House International Relations Chairman Henry Hyde (R.-Ill.), first elected in 1974, was a leading force in advancing President Reagan's foreign policy in Congress. Trent Lott (R.-Miss.), who is now chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, served in the House in the 1980s, where as Republican Whip he helped push Reagan's agenda.
HUMAN EVENTS Assistant Editor David Freddoso asked Hyde and Lott to share some recollections about the great conservative President with whom they served.
HENRY HYDE
You and President Reagan go way back, and I wanted to ask what you believe was his single greatest moment as President?
REP. HENRY HYDE (R.-ILL.): I think the most dramatic thing he did was one of the most significant things he did, which is when he told Gorbachev: "Tear down this wall!" He scared the State Department to death and a lot of the elites thought, 'This cowboy will get us into war.' But it was exactly the right tone with the right message. It meant he was very serious about winning the Cold War, not just containment. I thought if you had to search for a single consequential act on his part that was it.
Are there any other moments you remember along the same lines?
HYDE: Of course the marvelous speech on the Challenger explosion and the deaths, where he borrowed the poetic line, "slipping the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God." While it wasn't original with him, the fact that he used it indicated a kinship with great, soaring literature appropriate to the event. His speeches were many times personally fashioned, like the one about Normandy, "The Boys of Pointe du Hoc." His sense of humor was marvelous. I had the pleasure of having dinner with him, along with another congressman, and two senators, John Breaux (D.-La.) and Howell Hefflin (D.-Ala.). We were in the private living quarters of the White House and spent all evening talking politics, sports, and personalities with the President. It was an unforgettable evening. Ronald Reagan was a very gentle, human, honorable, honest man who proved that nice guys can win, that you don't need sharp edges and a very rough-and-tumble career to make it in politics.
TRENT LOTT
What do you believe was President Reagan's greatest moment as President?
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R.-MISS.): That's a hard question because there were so many memorable historic occasions and events. I think when he made that first speech to Congress, and laid out a vision and agenda that was really prophetic about what we could do in this country and the world. I think one of the most exciting moments I had was when we won on that first budget battle-Gramm-Latta. I remember embracing Phil Gramm in the center aisle of the House. I was Republican Whip and Phil was a Democrat, but we were so excited because we felt we actually made a dent in federal spending and were beginning to bring it under control.
I think maybe in spite of all the good things he did in the country to reinstate confidence and begin to get some restraint on spending and get taxes to the point where more people could keep more of their money, I think the time he was tested and tried the most, but stood his ground and made a critical decision, was in that meeting at Reykjavik with Gorbachev.
Gorbachev was making concessions and trying to get President Reagan to agree to stop SDI and at a critical moment, when he had to make a call the President said no and walked away-to Gorbachev's disbelief and horror.
I think that decision marked the final nail in the coffin of the Soviet Union as it existed at that time. They were imploding, even though the CIA didn't seem to know it, economically and militarily. Except, of course, for their nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, they were clearly losing ground. I think when the President refused to make that concession that was a defining moment of his strength and character. It was the final act in the Soviet Union coming to a close and the wall coming down.
People refer to that speech at Berlin; obviously that was a great speech, but I think there was probably no time in which he was tested more and was feeling more pressure to concede a position and did not do it than at Reykjavik. It defined history for the rest of the century.
What is your fondest memory of Ronald Reagan?
LOTT: One of my favorite memories was when he came to the Nashoba County Fair in Mississippi as his first stop after the 1980 Republican convention. The fair is the state's biggest political house party. We had 30,000 Mississippians there to see Reagan, the largest political assemblage up to then in the history of the state.
We have a famous rocking chair maker named Greg Harkins, and we wanted to present Reagan with one of Harkins' rocking chairs. The campaign people-and I believe Jim Baker-said "No, no, you're not going to give him a rocking chair. That's all we need is for people to see him sitting in a rocking chair, confirming his old age."
I persisted. I have the impression the future President overruled them and said, "No, now, I want to take the rocking chair!" So, when he got through with his speech we presented it to him on behalf of the people of Mississippi as an expression of our support. With an open collar, no tie, he took Mrs. Reagan by the hand, walked over to the end of the platform, sat down in the rocking chair, and pulled Nancy Reagan down in his lap. That picture went all across America, including into the New York Times. Not only was he not an old man, he was still young enough to pull his pretty wife onto his lap and put a little move on her. That was typical. I never knew if that was contrived, or if he did it on the spur of the moment. I think he did it on the spur of the moment. But it worked. The crowd went crazy. They loved it!
Another memorable moment I had with President Reagan was on the so-called TEFRA Tax Bill, a bad bill. As House whip, I was expected to do the whip count. But I sent word to the White House: No, not only was I not going to do any of the whip work, I wasn't going to vote for it. I wound up in the Oval Office with the President and Jim Baker, just the three of us. The President started trying to make his case and I said, "Mr. President, I don't think this is really tax reform. I think it's another way of saying tax increase. This is not what I came here to do and this is not what I thought you came to do and I just can't do it."
Now this was '86?
LOTT: Yes. Well, he kept talking and trying to make his case and even Jim Baker weighed in and finally, he saw that I wasn't making any movement, and the President leaned forward and said, "Now Trent, if I can't count on the whip, who can I count on?"
Then it struck me like a bolt of lightning: Here I am, Trent Lott of Pascagoula, Miss., son of a shipyard worker, sitting in the Oval Office with the most powerful man in the world, a guy I dearly love. What am I doing sitting here, saying no? I thought about it a minute and said, "Ok, Mr. President, I'll do it." That led to my casting one of the two worst votes I've cast in my entire career.
But you still remember it warmly?
LOTT: Yeah, I do. I remember it fondly and warmly. I remember just how much I did admire him, so much so that I let him talk me into casting a bad vote.
