Ronald Wilson Reagan (1981- 1989)
In 1980, former actor, Ronald
Reagan, auditioned for the role of a lifetime. Many voter's had doubts about the aspiring presidential candidate, but
Reagan won over the hearts and minds of a nation with his performance. Nine years later,
he left the Oval Office with the highest approval ratings of any modern President. There were peaks
and valleys during his two terms in the White House, but the "Great Communicator"
and his staff were
able to control the negative and capitalize on the positive. The
Iran-Contra debacle
and other media feeding frenzies seemed to fade away as the
patriotic images of Reagan draped in
the American flag shaped the opinions of an admiring public. The ability to overcome such
potentially explosive controversies was primarily due to the strategic planning of senior staff
members. James Baker, Michael Deaver, and David Gergen were masters of media manipulation.
Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said that preparing the daily briefings was like preparing
for psychological warfare. The attention to detail with the media never went without
reward.
Reagan, working from the strategy laid out by his team, always rose to the
occasion when the spotlight
turned to him. In the end, the media outlets, though often unknowing, were the enablers for
the Reagan successes.
