California, the New Right and the Gubernatorial Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1967-1975
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A LABORATORY OF SOCIAL POLICY: CALIFORNIA, THE NEW RIGHT AND THE GUBERNATORIAL ADMINISTRATION OF RONALD REAGAN, 1967-1975 by Ryan Catney A thesis submitted to the Department of History In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada May, 2020 Copyright © Ryan Catney, 2020 AbstraCt The traditional historiographical narrative locates the revival of grassroots conservatism in the postwar decades, the subsequent reemergence of conservatives in mainstream American politics by the mid 1970s and the completion of this ascent with the election of Ronald Reagan as President in 1980. This thesis argues that there is a crucial stage missing in the existing literature on the development of the New Right as a political force, their election to state government offices in the 1960s and early 1970s. This work will focus on Ronald Reagan’s time as Governor of California as an example of how New Right conservatives grappled with learning how to govern and honed their policy agendas before entering the national political arena. Crucially, this thesis shows that welfare and social policy were an essential part of New Right ideology and played an important role in their critiques of both the Democratic legacy of the New Deal and Great Society as well as President Nixon’s liberal domestic policies. Furthermore, welfare policy and rhetoric were an important wedge issue that was used to create a new, more avowedly conservative political coalition. It is argued that it is essential to look to the laboratories of state government to uncover how conservatives experimented with policy and prepared themselves for national politics if the full narrative of both American conservatism and welfare policy are to be properly understood. ii Acknowledgements The last year has been not only chaotic and difficult but also immensely rewarding intellectually, and there are so many who have helped me get to this point. I would be remiss if I did not begin by thanking my supervisor Dr. Timothy B. Smith. I am extremely grateful not only for his guidance this last year as I dipped my toe in relatively unexplored historical waters and for helping shape this thesis through his insights and suggestions, but for his passion in teaching public policy through a historical lens. Were it not for his undergraduate seminar on postwar American public policy, I cannot imagine I would be completing a thesis on American social policy. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Jane Errington for leading workshop sessions for those history students writing our master’s theses. Not only has her close analysis of selections of my writing been much appreciated, but her willingness to continue organizing weekly meetings throughout the year, even during the ongoing pandemic, has been very helpful. Likewise, I would like to thank my colleagues Meghan, Serena, Ming and Kim for their edits, suggestions and thoughtful questions over this last year as we have explored each other’s work. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance I received from Aimee Muller and Gina Risetter at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, who patiently helped a young scholar navigate such an extensive archival collection. I cannot begin to express my thanks to my family who supported me throughout this project. The support of my Mom, Dad and Sister has been essential in supporting me during this project and indeed my entire academic journey thus far. I would also like to thank my housemate Riley, who has dealt with me storing piles of books, stacks of documents and leaving old writing drafts around the house over the past year. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .................................................................................................................................. v List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 The 1966 Election and Welfare: A Harbinger of Things to Come ............................... 13 Chapter 3 Cutting Spending to the Bone: Mental Health and Medicaid Reform .......................... 51 Chapter 4 A Conservative Path to Welfare Reform: Reagan’s Challenge to Nixon ..................... 85 Chapter 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 147 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 151 iv List of Figures Figure 1: AFDC-FG Caseload in California, 1960-1980 ............................................................ 116 Figure 2: AFDC-FG Caseload in the United States, 1960-1980 ................................................. 116 Figure 3: AFDC Recipients and Unemployment in California, 1964-1979 ................................ 117 v List of Abbreviations AFDC Aid to Families with Dependent Children ATB Aid to the Blind ATD Aid to the Disabled CRA California Republican Assembly CSEA California State Employees’ Association CWEP Community Work Experience Program DMH Department of Mental Hygiene FAP Family Assistance Plan HEW Department of Health, Education and Welfare LPS Lanterman-Petris-Short Act MRP Medi-Cal Reform Plan NNRP National Negro Republican Assembly NWRO National Welfare Rights Organization OAS Old Age Security PHP Prepaid Health Plan SSI Supplemental Security Income USDA United States Department of Agriculture WIN Work Incentive Program WRA Welfare Reform Act vi Chapter 1 Introduction On November 3, 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson won a historic victory in an election pitched as a battle between two giants, one liberal and one conservative. The magnitude of Johnson’s victory was seen as not only a crushing defeat for Barry Goldwater, but the resurgent brand of conservatism that he represented. Some commentators even opined that the dominance the Democrats demonstrated at the polls threatened the very foundations of the American two- party system.1 Even in the face of a stinging defeat, conservatives were not willing to give up the ground they had gained in the preceding years. Some such as George Bush recognized the errors of the 1964 campaign, remarking that “an undecided voter would be pounced on by some hyper- tensioned type armed with an anti-LBJ book or an inflammatory pamphlet” during the campaign, and that the movement needed to only “re-package our philosophy,” to meet with future success.2 Others felt it necessary to proclaim to the broader public that the Republican Party was still a viable political vehicle. Conservative columnist James J. Kilpatrick reminded the American public that “the Republican Party as a viable political entity, is no more dead in November of 1964 than the Democratic Party was dead in November of 1928 and those busy morticians who propose to bury Goldwater’s ideas will find that they won’t lie down,” while also offering a reminder to those quick to dismiss the twenty-seven million who voted for Goldwater, “if all those who voted for the senator were kooks…the country is full of kooks sure enough.”3 1 Robert Donovan, "Defeat Threatens U.S. Two-Party System," Los Angeles Times, November 13 1964. 2 George Bush, "The Republican Party and the Conservative Movement," National Review, December 1, 1964. 3 James Kilpatrick, "The GOP is Still Very Much Alive," Los Angeles Times, December 1 1964. 1 That Republicans were entering a period of soul searching following the defeat of 1964 is not surprising. However, there were elements in the party that were fiercely committed to the intellectual corpse liberals were so eager to bury, to prove to the American people, and maybe themselves, that it was in fact not dead yet. From rallying cries crafted for the devoted reminding them that they represented the “forgotten American” and while they “lost a battle” in November, their “position [was] not untenable.” They were told that the next battle was already upon them, and that they should not allow moderate Republicans, “who were traitors during the battle just ended,” to regain control of the party.4 This element of the Republican Party, keen to continue espousing avowedly conservative values and principles in the face of defeat, was led by Ronald Reagan. This thesis takes Ronald Reagan as a lens through which to view the emergent New Right movement. Reagan’s formative political education prepared him to enter electoral politics and compete in the 1966 California gubernatorial election. Central to both his political program and personal philosophy was welfare policy and its role in building a new conservative political coalition. At the core of this coalition was the New Right. For the purposes of this study, the terms New Right and conservative will be used in a general sense to refer to those elements of American society that were seeking to pushback against what they saw as the excesses of the liberal welfare state and a Republican Party that they believed was becoming too liberal. As a former New Dealer, Reagan is the embodiment of the