The Presidency by Hugh Sidey: Learning to Change His Mind

Months ago, in the first meeting on tax increases, Ronald Reagan sat at the Cabinet table and indifferently thumbed the folder that had been placed before him. He had the air of a man unconvinced, unenthusiastic and disengaged.

He read the notes in front of him as if they were an unfamiliar script One of the participants in that meeting concluded as he watched the President that Reagan really carried a fundamental distrust of the figures being show ered on him, showing huge deficits to come and continuing high interest rates. "What's wrong...

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