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Miller does have a club: if Congress and the White House will not cooperate, the Federal Reserve will have to crack down so hard on money supply, and push interest rates so high, that there really will be a recession. Characteristically, he put it to Taber in tones of promise rather than threat: "The Fed fits into this model in a rather selfish way. Any economic strategy that works toward lessening inflation will inevitably lessen the pressure on the central bank," and allow it to put out enough money to promote his cherished 4% growth rate.
Optimistically, Miller sees signs that opinion is swinging his way. Says he: "The cynicism and divisiveness and skepticism of the past seem to be fading. We are starting to see that we do have a common enemy: inflation. Now we are beginning to see people saying, 'We don't want any more Government —and I'll have to give up my pet project too.' I don't think there could be a nicer tune in anyone's life than when you have everyone coming to a common understanding."
That seems a rather blithe overstatement: a tough budget-cutting policy will in fact arouse furious opposition. And "model economy" is a phrase so reminiscent of the naive expansiveness of the mid-1960s that hardly anyone else in Washington would dare utter it. But it sounds natural coming from Miller; self-assurance is as marked a strain in his character as his relaxed informality. At Textron he peppered fellow executives with what they called "Millerisms," such as "Don't rationalize mediocrity" and "There is no penalty for overachievement." Miller set an example by rising meteorically to become the company's president at the age of 35.
He also plunged into public service and ran national programs to hire Viet Nam veterans and train unemployed blacks. That won him a justified reputation for social concern. Though his dedicated inflation fighting satisfies the most conservative Republicans, Miller is a registered Democrat who worries greatly about unemployment; in the past he supported the abortive presidential bid of Liberal Hubert Humphrey. So it was not surprising that when Carter had had enough of Arthur Burns' professorial nagging, a search team headed by Vice President Walter Mondale put Miller on a short list of potential successors at the Fed. Carter, aware that dumping the conservative Burns might frighten bankers and industrialists who already mistrusted the President's economic judgment, was looking for a progressive corporate chief—preferably a Democrat—whom Burns' admirers in "business could hail as one of their own.