face of partisan or ideological opposition. Leadership in this country means presidential leadership. Given the now-prevailing gridlock and the resulting failure to implement promised changes, the focus inevitably is on President Barack Obama. What went wrong?...