Last week, liberal journalists began laying the groundwork for the liberal establishment to hijack the legacy of President Reagan. In the long run, they can be expected to downplay and distort his conservative record, while trying to exploit his enduring appeal to advance distinctly un-Reaganlike causes. For that reason, it is worth keeping in mind what the liberal journalistic establishment really thought about Reagan. Here, drawn from Lexis-Nexis and the Media Research Center, are a few samples:
-Then-Washington Post
editor Haynes Johnson
Dec. 29, 1989
editor Haynes Johnson
Dec. 29, 1989
-Newsweek's Eleanor Clift
"The McLaughlin Group"
Aug. 1, 1992
"The McLaughlin Group"
Aug. 1, 1992
-Then-NBC reporter (and current
New York Times columnist) Bob Herbert
speaking at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Fall 1992
New York Times columnist) Bob Herbert
speaking at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Fall 1992
-NBC's Tom Brokaw
on Reagan's values, Mother Jones
April 1983
on Reagan's values, Mother Jones
April 1983
-Former New York Times
executive editor Howell Raines
in Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis (1984)
executive editor Howell Raines
in Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis (1984)
-NBC's Bryant Gumbel, "Today"
April 26, 1994
April 26, 1994
-NBC's Katie Couric
on "Today" before interviewing
Reagan biographer Edmund Morris, who said
that Reagan "was a very bright man"
Sep. 27, 1999
on "Today" before interviewing
Reagan biographer Edmund Morris, who said
that Reagan "was a very bright man"
Sep. 27, 1999
-Sam Donaldson
"This Week with David Brinkley"
March 28, 1993
"This Week with David Brinkley"
March 28, 1993
-UPI's White House correspondent
Helen Thomas, CBS' "Nightwatch"
Dec. 30, 1988
Helen Thomas, CBS' "Nightwatch"
Dec. 30, 1988
-USA Today White House
reporter Sarah McClendon
Feb. 16, 1990
reporter Sarah McClendon
Feb. 16, 1990
