"Tip and the Gipper" is a wonderful book...
...that may give you hope that we can treat each other better one day
Summary: As I have posted in Notes, next Tuesday I will have the pleasure of participating in a fireside chat with Scott Couto, President of Star Mountain Capital, at the Alternative Investment & DealConnect Summit hosted by Private Markets Insider. Our topic, “Navigating Trade Wars, Taxes & Tight Credit,” will give me the chance to compare the economic policies of the Trump administration to those I helped craft for the Reagan White House long ago.
To help jog my memories, Scott graciously send me a copy of Tip and the Gipper, Chris Matthew’s wonderful book about the way politics worked in the days when our leaders could fight like hell all day and still enjoy having dinner together. I miss those days more than I can say.
As some of you know, I attack reading a book with a pen in both hands, marking the hell out of the parts I want to remember. I can’t show you every page here but I did take a pic of my notes from the inside front cover to help your reading.
Here are a few of the points I want to remember:
“They respected elections, accepted who won, knew that duty came with office.” (p. xvii.)
“…there is a political center in America that can govern for the benefit of the country even when there are extremely difficult problems to be faced and strongly held differences of opinion…” (p. 250.)
“They argued mightily each man belting out his separate, deeply cherished political philosophy—but then they would, both together, bow to the country’s judgment.” (p. xv.)
“You can disagree and still be friendly.” (p. 293.)
Why did it work? “Both had been brought up to respect positions of authority…Both preferred to play by the rules…Neither acted like a spoiled kid…Always be able to talk…” They were two old Irishmen who had to work together to get things done. (p. 367).
I’m looking forward to talking with Scott and an extraordinary group of Institutional investors, family offices, fund managers, and business owners about the importance of moving away from today’s government by tantrum and back to governing with civility. I like to think that we can do that.
And please read this thoughtful book.
Dr. John
John, I am delighted you enjoyed the book and very much look forward to our conversation on Tuesday!
Dr. John, you know I'm a lefty with many Republican friends and this didn't used to be an unusual condition in America. Heck, you and I met through Steve Forbes who has always treated me warmly and respectfully and even chosen me as a debating partner. I hear now about what an extremist Reagan supposedly was and I remember from childhood that ideological debates in the 70s and 80s were quite intense, but Tip O'Neil and Reagan did work together. Presidents on both sides used to believe in restraint not "what you can get away with." I think what changed isn't so much that extremists were elected to Congress but that Congress critters realized they could offload responsibility for unpopular decisions by abdicating power to the White House, giving up on oversight in favor of cover and giving presidents W. Bush, Obama. Trump, Biden and now Trump again, freedom to reign through decree and executive order. The system the founders hoped would be ruled by honest ideas in competition became a club sport.