Ken Khachigian’s “Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan & Nixon” is out July 23.
There are political insiders and then there’s Ken Khachigian. A longtime aide to President Richard Nixon and a chief speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan , Khachigian was right there for some pivotal moments in US History. His new book,, gives readers unprecedented access. In this excerpt, he writes about advising Reagan — with input from Nixon — after the Gipper was shot in 1981 and how they cannily used public sympathy to pass key legislation.
Wearing slacks, slippers and a red sweater, the President appeared to have gained back much of his strength. Despite a raspy voice, he looked terrific and was in a jovial mood and boasted of a four-pound weight gain. “But listen, Ken. Once I’ve finished that discussion, I’m going to want to talk directly to Congress, and go over their heads to the American people about cutting their taxes, cutting inflation, and curing the economy. I want this speech to cover both aspects—taxes and spending. I want to talk about both aspects … taxes and spending. And let them know that I’m not going to talk long.
That would be a neat trick. The entire premise of going to Congress was to take advantage of national amity to boost his policy goals.Reagan, seen here with First Lady Nancy Reagan, left the hospital and returned to the White House on April 11, 1981.Eight days later, the prez headed for Camp David but called me to check on economic data. We continued working best one-on-one, though senior staff wanted to hover over this speech.
“As a matter of fact, as evidence of that, I have a letter with me.” He reached into his breast pocket and smoothly pulled it out. With perfect timing after the first howls of laughter and applause, he read young Sweeney’s postscript. He had all but the most jaded of partisans in the palm of his hand.
Tip O’Neill saw the rebellion in his ranks, and turned to Vice President Bush sitting next to him and said,“Here’s your forty votes.”Biden tells Democratic governors he got a medical checkup after debate disaster
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