Panama canal would be subject to attacks from panama. They felt the United States use of the canal would be far muir secure if panama owned the canal. Carter agreed, but he added one additional element. He explained it to me in an interview. I felt like the canal issue was a key test of my overall human rights policy, to start treating other people as worthy of respect and not try to dominate small countries. I wanted to treat panama fairly. I had studied the issue fairly thoroughly and i was convinced it was an unfair original agreement that was forced upon the panamanian people against their will. That was one difference that set carter apart. The other difference was that he did something about his judgment. He fought and won the battle to get the treaties approved. Fascinated byen the canal as child when reading richard halliburtons book of marvels, in which the adventurer described the history of the canal and then told of swimming its length. He paid a total of . 36 because he was a very small fraction of one ton. And i was just as excited when i saw the real thing in 1978. A few years ago it struck me the intense emotions of the 70s had been forgotten every nearly 30 years of smooth operating of the canal and i started looking at the impact of that dispute. I summarized what i found. Let me read a bit from it. The conservative movement came to power for many recent reasons, ranging from thebaines of its argument to the new politics of christian conservatives to the personal , contrast between the optimistic reagan, promising a shining city on the hill in 190 80 and jimmy carter who seemed to drift in difficulty. But the occasion of the conservative movements success was the decision by the four president s who came before reagan that the United States should turn the panama canal over to panama. Now, at the beginning of what Time Magazine would later can call the American Century the , United States defeated jungle and disease to build the panama canal the greatest engineering , work in the history of the world. And throughout that century, American School children would read of the heroism and determination of the work if only fleetingly of the American Military intervention that created a pliant panama. Theres one popular 1928 text that put it american pluck and , luck conquered all. The grand dream was realized. In the waters of the atlantic 1913, and the pacific were united. So, the idea of giving it up seemed wrong to a majority of americans, especially because they were chagrined by the now inescapable realization of defeat in vietnam and resentful for a challenge from a tiny country that the United States expired midwidth. From the mid70s to 80s, the canal, we hardly central to conservative concerns, revitalized a right that had grown solemn width of the presidencies of nixon and ford. Now, the canal issue came kept reagans candidacy of 1976 alive. Leaving him a victor in a narrow defeat poised for the nomination , in 1980. The canal issue decided enough Senate Elections to give reagan a republican majority. A helpful senate leader, and Friendly Committee chairman when he took office in 1981. This overlooked moment in american political history also provided vitality to the conservative movement with an issue that transcended its previous frontiers and an entree to workers suspicious of its inclination to be opposed to unions. The arguments for giving up the canal were logical, but not emotional. The argument against that had more impact. Opponents contended that giving up ownership of the canal would threaten american influence in the caribbean. They foresaw soviet influence, possibly even coming a schedule of the can now. Canal. Most important he was there fear that surrounding surrendering it would be a danger show of weakness. Panamated states let blackmail it with threats of sabotage, so what would bigger powers do . As Ronald Reagan told carters chief negotiator of the canal treaty, giving it up would be another retreat which would lose the respect of the rest of the world. but before the issue ever reached carters desk in 1977, or the senate floor in 1978 and , it had already played a central role in american politics. And this is part of why i noted before that carter had won a battle to get the treaties ratified. But the conservatives want a war. Wasfirst instance of course as i mentioned, the reagan failed campaign for the 76 nomination. He was running against president ford, who had never been elected to anything larger than a Congressional District near grand rapids, while reagan had won twice in california and so he went into it with great optimism but his campaign didnt go anywhere in the beginning and by mid march of 1976 reagans campaign for president was on the rocks. He had lost five straight primaries, his Campaign Manager john sears was secretly negotiating with the Ford Campaign about dropping out, nancy reagan was trying to persuade her husband to give up. His campaign was broke. The North Carolina primary was coming up and reagans plane and was held up on the tarmac in los angeles while the airline be enoughing sure there was cash in the till to pay for the charter. And once he got the North Carolina there was a new focus to his campaign. He gave a halfhour television speech, a tactic his aides had earlier rejected fearing it would remind people that he had been an actor. The speech actually was taped during the florida primary a few weeks earlier, one station offered him and ford free air time and he took it. The speech was edited a little bit, they took out the palm trees and put an address to send money. [laughter] adam and the speech which stressed Foreign Policy was dynamite. And a segment which reached the audience best was about the canal. What are the quiet almost secret negotiations we were engaged and in to give away the panama canal, reagan asked. He said the canal and its surrounding canal zone were sovereign territory, extension outside legal experts predicted. And he concluded, we paid for it and the general should be told that we are going to keep it. That model, sometimes including we built it are adding the label of a tinhorn dictator became part of a wildly successful stunt speech. And at the halfhour television address was on every television station in North Carolina. Charlie black, a reagan aide who was from carolina explained there are a lot of elements in , reagans policy but that was the most emotional. Trying to educate people about kissinger giving up on eastern europe, most people couldnt remember much of that. But they could try to do something about keeping the panama canal and that was a vote for reagan. To the surprise of his supporters and, indeed, to the candidate himself reagan won in , North Carolina, it was no fluke. His comeback continued as he pressed the canal issue in texas where he won all 96 delegates , then all in alabama and all 37 85 in georgia. By midmay reagan had drawn even , with ford in the delegate count. Now of course ford was president , and he had weapons to, for o. For example, he invited wavering delegates to sit with them on the deck of the carrier in new york harbor and watched the ball sailing ships parade by on the occasion of the bicentennial. Ford ultimately won the nomination. Staked ad reagan had firm claim on the Republican Partys future with a brilliant speech at the convention in kansas city. And he left the city as a front runner for the 1918 nomination. 1980 nomination. The canal issue had rescued his campaign. It conveyed his argument about u. S. Decline simply and clearly. In no way, in the way the litany of diplomatic dealings with the soviet union or arguments about whose weapons were bigger could ever penetrate ordinary thinking. Now there is never a certainty in trying to guess the what ifs of history. Still, i pose the question of what wouldve happened if he had not seized the canal issue. Almost everyone ive talked to thought he would have done badly. Some of reagans intimates like , said he would not run again if you have lost badly in 1976, which he was about to be before he took on the canal issue. Some others like mike deaver and , other advertising men who work ed for him and mr. Spencer a , sometime Campaign Manager, but and he would have persisted he would have run again. And won. Nancy reagan told me to just didnt know, she said that had never talked about it. That does ring true. Reagan was not a man to spend time looking backwards. But my own judgment is if he had lost North Carolina, no. Reagan would never have come close to ford in delegates. He would not have had the Campaign Funds to continue his 1976 bid credibly and had he soldiered on he would have been seen as a nagging irrelevancy. If reagan had just emerged from 1976 as a badly defeated candidate come i do not think that he wouldve tried again in 1980. But even if he had, still believing his destiny was the white house, the 1976 defeat would have seemed like goldwaters crushing loss in 1964, as proof for a time at least that someone so conservative cannot win. A bad defeat in 1976 wouldve been a huge obstacle to winning the nomination. 1980now just by keeping reagan alive as a candidate, and helping to put him in a commanding position for 1980, the canal issue as a serious claim as a force in a political history of this country. But that is not all. During the senate fight over ratification, the canal is to issue mobilized conservatives across the country including thousands of americans who had never thought of themselves as conservatives before. If wanting to keep the canal defines a conservative they seem to be saying, then i must be a conservative. We deserve various organizations on the right such as the American Conservative Union and new or entities like the , conservative caucus, the committee for the survival of a free congress, and the National Conservative Political Action worked together despite personal rivalries to generate opposition. Human events, the weekly newspaper that served and i guess still serves as a pre electronic political chat room to keep conservatives in touch with each other, played an advocacy role, much like that of hearsts new york journal and pulitzers new york world at the end of the 19th century when the y campaigned for a war with spain. Human events revealed and hammered away at provocative comments by panamas treaty negotiator, escobar, comments which were largely ignored by the Mainstream Press until the y became the subject of senate hearings. The canal issue was not the only issue for the conservative movement in the 70s. No more than it had been a central core of Ronald Reagans philosophy. The federal government and anything that increases domestic power was the right central but director , the the postmaster general of the new right, it was a big part of our agenda, and there was one issue more than any other they gave impetus and unity to conservative movement it was the , panama canal issue. Howard phillips of the conservative caucus said i cant , think of any other issue that better unites people across the grass roots than the canal. The American Conservative Union though, was the most visible opponent. The acu produced the biggest single innovation of the treaty fight. The infomercial. A precursor of those wonderful programs that spend a half hour at 2 30 a. M. In the morning telling you that their product will eliminate hair loss or slice and dice, or give you flat abs in five minutes a day. The ec began broadcasting is program in october 1977 and began with representatives phil crane of illinois the was the chairman of the aclu, sitting on the edge of a desk and saying this might be the most important tv program youve ever watched. He warned that carter and the senate are preparing to ignore your expressed wishes by giving away what he called, the American Canal at the isthmus of panama. The program showed film and animation of the canal and operation, as he described it as an engineering marvel and recounted the number of lives lost in the process of building. Crane introduced other speakers, four senators and two leaders of veterans organizations and after each of them spoke to urge the audience to write their senators and pledge at least 10 to the acu for its fight to save the canal. The program was shown many times with a total audience estimated at 9 million. Aside from however many letters went to senators, they gained 50,000 people, and 90 of whom were added to its mailing list. The program also netted a quarter of a million dollars. Which was money then. Even more than television, the was the mail. Apon though George Mcgoverns 1972 campaign for the democratic nomination had shown the value of direct mail in politics, this was different. This was a Huge Campaign on a particular political issue, not a candidate. The right did not defeat the treaties, but it got its message out with about 10 million pieces of mail. Those letters resonated, because this time there was to be a vote on a particular issue, and soon. Recipients richard said, could understand clearly how they could help to make a difference. Alternately the treaties were , approved, barely with just a single vote to spare. I will come back briefly to the fight over them in the senate but others have written about , that. The results of the conservatives succeeding on the front also was just as important to them as the cells. Conservatives thought of the treaties as bad for the United States on grounds of military , security and international reputation, perhaps more important also thought the issue , was good for them. He said at the time, it is an issue that conservatives cant lose on. If we lose the vote in the we will have the issue in eight or nine months. They have rallied many new people to work, and give our supporters an issue or cause to work for. And now conservatives can get excited about the panama canal, and i can go to the polls, look for a persons name on the ballot in favor of these treaties and vote against him. Paul laxalt, reagans closest ally in washington and the liaison between the new right and senate foes of the treaty, told California Republicans this is the best political issue that could be handed to a party in recent years. But democrats were not the right only target. The Republican Party itself was now in their sides. In their sites. Gary german, legislative told, jimf the acu dickinson of the washington star, this is a great opportunity to take control the Republican Party. Dickinson wrote that the conservatives had a hit list of republican senators. Including James Pierson of kansas Charles Percy of of newois, cliff case jersey, and if you supported the treaties howard baker of , tennessee. Worried about baker here was a senator widely considered to be a plausible president ial candidate. Now to be sure, most senators say a plausible president ial candidate every morning. When they shave, or these days put on her lipstick. [laughter] adam but in this case, it extended beyond his bathroom to the press and the carter white house. Which feared him as a 1980 opponent. For a plausible candidate, baker did something i have never seen in decades of covering congress. First, he was told by an advisor he trusted that his course of action would kill his president ial chances. Jim cannon, former rice aid to rockefeller and president ford whom baker hired in the minority Leaders Office to pave a way for a president ial run told him , simply that if he voted for the treaties the republican , party would not nominate him for president. He and baker both recall bickers snapped so behe , it. And then the Senate Minority theer not only backed treaties, he made sure that they passed. Agree with them or not, that is where we see the political courage. Among the other targets of the right, case was beaten in the primary which the canal place yed a small role, and burke was defeated by democrat. But the opponents of the treaty changed the senate in another way. It became distinctly more conservative as a result of a defeat suffered by many protreaty democrats. Voting for the canal treaty was not a significant factor in all of those defeats. For example, in minnesota anderson had come to the senate inause as governor he had effect appointed himself and the voters decided to bring him back home. But my research in libraries across the country convinced me that the conservative claims of the victories are perhaps exaggerated, maybe had enough truth in them to explain five senate results. More than enough to provide reagan with that essential majority of 1981. Two of the five democrats who voted for the treaties and were defeated in 1978 would have won if they had voted the other way or the issue had never come up. The same is true for three more in 1980. I will not go into all of them in detail but i will talk about a couple of them. The most obvious is the case of tom mcintyre, a decorated World War Two hero who had one won three times in the republican New Hampshire. An irish democrat, his personality was almost the , taciturn,of a wasp frugal, but he knew he had a store over the couch. Before he left his office to go to the senate floor to vote, he told his wife myrtle, come on down and watch me lose my seat. He was beaten by Gordon Humphrey a copilot for the airlines who , recently moved to the state. A onetime democrat humphrey had switched parties and gone to work for the conservative caucus on his days off from flying. He ran for the senate because it seemed to him that nobody else was going to run against mcintyre over the canal issue. Humphrey got a lot of help from one of the worst newspapers in the country, the Manchester Union leader whose heavily , slanted coverage moved working class democrats. And terry dolan came to New Hampshire to help him set up his campaign after he won the primary. Humphrey worked tirelessly, taking one day off after announcing his candidacy. He used to that day to get married. Campaigning insistently on the canal issue, he won by 5800 votes. In 2005 he told me it was , makeorbreak issue for me and for mcintyre. You know i won by about half a , percent in that first race so was a pretty close contest and that issue cut more for us than any other. The other 1978 race i would count is the in iowa or roger one tips and beat dick clark. In if one looks back at the 1980, Campaign Coverage it is does not seem like the panama canal was an important issue. That is because it was hardly ever mentioned in the president ial race either in reagans bid for the republican nomination, or in the general election race against carter. There is some history to that. As a matter of fact, reagan had not even taken a leading role in the 1977, 78 debate over ratifying treaties. He had promised to, but he changed his mind. , a top reagan aide, sat through a crucial meeting in august 1977 when two ambassadors explain the treaties and renewed their warnings that the canal would be in jeopardy without them. Reagan was not persuaded by one asked,hen they left he what if they are right . So he largely stayed away from a Public Campaign against the treaties. He swore angrily when the trees were enacted, but then he got out of the car and told the press i hope my misgivings , will not be realized. The reporters didnt pay much attention to the senate races in the course of 1980. The president ial race was too exciting and most political reporters, myself included, spent all of our time covering that. Three of the 1980 races would have turned out the other way if againstcrats had voted the treaties or if the issue had not come along. One was john east defeating more gan in North Carolina, the other was frank church who had managed the treaties on the floor of the idaho senator and steve symms, a republican congressman. Finally there was one race that i and most conservatives cannot did not initially consider as part of the list. Bid forrman, each a fifth term right here in georgia. Another georgian, jimmy carter, told me to add to the list and he proved to be right. Again the canal was not , necessarily the major issue. The main problem for the candidate after a very public , divorce and treatment for alcoholism, was an 81 to 15 senate vote denouncing him for pocketing Campaign Cash and padding his expenses. He was challenged by a littleknown candidate who had used the canal issue on the stump and in one television ad. But the challenger had an even more inventive way of raising. Raising it. As he traveled the back roads of georgia, he would take a list of 23 questions that he said should be raised in the debate, which was refused to him. Orwould put them on a door able to import and explain the voters and reporters, do not let him leave without answering these questions. The smalltown papers picked up on the stunt, and especially on the question why did you vote to , give away the panama canal . Those smalltown voters, once ges supporttalmad deserted him in numbers , sufficient so that the mattingly won by 21 . In 1980 though he didnt use the the congressional races not seen since 1964, the , johnson landslide, and not seen in the six succeeding president ial elections. The democratic majority in the house was cut by 33 seats. And the senate changed hands. Republicans won 12 democratic seats reaching a total of 52 , plus one friendly independent. This was the first republican majority since 1955. Howard baker, who had risked his own political future by supporting the treaties, became Senate Majority leader because at least five of the new republicans Gordon Humphrey, roger tipson, john hughes, steve symms, and mack mattingly, had won their seats by using the canal against the democrats who have voted the way becker did. Baker did. Without them, there would have only been 47 republicans. Robert byrd, the West Virginia democrat who had backed the treaties very effectively, indeed stepping in toward the end when the Carter Administration seemed overcome by the intransigence of one arizona senator named dennis deconcini. Byrd would still have been majority leader. You can ask why does that matter , as a look at the basic anarchy that was the United States senate. Hardly anyone really controls anything. Inaction is its default position. But the majority leader does control scheduling. That sounds boring, but it matters because the leader decides which bills come to the floor and when. And which never do. The republican majority also brought reagan Friendly Committee chairman who pushed his program. Bob dole for example was a lot russellp on taxes than long wouldve been. Strom thurmond like reagans judicial more than joe biden. Jim baker, reagans first chief of staff told me that having a , Senate Majority made all the difference in the world and in getting the Economic Program 1981 to the congress. Without it, there would have been a small tax cut without spending reductions. Probably not nearly as much of an arms buildup. And more hostility to reagans nominees. Reagan understood. With the recession going in 1982, the republican prospects in the house looked dim. Did told himter , there was still in a percent chance republicans would hold the senate. It will be disastrous if we dont, reagan wrote in his diary. The canal issue on the long Senate Debate that kept the argument before the country through the International Public radio, those were the first broadcasts of the senate doing business, helped the right to to raise moneyd and visibility, and helped develop political techniques that are with us today. The First Independent spending , 16,000 from the American Conservative Union a pittance , compared to what moveon. Org or the veterans for truth spent in 2004, was done on the canal issue. It was to help reagan in 1976 in the primaries. Another innovation that came out of the canal years and lives on was the idea of a very top attack ads on it incumbent, often before anyone was to run against him. On another higher level no one , even his harshest critics, doubt the significance of the reagan presidency, which ive argued the canal required the canal issue to succeed. But there are other profound legacies of the fight over the canal. The single issue attack and developed in those days. The Pact Movement arrived, especially ideological pacs. The era of willing bipartisanship and foreign policies seemed to die after the canal. Even howard baker in a few months after getting the treaty is passed declared that the postWorld War Two concept that politics stops of the waters edge was not dated. Not only is the United States, bile most any measure, a more conservative country today, but it is also one or political consensus in middle ground are rarely found. The panel mock and now no longer divides panama. The fissures that opened a three decades ago have widened. Thank you. [applause] we have time for some questions. Raise your hand, adam will recognize you and wait for the microphone to get to you. I recall a debate in 1975 between reagan and i forget who about the panel mock and out and the median the media portrayed reagan as being defeated. The leading figures were reagan and his friend bill buckley. Most people thought buckley won. It did not get much notice mostse most publics tv public tv stations ran it opposite the super bowl, and it was on public television, which was not as much of a force then as it is today. Reagan had a good time with the buckley one of georgeckleys second was will, one of reagans was a retired admiral named john mccain. There is a couple interesting stories about them about bill buckley, who was one of the few conservatives who supported the treaties. He had gone down to pam all and looked around and concluded that it would be in the best interests of the come now and the United States to recognize that panel mock had some pride of the same sort we have had a couple hundred years earlier. Buckley went out to visit reagan a few months after that debate in 1977 it was early 1978. February. Around the time of the super bowl. Said, whened him and come up, be sure to look carefully. And when he got there, there were some color some crayon signs. It said we bought it, the second one said we built it, and the third one said we are going to keep it. Buckley wrote that he thought it was essential for reagan to be and for him to be elected that the treaties passed. Therey have not passed, wouldve been some sort of insurrection in panama and opposition wouldve been blamed and cost in the election. Putting politics aside, how much did it cost the u. S. To maintain the canal and the troops that were stationed there, and what the polls what the tolls brought in to offset that. Partiallycome now obsolete and the days of supertankers, is the traffic down compared to when it was turned over to the minions panamanians . The u. S. Used the bases it had in the 10 now zoned for a variety of purposes besides securing the canal. The school of the americas was there for some time. Operator, itnal 1977. Solete in warship bigger than a destroyer could use it. Cannotnkers of that era use it. The United States have recognized this in 1940. It started Engineering Work on eaching a third lock on end they decided to build a third much larger set in 1940. The United States got distracted shortly afterwards and never got back to that project. Traffic is up, well over what it was. Has now embarked on a project of raising the money to ,uild that third set of locks and they are moving forward with that. They had a referendum. Panamarent president of is the son of the president to was there when the treaties got through. Speaking of obsolescence, was that issue ever part of the campaign . Was that ever brought up, one way or the other, did it ever become a factor . Adam it was a small factor. When the opponents of the treaty were arguing it would be a desperate strategic loss to give it up, some of the proponents said it is not that much use anyway as far as the navy is concerned. I do not think it played a big role. Pentagon, reasons the after a lot of pushing and shoving from gerald ford, agreed to go along with the treaty, was that the pentagon concluded it was not that essential to the defense of the nation. We want to thank adam clymer for a fascinating evening. Are fortunate because of because this is one of the few opportunities to hear from adam clymer on his book as one who has spent time in panama. It is a fascinating topic that goes back to teddy roosevelt. Thank you all for being here, i encourage you to join us in the lobby where adam clymer will be signing copies of his book. Thank you very much. [applause] on history bookshelf, here from the countrys bestknown American History writers of the past decade, every saturday at 4 00 eastern. You can watch any of our programs at any time is when you visit our website, cspan. Org history. Youre watching American History tv, all weekend, on cspan3. Labor day weekend on American History tv, at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, fears about overpopulation. Some of the issues talked about at earth day decide a big one,as pollution, oil and gasoline, but the thing that overshadowed that first earth day was the prospect of global famine due to overpopulation of the earth. The presidency the friendship between president hoover and truman. Andhey both had roots farming communities, they had known hardship and selfreliance. They were transformed by the conflagration of world war i and lived in the shadow of franklin d. Roosevelt. Monday, the 1967 detroit riots. We prefer to think about it as a rebellion. All the energy that went into that moment had long been predicted. For somed been begging remedy for housing discrimination, police brutality, economic devastation. That cannot be understood as chaotic. It was a rebellion. Threeday Labor Day Weekend on American History tv on cspan3. Singer bing crosby grew up in this home and lived in spokane and till 1925 when he left for hollywood to pursue a singing career. Will tell us about his work with military members during two and his impact on American Culture military members during world war ii and his impact on American Culture. Bing crosby was wellbalanced. He did not seek fame. It totally surprised him. Calminge of the influences on American History, he was the voice people listen to a 1930 on the radio when things were so hard. That was bing crosbys role in american
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