Sunday, October 26, 2008

Ronald Reagan and PATCO

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/mediaplay.php?id=44138&admin=40

"A second key dramatic event in Reagan's revival of the authority of the presidency was his handling of the August 1981 unauthorized strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO). The confrontation between the president and what appeared to be an arrogant and greedy labor organization was made to order for Reagan's sense of public drama. He came across as a heroic president confronting the representatives of a narrow special interest group. The nation appreciated a chief executive who took a firm position and did not waver, as Jimmy Carter had done on a number of issues" (Gould 198).

No comments: