Simmons 1 A Period of True Sincerity? A Look at Ronald Reagan's Presidency
Will Simmons U.S. in 20* Century World David Brandt February 12^ 2007 Simmons 2
Table of Contents
Statement of Purpose 3
Biography 4
Historical Contextualization 6
Interview Transcription 17
Audio Time Indexing Log 31
Analysis 32
Works Cited 36 Simmons 3
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this Oral History project is to examine the second term of Ronald
Reagan's presidency, from the eyes of Katherine Ortega, the treasurer of the United
States under Reagmi in the 1980's. Reagan's second presidency had mmiy important events, including the Cold War, tax cuts, and Reaganomics, which would eventually influence the modern day. Simmons 4
Biography of Katherine Ortega
Kalhemie Orlega wasboni July l£i , 1934 She w^slhe yDm^eslof mne children
Her family ongm IS Mexican-Amencan Herfalher was ablacksnulh, andlalerofeneda reslairrani Orlega was farlofbig fanulywho preached Ihe golden rule She alw^]^ worked hard, because people Ihoi^hl Ihal she was spoiledbeir^ Ihe yDm^esI and wanled lo prove Ihem wroi^
Orlega m her early life wailed lable sand ran eirands for he rfanuly Herparenis wanled her lobe independenlandEelf-sufTicienl Orlega loved school, excellir^ m hisloiy and business Once she lefl school, she saved up enoi^hmoneyandpul herself
Ihroi^h college She allendedEaslem New Mexico Universily Simmons 5
Ortega's goal when she left college to was to become a business teacher at a high school. However, she ended up doing accounting business with her sister and brother.
Later she took an oil operation job. She then became an accountmit for a small public utility company. While she was mi accountant, she saw that a male was making more money than her even though she was better qualified. Since her father had told her that if she set her mind to something she could do it, she became a certified public accountant.
Later she was appointed as the treasurer of the United States. Ortega has won many awards including the Horatio Alger award in 2002. Ortega now lives in Washington D.C, with her husband Lloyd Derrickson. While still interested in politics, Ortega, enjoys relaxing activities. Simmons 6
Historical Contextualization
Presidents in Americmi History have either been remembered or forgotten.
They may do things that America will remember forever, or they do not make a significant difference. Ronald Reagan was a president that made important differences in
America, good and bad.
Ronald was bom February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois. He had a normal childhood. He had one brother and his fathers name was John Edwmd Reagan. His mother was Nellie Clyde Wilson. His older brother was Neil Reagan. His family was the descendants of the Irish, and his great grandfather on his father's side emigrated from
Ireland. During his childhood Reagan went to Mount Lebanon, a high school where he excelled in acting and speaking. [Msofficei]
In November 1941 Reagmi was called up for combat, but was not allowed to go because of astigmatism. However, after the attack on Pearl Hmbor 1941, Reagan was summoned mid was sent to the First Motion Picture Unit in the United States Army Air
Forces in 1942 (NMUSAF 1), where he created educational military films. Later in his life he appeared in many television drmiias and was making around $125,000 a year, an
$800,000 yearly income by today's monetary standards. (Pines 2)
Reagan's family began with his marriage to actress Jmie Wyman on Jmiuary 24 ;
1940.They had a daughter in 1941, nmiiing her Maureen. They also adopted a son,
Michael, in 1945. Not long after, they conceived a second daughter, Christine but she Simmons 7
died June 26 , 1947[Msoffice2]. Reagan divorced Wynn on June 28 1948, which could
have been influenced by their daughter's death. Reagan married again on Mmch 4, 1952 to Nancy Davis, another actor. He had another daughter named Patti who was born that
year on October 21. (Lmdb 1)
Throughout this tumultuous fmiiily history, Reagan's political stands changed
over time. When Reagan first started, he took a democratic approach, and was a follower
of the New Deal. Reagmi's first political job was as the president of the Screen Actor's
Guild, which was the labor union that represented most Hollywood actors. It was then that Reagan started to attain a conservative philosophy. Reagan believed that communists
were "infiltrating" the Screen Actors Guild. From then, Reagmi stmted keeping tabs on
people who he thought to be communists or overall untrustworthy.
The threat of communism started to affect Reagan's political views. He believed that the Republican Party was more of an enemy to the communists than the Democrats
and decided to ally himself with them. However, Reagmi stayed as a registered Democrat, though he supported Republican presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richmd Nixon.
Later, thinking that Kennedy was responsible for the Cubmi Missile Crisis and (CNN
l|Msoffice3]), Reagmi switched parties|Msoffice4].
Reagan was elected as the governor of California in 1966. Hepvisoffices] was elected
again in 1977. Reagmi stmted to contemplate running for president in 1968. He ran in the
1976 presidential election against [Msoffice6]Gerald Ford. Reagan ran as the conservative
nomination while Ford was a moderate. However, Reagan lost by around 97 votes.
[Msoffice7](History Central 1) Simmons 8
Again Reagan ran for president during the 1980 election against Carter. Reagan
wanted to take Ford as his vice president but he would have nothing of it, so Reagan
elected George Bush Senior as his vice president. People looking for a fresh start after
Nixon were very receptive to Reagmi's fairness, lack of hard-headedness, mid openness to many ideas. Reagan was not as much focused on black civil rights, but when Carter
accused him of being racist it backfired because Reagan had no racist views, but was just
preoccupied with other matters. When Cmter tried to use this in his debates against him,
Reagan was able to explain why his focus was not focused on Civil Rights, which
boosted his support.
Reagan's 1984 election found him defeating Walter Mondale by winning 49 of 50 states,
and carrying almost 60% of the populm votes (History Central 1). It was a crushing
defeat. Mondale tried to hurt Reagan's credibility, in debates but was unsuccessful
(Reagmi University of Texas l).|Msoffice8]
Reagan's policies were quite conservative but he had some parts of him that were
somewhat liberal. When Reagan entered the presidential position the inflation quota was the highest since 1947. Reagan's views were mostly a small government ideal, which
meant that he wanted to have the government stay out of most people's affairs. Reagan's first move as president to decrease the price of oil, which helped economically since oil
was such a precious commodity.
Reagan wanted to revive the economy because it was in bad shape in .
During Reagan's first term unemployment increased by 7.5 %; however, by his second term it had dropped back down to normal and for the next five years steadily declined. Simmons 9
Reagan also argued for fiscal responsibility and enacted the biggest tax cuts in Americmi history. (Kruger 1)
Reagan also had other interests during his presidency. He was deeply focused on the AIDS epidemic. Reagmi spent $5.7 billion dollars on research for AIDS and HIV.
This was a significant number because it was much more than what was spent on the cancer foundation, which kills many more than AIDS. He said that AIDS should be the highest priority in the Department of Health and Human Services. Reagan was the first president to ever invite a homosexual couple, Ted Graber and Archie Case, to spend the night at the White House as his guest. This signified his openness to people of different sexual orientations. However, Reagan said when it came down to sexual disease, abstinence was the best policy. (Boyd 1)
When Reagan was governor, he was pro-choice. However, after he became president mid more conservative in his views, he becmiie more and more pro-life. In fact,
Reagan wrote a book. The Conscience of Nation, in which he argued that abortion was a disrespect of life.
Reagan's second term is widely known for the economic situation and foreign affairs. However, he did focus a lot of his attention on the laws at home. For instance he authorized The Voting Rights Act of 1965 for another 25 years, though in his first term he was against it[Msoffice9]. This extension was important to America because it now included the blind, disabled, and illiterate voters. Other important policies passed were the Internal Revenue Code in 1986 and the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which helped the victims of the Japanese-Internment cmiips in America. Also, Reagan started an Simmons 10
advertisement-based war on drugs. Nancy Reagan played a large role in this cmiipaign,
with her "Just Say No" televised messages. (MSNBCl)
Reagan's second term was pivotal in the resolution of the Cold Wm. Reagmi was
a big advocate of anti-communist views. Reagan said that because of the communist
system, the Soviet Union's economy would deteriorate. He thought that if the U.S. spent
more on weapons than the Soviet Union, it would stmt the end of the war. Therefore,
Reagan stmledto accelerate the production of arms. Reagan's idea was that the U.S.
would get peace by strength. This meant that if they had a huge number of weapons and
military strength, Russia would not attempt to do anything in fear of the reprisal of the
United States. Reagan's plmi against the Soviet Union had three major pmts. He wanted to first try mid cut off the Soviets from advanced technology and make sure their
resources were being lost. Second, he wanted to increase the U.S. military strength,
which was done by the arms race. Lastly, he wanted to have the Soviets use all their
money towards military defense. (Bowmanl)
Reagan also imposed treaties during the Cold War to help against the threat of
communism. Soviets were very scared when in 1983; NATO launched a regular activity
called ABLE ARCHER 83. ABLE ARCHER 83 was the U.S. simulating a possible
nuclear strike towards Russia. This was one of the first attempts to end the Cold War, by
striking fear into Russia. However, Russia responded by putting themselves on high
defense, and when they realized it was false they lowered their gumd. When word of this
reached Reagan that he was thought to be able to start a nuclear war, he was taken aback
and realized that a more conciliatory approach was needed. (Bowen 1) Other treaties that the U.S. negotiated was the INF arm reduction treaty and the START [Msofficeiojtreaty Simmons 11
with the U.S.S.R. (Carnegie Endowment 1, CRS issue brief 1) Reagan also had plmis at
home to increase military defense. One was the Strategic Defense Initiative. This was a
proposal to have a space based defense plan to make the United States almost invincible to nuclear weapons. This would be made possible because of the satellites orbiting the
earth. People called it the Star Wars, because much of its focus was on space. However,
many said to keep up with SDI, the Soviets would have to spend in extremity, so it
helped in the U.S. arms race. The Soviets did respond with a similar system.
The supporters of Reagan's involvement in anti-communist action called it the
Reagan Doctrine. Reagan made the U.S. government fund a administration called the
"Freedom Fighters", which were groups that were fighting against communist and
Mmxist based governments, including governments in Afghmiistmi, Nicaragua, and the
white government of South Africa. Also, the freedom fighters helped to fight against
communism in Central America. Reagan also helped sponsor the Polish Solidarity
movement that was mi anti-communist group that was situated in Europe. Reagan and the
U.S. also were deeply against the Lebmiese Hezbollah terrorist orgmiization, which was
capturing innocent Americans and attacking civilimis. This mainly took place after Israel
went into Lebanon in 1982, which was called the Lebmion War. Reagan was also against the Palestinian terrorists. After the U.S. involved itself with the Lebmion war, the United
Nations decided to send 800 Mmines to try to quell the disagreement. However, on
September 16, 1982 there was a huge massacre of Palestinian civilians in Beirut. At this,
Reagan decided to create a new military strength to send back over. In June 1982, in
operation "Peace For Galilee", the Israel Defense Forces drove out the terrorists mid
ended the war. When the war was over Reagan said "On Lebanon, it is clem that we and Simmons 12
Israel both seek mi end to the violence there, mid a sovereign, independent Lebmion."
President Reagan said June 21, 1982; "We agree that Israel must not be subjected to
violence from the north." (Jewish Virtual Library 1)
Reagan also was involved with the Iran and Iraq wm. When Reagmi first started his presidency the U.S. was mostly neutral. However, after Reagan took office their stand
became increasingly involved. The U.S. supported both countries at different times but
mainly stood by Iraq, thinking that the Irmiian leader Ayatollah Khomeini would do more
hmm to the regions normalcy than the leader of Iraq, Saddmii Hussein. The U.S. believed that if Iran were able to win the war, it would help the Islamic radicals over throw the
secular governments of the Middle East and therefore hurt the west's economic interests
in the Middle East. So the U.S. provided military information to Iraq about the Irmiian territory mid also helped financially back them. Reagan eventually issued Operation
Praying Mmitis, in 1988, which was a single day sea attack against Iranian ships mid
command posts. (Global Security 1)
Reagan was known as the great communicator of the United States. He was able to express his views and his emotions, even during the most formal of presentations. He
had a very good effect on people, by blending his humor and his charisma into an
incredible expression of inner self. He hired the most gifted of speechwriters to able to
address exactly what he wanted to say, and in such a way that it could be perfect. He was
able to criticize the Soviet Union harshly, while making sure that people knew that he
viewed the United States as a defender of freedom and liberty.
In debates Reagan was able to really damage his opponents with logical
arguments and his use of comedy. He was remembered for his debate against Walter Simmons 13
Mondale during his presidential election by saying that he was not going to exploit
Mondale, by dissecting his youth and his inexperience in politics. His supporters and his
opponents both recognized how Reagan had a somewhat "sunny optimism".
(LookSmart 1 )|Msofficei i]
On Mmch 30, 1981 Reagan was almost assassinated. A dermiged mmi named
John Hinckley, Jr. shot Reagan, and missed his heml by less than one inch. The bullet
went into Reagan's lung, instead. When he met with the surgeons, Reagan said that he
"Hoped they were all Republicans"; the surgeons, being Democrats, replied, "We're all
Republican's today". (Reeves 1)
Reagan has many effects on America mostly positive but people felt negative towards a lot of his actions. The first thing that people criticized him about was how since
he was able to promote so much charm mid charisma, he was able to say whatever he
wanted mid people just ate it up. That earned him the name the "Teflon President".
Teflon means that nothing sticks to him, so he can't be blamed for much. Critics went
after him mainly because of the Iran-Contra scandal, which was when Reagan was thought to be selling Irmi weapons, which help funded Reagan's miti-communist actions.
Also, during Reagan's presidency the U.S. was found to be guilty during the Nicaragua
vs. United States Supreme Court Case. It showed that the U.S. funded terrorism, mid the
U.S. never paid the fine that it was issued. Economy dysfunctional was increasing after
1973, mainly due to the fact that the New Deal was leaving the political policies. Reagan,
by cutting out welfare and taxes, many viewed his policy as trickle down economics,
which was an economic policy that made the poor get the money last. Jewish leaders
criticized Reagan for visiting a German cemetery that had Nazi's buried there. Reagan Simmons 14
was also criticized mainly by liberals for his foreign policy. People called him a
warmonger. However, in Englmid, Reagan was constantly attacked for his foreign
policies, but had the support of Margaret Thatcher a prominent politicimi. Many liberals
felt that Reagmi's opposition to Castro's regime was incorrect, and that he was ignoring the human rights in South and Central America, when he supported the anti-communism
action down there. Reagan also supported apartheid in South Africa, which drew major
criticism from the South Africmi anti-apartheid leaders. However, Reagan wanted
apartheid to end and wmited to liberate South Africa, so it was somewhat controversial.
Reagan in his time saw some controversies in his presidency. The most important
one was the Iran-Contra affair. Due to that ten members of Reagan's cabinet were
charged with lying to Congress and lying to the IRS. Reagmi was able to get out of the
scandal however, by expressing his sincere apology for the incident. Another controversy that happened was when people were given money for supporting Reagan's
administration. Six people in the cabinet were convicted. Thirdly, Michael Deaver and
Lyn Nofziger were charged with lobbying offenses. (MSNBCl). Nofziger was Reagmi's
press secretmy and Deaver was part of the White House Staff.
On January 11 1989 Reagan said his to America. He eventually wrote an
autobiography. He used to come to Republican conventions mid public gatherings. On
November 5, 1994 Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimers, and died ten years later June
5, 2004. (CNN 1)
Ronald Reagan was and is still is one of the most popular presidents. People saw
him as an enemy of communism mid a person that stood hard by their beliefs. Many have Simmons 15 said that they want him back again, which is a measure of how much of an impact he made on society. People saw him being able to disarm the Soviet Union mid the radicals with his "humor, grace and easy affability". That was the original Reagan. A witness who went to a college where Reagan visited recounts when Reagan walked into the building, and the student were being totally quiet, to express their disapproval of the way Reagan was handling the Berkeley revolt, and right when Reagan was about to go through the door way and into another building, he turned around and put his finger to his lips and said Slihhh. At this point, all the college students started breaking up into gales of laughter. Even Mikhail Gorbachev, who was a person whose regime was constmitly attacked by Reagmi, could not say any criticism without first saying that Reagmi was a very good political leader. Many seem to miss him. People also recognize the negatives of Reagmi's presidency such as his bad paternal approach to his children, who to spite him signed on politically with his enemies, and the ever lurking Irmi-Contra incident.
However, the negatives are just totally covered up by Reagan's unlimited amount of positive expression. Reagmi felt that America was the greatest thing in this world, and he loved it with all his heart. Reagmi was viewed by some as "The most dynamic president".
However, as much as he was dynamic he was very simple. People say that his legacy lives on because his ideals were so basic, such as saying that "Liberals will always be wrong." That Legacy lives on today because the liberal conservative battle still rages and will forthousmids of yems. Reagmi was a simple man, who founded simple guidelines for everyday life. His actions during his presidency still affect us today. For exmiiple his anti- communist movement helped the spread of communism dwindle. It made it so it would not be such a problem for us in the future. Secondly, Reagan was able to increase our Simmons 16 military dominance, a thing that makes all other neighboring countries in the world careful about starting conflicts with us. He talked all about freedom, and how it was at liberty, which is something people are facing day in and day out all over the world. Simmons 17
Interview Trmiscription
Interviewee/Nmrator: Katherine Ortega Interviewer: William Simmons Location: Mrs. Ortega's home, Washington D.C. Date: January 10*, 2007
William Simmons: Uh, this is Will Simmons um interviewing Mrs. Derrickson on
Ronald Reagan and his second term um, ok, to start it off do you care to tell us when and
where you were bom.
Katherine Ortega: Well I still go by my name Ortega I go by Katherine Ortega mid I did
not take on the Derrickson nmiie except for social purposes and I was bom in Tularosa,
New Mexico on July 16* 1934.
WS:Ok
WS: Um cmi you describe your childhood for me?
KG: I was the youngest of nine children and I lived in an area where I had mmiy many
uncles and aunts, and cousins, in fact I had about 80 first cousins and I knew most of them. So it was a very fmiiily oriented ah, upbringing and um mid I also received a lot of Simmons 18
constructive criticism from my siblings and ah so it was a warm loving environment ah,
when I started school I guess my oldest brother was graduating from high school when I
was in the first grade um, my parents emphasized education and ah, in fact they received
an awmd because all of their children had perfect attendance at school. So that was very
important and then the religious upbringing also my mother was ya know very strong
catholic. So it was uh fmiiily, religion, and education.
WS: Um what nationality is your family?
KG: Well, um, primarily Spanish-Mexican uh although I did have a great grandfather that was bom in Indiana and they later moved to Illinois and then they moved to Texas
and then he and his father went to California mid they were pmt of the California Column
and that was about 2500 men that marched from California through the desert all the way to New Mexico mid that was right about the Civil War, during the Civil War. And then
on the other side of my family my ancestors came from Mexico they were originally,
most of them were from Spain but came to Mexico and then they cmiie through El Paso to the area that is now New Mexico they discovered Mexico at the time that they came
and they stayed once uh The United States took over that part of our country.
WS: Um you said that you are a catholic are you did you keep um practicing are you
pretty devote or?
KG: Uh yes I still uh attend uh church regularly. Simmons 19
WS: Um what college did you attend?
KG: I attended Eastern New Mexico University in Portales New Mexico. And I worked for about two and half years after I graduated from High School, I worked in the local
bmik and saved my money and then I went to college. So I pretty much paid for all my
education and when I was in college I worked at the college library to earn some
spending money and then I would come home um after my, because I went to summer
school and I received my B A degree in two and a half years because I took the maximum
load every semester and uh I was graduated with honors.
WS: Um what were your jobs um before you were involved, like as the treasurer?
KG: Well as I said I started out uh while I was still in high school working at the bmik.
And after college I received my degree in business and economics with a minor in
education and I had planned to teach uh typing, shorthand, book keeping mid I did my
student teaching my last semester in college in fact I did it during the summer at the
college mid my students were teachers that had come to the summer session and they
were taking business machines, so that was my um student teaching. However, my uh
counselor was the department head of the business school mid wonderful woman and
when it came time to graduate and look for ajob um she said they would note me in
Hobbs new Mexico and theres an opening in Carasosa New Mexico. But she said, "You needn't bother to apply to the job in Hobbs because they will not hire you because you're Simmons 20
Hispanic. And the difference in salmy between those two schools was considerable and
so I decided I was not going to work for less money so then I returned to Alamogordo
where I had mi older sister and a brother that me both TCA's and I worked with them.
WS: Ok. Um does like your political views um I was wondering what you, like what
influenced your life so you took a rather conservative like view in politics rather than like
a democratic one?
KG: Well I tribute that to my father who was a very proud individual and even though he
had nine children he worked I would say ya know when I was growing up it seemed like
day and night. Uh he would not accept any government help uh and he raised ya know the nine children so he taught us to be Independent and so he believed in small
government mid uh ya know that everyone was responsible for t^ing care of their own.
WS: Ok. Um you said you were like uh did bmiking mid um I was just wondering you
save money in the bmik is that how you got like stmled in economics in general?
KG: Well no I think that uh the fact that the family always had a business, I mean when I
was growing up my family had uh a restaurmit mid a dance hall mid tours in New Mexico
and then at the uh stmt of World War II uh this friend of my fathers uh he was uh his
father was the banker in town encouraged him to move from Tularosa to Alamogordo mid
open a restaurant there because Hallowman air force base was located there and uh so there was a lot more business with the troop trains coming through there and just having Simmons 21 the military base there so they moved to Alamogordo and so we were all involved in the
restaurmit even, ya know quite young, I would uh go to the bank and to get change or run to the store to get something, whatever was needed in the restaurant and while even at
school uh, we could come home at noon and uh on Wednesdays we served the rotmy club
at Alamogordo and so rushed to the restaurant and helped serve mid grab a bite and back to school. So I was raised in a business environment mid then later um after my brothers
came back from the service and my father and my brothers stmled a furniture store, they
started dealing in used furniture and then eventually opened a furniture store so they were
selling new furniture primarily although they started with used furniture and then my
older sister who um ah worked in the restaurant and then she went towards the bank mid then she um on the side was prepming tax returns and eventually left the bmik and started
her own business and so we, she mid my other brother who is also a CPA worked at an
accounting practice and so worked with them and uh very later my sister uh they sold the
accounting practice and she started a savings and loan mid so I worked with her uh in the
savings and loan for a short period of time also, so I was always involved in business.
WS: OK um how did you find yourself as the treasurer, like did you wmit to get involved
or I was just wondering how the opportunity opened itself to you?
KG: Well no it was uh rather interesting, I um returned from California to New Mexico
and um I was getting ready to go to China because I decided I wanted to visit China and
shortly before leaving I received a call from a woman in Washington with a small
business administration and she indicated that president Reagan was going to be Simmons 22
appointing a new commission for the small business administration for small and
minority business and asked whether I would be interested in serving on such a
commission and I asked where did you get my name who recommended me or whatever
she said we got it from different people and she said I should contact my congressmen if I
was interested to get support and as I said I was leaving for China so I said to my sister I
don't want to bother senator Dimitchi with this it's a commission of part time
appointment and so I went to China and I came back and some time later the same
wommi called and said congratulations you have been selected to serve on the
commission and so I came to Washington for the first meeting of this commission and uh they had a little dinner for this new group and I happened to be seated next to someone that's was at the White House he was from El Paso Texas mid I had heard of him he had
heard of me we had mutual friends we had a very nice chat that evening and one of the
individuals we talked about was a woman that was serving as commissioner from the
copyright royalty tribunal and she was also Hispanic and a CPA I heard been with Pete
Mmk mid she had been with Arthur Anderson I had met her and her term was about to
expire she had been appointed by president carter well anyway I go back to New Mexico
and sometime later this woman calls me and he said would you be interested in being
considered to serve as commissioner on the copyright royalty tribunal so I then called this woman since I had met her and asked her what the job was all about and she
indicated that yes I should pursue it, which I did but I contacted Senator Dimitchi and
congressmmi steam and congressman Loughan to get that support so that's how and I
received the appointment and I was confirmed by the senate and that's when I moved to
Washington and about six months later six or seven months later I was attending a Simmons 23
function it was when Sally Wright went up in space a lot women from the administration
were invited to Cape Canaveral mid I went with the group and while I was down there there was a reception mid there was a woman from the White House Faith Littlesy and I
went up and introduced my self to her and she said Oh you're the one who is being
considered for treasurer of the United States and I said No its uh Dr. Lula Montoya that's
being considered because I knew she had been interested. So I get back and then someone
from New Mexico with the Republicmi party called me and said we have been asked to
submit the name of someone from new Mexico for consideration for treasurer and we
would like to submit your name so it just happened when I worked in Los Angeles for
one of the banks the woman then serving as treasurer of the United States under Nixon
returned to the bank she had been chairman of the bmik where I was working so I knew
her and we had worked together so I called her and asked her what do you think should I
pursue this or not and we ya know led to a pros and cons mid we decided that I should so that's how my name ya know cmiie to the White House and um so it was not a very long
process mid this woman from LA the former treasurer called on my behalf and the
people, like senators congressmen considered my nomination so that's how I got it.
WS: Uh, I was just wondering what your duties were as the treasurer?
KS: Well as treasure I had the oversight responsibility for bureau of engraving and
printing where all the currency was printed and uh most of the postage stamps at that time
were printed and it was during my 10 years under Don Regmi that um he decided that it
would be better if had two facilities rather than one facilities where all the currency was Simmons 24
being printed and so that's when they started the um the new plans one was at Fort Worth
and the second area bureau of nick where all the coins were made and numismatic coins
and numismatic had just come back into uh you might say they had uh I understmid at
one period there such demand so many different groups and orgmiizations wanted
different numismatic coins mid then congress said no more and then they stmled bringing them back in 80 83 with the George Washington Coin mid then when I was in office
when I came into office in fact they had just started the progrmii for the coins for the
Olympics in Los Angeles that was a very Imge program mid that was followed in 86 with the statue of liberty coins for certain miiounts of the proceeds went to the foundation for the restoration of the statue of liberty mid then we had several other coins that uh and the
minter located uh we had uh of course the one in San Francisco and all they did there was
numismatic coins mid then the circulating coins were done in Denver and Philadelphia
and then we had the WestPoint Dollar Depository and there we did pennies and then of
course the mint was also responsible for Fort Knox Kentucky for where the gold was
covered and the my third mea of responsibility was uh uh savings bond division and that
was Promenading Savings Bonds mid the sale of savings bonds to businesses and
government agencies where wherever there was a large employee so we uh worked with
large corporations and government agencies department of defense department of transportation encouraging those employees to provide a payroll savings deduction plmi
when you would sign up that from your every paycheck they would take out enough for
one or two bonds.
WS: Ok did you have like a lot of like input on like policies being made? Simmons 25
KG: Well only to the extent of things related to coins uh we did uh work with congress
certainly the sub committee on coinage on any of the coins and to the design mid to the
content of the coins and they would be bureau of engraving and printing ah it was
primarily on um the anti-counterfeiting devices.
WS: Um your position is really important or was really important still is really important
um do you think you were more susceptible to like criticism a little like uh because
people seemed to focus on money?
KG: Uh no I don't think it was any more so than most positions at that level.
WS: Um these me more focused on Reagmi, Um I was wondering if you worked closely
with Reagan and if you did what you thought of him as a person in general?
KG: Well I wouldn't say I worked closely with him but I did have the opportunity to go to the White House uh when we had meetings related to the savings bonds we always had
um um for exmiiple when a new coin was coming out we would always go to the White
House and have a ceremony in the rose garden and uh I remember going to the white
house and uh it was for the I believe it was for the statue of liberty coin and I was waiting
with all the other people to go into the rose garden when someone cmiie and said Kay
secretary baker would like to see you and so I followed him and went to the oval office
and there was president Reagmi, vice president bush, and secretary b^er. Secretary Simmons 26
Baker said Kay the president would like to know how this progrmii is gonna work so I
had to uh explain to him ya know how many coins we were m^ing and what how much the proceeds of each coin was going to the restoration fund and what we expected to raise
with these coins. But other than that it was just uh when we went to the White House
with the ya know we had a committee of CEO's of major corporations that were part of
our advisory board for the savings bond program and they would come to Washington
once and a year mid one of the corporations would host a luncheon and all the CEO's and
I would go to the White House to brief the president how the progrmii was doing. That
was the pretty much extent. I did have the opportunity to attend a state dinner mid I was
seated at president Reagan's table, which was very interesting.
WS: Um do you think uh Reagan like hmidled the like the money of the U.S. that was
sort of trusted to him well?
KG: Well I thought he was an excellent uh president uh he surrounded himself with
capable people, loyal people, and um he had a personality that even though might agree
with him uh I don't think most people were offended they still liked him as an individual
he was a warm very ya know he put you in easy media when you were around him.
WS: Um cmi you comment on the like Iran-contra controversy and just how the
government responded to it? Simmons 27
KG: Well again I was not involved in that because of with my position I was quite
distanced from that. But I think um history will show that it was hmidled properly there
may have been mist^es there probably were mist^es ya know everyone makes mistakes
so um I'm not saying it was perfect but it was handled as well it could have been hmidled.
WS: Uh I just wondered what your personal feelings were on like the Reagmiomics and
like the biggest tax cuts in American History just in general what you thought about it?
KG: Well in general I'm very supportive of tax cuts (laughs) and again I think that we need to encourage people to t^e responsibility for their life and not be so dependent not
asking government for everything ya know some people just think government without
realizing what government is and where the funding for government comes from. I don't
know where they think all this money is coming from that they want to get from the
government so I think we should as I say to encourage people from an early age take
responsibility for their lives and I take that strong view because of my experience true I
did not go to a big nmiied college but I did pay for my own education and so I feel if I
could do it certainly anyone else could do it.
WS: Um uh during the second you guys were involved in the Cold Wm I was just
wondering what you thought about the whole situation and if you were fearful and also if
it could seriously bre^ into nuclear war? Simmons 28
KG: Well I think that uh the threat and the possibility of something horrible happening in
our world is with us all the time as fm as the my involvement with any policies or
anything to do with that mine was strictly limited to the three areas I was responsible for I
was not involved with miything outside the depmlment of treasury and those three
bureaus I was responsible for.
WS: Um but could you just, based on what you were thinking like not in your position just as a citizen as a United States like were you were scared like I just wondered how
you felt about the whole situation?
KG: Well I wouldn't say that I was scared no I had had confidence in our government
and our military ability mid uh so no I cmi't say that I was scared.
WS: Um did you think that like the strategy as citizen of the United States or in general
um how you felt about like the mms race strategy and like out buying Russia did you think it was like uh a strategy to take uh towmds it?
KG: Well I think that you have to uh show you have to be as strong as other nations if
your going to compete and if your going to have miy leverage with other countries you
have to go from strength and so I do believe in a strong military.
WS: Um Reagan was like a huge anti-communist I just wanted to know what your views
on communism and during in that time period were? Simmons 29
KG: Well I, certainly uh never believed in communism and it goes back to my basics of
providing for yourself rather than sharing your hard earned uh goods with other people that are not willing to work as hard as you are.
WS: Um what do you think about just like Reagmi's legacy what do you think it was?
KG: Well I think uh he is being ya know every year being recognized more and more as
having been an excellent president uh there was not the divisiveness that we have seen
since then in our country and whether it was the um fact that I was in the administration that I felt that way I'm not sure but I do believe history is showing he did uh bring the
country together.
WS: Uh do you think well some people think that Reagan was one of the best presidents that was in office, I just wanted your personal opinion on this statement and if you thought he was the best why did you or why didn't you think so?
KG: Uh well I said before he was able to get along with people mid even at that time with
uh Kip O'Neill who was the democrat from Massachusetts mid speaker of the house and
so while they had their differences politically they were still friends and uh they would
get together socially mid I don't believe you see too much of that now a days and I think that's a good thing when your able to disagree but remain civil to each other. Simmons 30
WS: Um so would you say he was one of the best or?
KG: Well I think he was ranked quite high I think so
WS: Well thmik you for your time it was really helpful um I enjoyed it immensely.
KG: Ok well if you have miy other questions give me a call
WS: Thanks
KG: Uh huh Simmons 31
AudioA^ideo Time Indexing Log
1. Win Simmons
2. Katherine Ortega
3. January 11*, 2007
4. Mrs. Ortega's Residence
5. Micro-cassette
Minute Mark Topic
5 Minutes Early Job 10 Minutes Treasurer Appointment 15 Minutes Treasurer Duties 20 Minutes Reagan's Monetary Handling 25 Minutes Communism 30 Minutes Reagan Legacy Simmons 32
Analysis
History is a subject that is always changing. One can see this just from looking at
our past. When the people of World War I were fighting they believed that this war
would be the "War to end all wars". However, they were wrong. It is important that we
can have sources from those past times that are first hmid accounts. Their views help us
shape our understanding of the time period. One of those important time periods was the
second term of Reagan's presidency. This period included vital times of the Cold War, the Iran-Contra problem, mid the largest tax cuts in American history. The second term of
Reagan's presidency had significmit impact on life today. Firstly, the way the Cold War
was handled, secondly. The Iran Contra incident, and lastly the tax cuts. I interviewed
Katherine Ortega to better my knowledge of how history changed from Reagmi's
Presidency to today. She was the treasurer of the United States under Reagan and helped
me understand it. To best use oral history, one must know what the interview is saying
overall, the historical value of what was said, and just understanding what you have
learned.
Oral History is the process of taking information about atopic from people who
have experienced the topic. It is very important to use it because sometimes the
information gathered from atextbook or article doesn't give the overall mood or
individual feelings of a person living at a certain time period or during an event. Before
oral history was used people relied on just the information, rather than the opinion of the
people. Oral history and traditional history have their advmitages and their disadvantages. Simmons 33
Oral history is important because one can find out what the outcasts and the poor felt
because their views were rmely recorded. Oral History also gives us important
information of the dynamic of the average life. Oral History can also give us records of
people such as criminals, who would never be printed at that time period, finding the
information too vulgar or unsuitable for the public. However, Oral history has its
weaknesses. People that me being interviewed could be lying or exaggerating their
experiences. Also, the interviewee could be old mid have memory difficulties thus
hindering the information. Also, the information that is given does not give all the events that actually happened during that time, as pieces of it could be missing. However, traditional history is weak because it doesn't give the accounts of people, but does give the information that is necessmy mid is totally accurate, usually coming from an outside
reference book rather than a person's memory.
The second important aspect that is needed to best use oral history is to
understand what your interview said. My interview was broad, covering many aspects of
Ronald Reagan's term. It pretty much described my interviewee's child hood until she
got the treasurer job and then mostly about her opinions about Reagmi, his policies, and the thoughts of the American people. She was very descriptive in her retelling of that time period, including importmit bits of information that I would have never received
from a textbook or news article. She was able to not simply describe Reagan's policies
and his economics, but what he was like as a person. It was just very interesting to see this part of history. The important points that she made were that one can do anything if they are in the United States. She said that she worked all the way to where she was and
where she is today. She was the youngest of nine children and tried to work as hard as Simmons 34
possible, because that is what her parents told her to do. She was able to support herself
in college and got a good accounting job, and eventually landed the national treasurer
position. She also described how Reagan was an overall trustworthy individual in her
eyes, the opposite of what some people believed. People thought that since he was an
actor, he would project false sincerity with his drmiia skills, but in the eyes of Ortega it
looked as if he was telling the truth. Also, she made the point that Reagan was fair. He
had many Democratic friends mid was seen eating dinner or socializing with them
frequently, something that we rmely see politicians doing today.
The information given to me by Mrs. Ortega was historically valuable because it
helps me understand what was going on during that time period. My interview was very
strong because my interviewee gave me a great deal of information, high in detail, but
also was able to give me her personal opinion. However, it felt like that in most situations
she was able to give me a unbiased account of her experience. In pmts of the interview, though, she did seem to let her view's give a one sided opinion. "WS: Um can you
comment on the like Irmi-contra controversy mid just how the government responded to
it?
KO: Well again I was not involved in that because of with my position I was quite
distanced from that. But I think um history will show that it was hmidled properly there
may have been mist^es there probably were mist^es ya know everyone makes mistakes
so um I'm not saying it was perfect but it was handled as well it could have been
hmidled". Also, she focused mainly on her personal views and didn't really give me the
views of the American people as a whole, when I asked for them, "Well I wouldn't say Simmons 35 that I was scmed no I had had confidence in our government mid our military ability and
uh so no I cmi't say that I was scared". Here you can see that she did give a little
information about her views, but I was inquiring mainly about how the Americmi people
felt. She also gave a mediocre description. She said her personal opinion but she didn't
express the emotions she felt, just rather the informational portion.
The things that I have learned from this process of Oral history is that history is
something that can be viewed in completely different ways, but one has to see it from
different views. One way of seeing history is just opening a textbook that gives objective
information of what exactly happened, and does not have personal experience or views in
it. However, one can go to a source that was right there and cmi see history in a very
different light. From there, it gets more complicated because one can interview a poor
person whose view would be different than one of a higher or middle class. It is very
interesting to see history from so many different opinions, and when doing so being able to realize that history is only what one makes of it. Simmons 36
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