Summer Reading
Copyright Jack Mixner. 714 449 1040. www.mixnerstrategy.com
Quick notes on our summer reading to date:
On the Sixties
Conspiracy theory hangs thick in Talbot's book on the Kennedy brothers, especially his discussions about Bobby's relations to and investigation of the mob in the fifties, Meredith and the federal marshals at Ole Miss, and the Cuban missile crisis. There were choices made to use alternative communications and enforcement channels in the face of set, and seemingly inalterable, beliefs. Those channels were ultimately successful for the change of the American landscape. They came at a huge cost.
Condolezza Rice lived in Birmingham during the riots of 1963. One her kindergarten classmates was killed in the bombings following Kennedy's order to desegregate the schools. She focused on school and piano practice, not the horrors close by. The message from her family: she had to be twice as good at everything she did in order to succeed in the society of the day (Mabry).
On the Seventies
Felt writes an innocuous story about his personal history at the FBI. If you read just his words, written in the 80s when Felt was still keeping mum about his role, you never realize that Felt was Deep Throat, the source of all the stories at the Washington Post about Watergate. Amplified by his lawyer in a single chapter, the story comes to life. Felt's reasoning? If he had played it by the book, Watergate would have been about a burglary (Felt, 217). He wanted it to be about a whole lot more.
Machiavellian politics played a part in the training of Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, the Saudi Prince who became an intimate of many world leaders, and ambassador the United States during the nineties. In his master's thesis, he quotes Machiavelli:
"He (the Prince) should not even concern himself about incurring infamy for those vices without which he could, with difficulty, save the state: because, if one considers everything well, it will be found that something which seems virtuous, being followed, will bring about his ruin; and something else, which seems vice, being followed, will bring security and his well-being. (Simpson. 421)."
Bandar occasionally had to act in a manner that didn't please America. He helped the Saudis buy middle range missiles from China, for instance, an unexpected act the West discovered only from satellite photographs. Much of Middle Eastern politics were entertwined with Bandar's closeness to world leaders and Saudi needs for internal security.
On the Eighties
Ronald Reagan succeeded with insightful speeches at opportune times in his career. In 1964, in his national political debut, Reagan focused on foreign policy in an election year looking at problems at home. In 1966, using the words "government is beholden to the people (Diggins, 133)", Reagan showed how to listen to the masses as they "sought not to destroy but to preserve" institutions.
Key tidbit for me in the economic discussions of the eighties was that Reagan was willing to try new economic stimuli (including tax cuts) because of his training and degree in economics. All the stories about Reagan's youth had talked about his lifeguard and baseball announcing jobs, not the fact that his training was in economics.
Reagan the actor didn't trump Reagan the person in his appearances or in his philosophy. Yep, he wore only brown suits (to appear like one of us), and his people arranged the photo angles carefully. But Reagan was Reagan. Pragmatic, with a twinkle in his eye, if need be. His Presidential model? Calvin Coolidge, Silent Cal, the man who was against racism and corrupt government. Other models? Emerson, for one. Poverty "demoralizes". Earning "dignifies". "Reagan believed that democracy made morality possible by holding individuals responsible for what they do with their lives (Digins, 308)."
After he was shot, Reagan failed at opening a dialog with Russia, a dialog he was successful at opening some years later, culminating in his speech at the Wall in Berlin. Realizations that the Russian defensive mentality linked to their offensive military strategy in Europe (Diggins, 374) forced a dialog about not wanting war, but if it were to break out, the east or the west would respond. The key word was if. And the if could be caused by mis-calculation or mistake - folly. Chernobyl helped the world recognize just what a nuclear disaster would look like, and again, understand what folly really meant.
Reagan walked from the negotiating table when he didn't feel right in Iceland. While a setback to the negotiations, ultimately his intuition was right about what was right for America and the world, and we all succeeded.
On the Nineties
China had a different problem. Rapid evolution of American military affairs and the success of the 1991 Gulf War made China realize its military was out of date. Re-examination of the three pillars of Chinese power (ability to provide security and welfare for the people, and the very legitimacy of the governing structure (Gelber, 398)) caused expenditures on military modernization and subtle - or huge, depending on your point of view - shifts in public morale and politics. China imported raw materials in quantity and exported finished goods, both new. Change came in the new richness but is not evidenced in the continuing authoritarian police state. Over building in infrastructure in some areas is not matched in others, leading to inequities. The Chinese challenge is not over yet.
Key Thoughts
- Bobby Kennedy had to rely on data gathering and enforcement capabilities that were new and/or underutilized. Both Kennedy's were forced by events to act more quickly than they had expected without the necessary support they would normally depend upon.
- Being "twice as good" worked for Condoleezza Rice.
- Felt made decisions, some of them personal, about how large the Watergate investigation should become.
- Reagan seemingly relied on intuition in stressful situations. Forgotten was his training, his union leadership in a stressful time, and his willingness to install a team and leave it alone to manage, until he needed to change his team. And change his team he did when it was necessary.
- It's hard to personalize the Chinese experience. The bottom line? It's not done yet. China has a long history. Even when it has made errors, time has allowed it to recoup.
References
Diggins, John Patrick. Ronald Reagan. Rate, Freedom, and the Making of History. W. W. Norton & Company. 2007.
Felt, Mark and John O'Connor. A G-Man's Life. PublicAffairs. 2006.
Gelber, Harry G. The Dragon and the Foreign Devils. China and the World, 1100 B. C. to the Present. Walker & Company. 2007.
Mabry, Marcus. Twice As Good. Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power. Modern Times. 2007.
Simpson, William. The Prince. The Secret Story of the World's Most Intriguing Royal. Prince Bandar Bin Sultan. Regan. 2006.
Talbot, David. Brothers. The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years. Free Press. 2007.