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So the question debated within the White House was not what but when Reagan would announce. Most aides wanted him to declare his candidacy last fall, or by December at the latest. They feared that a delay would simply not seem believable to the public. Reagan insisted on late January, figuring that the longer he could keep speculation alive, the more public interest he would build. Advisers now concede that the boss's political instincts, as usual, were keener than theirs: timing the announcement a few days after the State of the Union speech got the campaign started with the maximum splash.
The State of the Union speech is one of the great rituals of the Republic, enacted before the Cabinet, both Houses of Congress, members of the Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the diplomatic corps and a prime-time TV audience numbering scores of millions. This speech was pure Reagan: a late draft showed about half the words rewritten in the President's handwriting. Many of his changes softened proposed jabs at the Democrats. On this occasion Reagan wanted to project an image of firm but temperate leadership that is national rather than partisan, while still setting out the points that he will repeat on the stump all through the campaign.
Reagan's principal message was that the U.S., prospering again economically and enjoying rebuilt military strength, is experiencing a rebirth of pride and hope. "Bipartisan cooperation," presumably from a Congress that had passed most of the Administration's essential legislation, he said, had stopped "a long decline that had drained this nation's spirit and eroded its health." Now, he said, the U.S. is "looking to the '80s with courage, confidence and hope."
Then came what amounted to a recitation of campaign issues, but presented in tones of national concern. "Tonight we can report and be proud of one of the best recoveries in decades," said Reagan, stressing his strongest point. "Today, a working family earning $25,000 has $1,100 more in purchasing power than if tax and inflation rates were still at the 1980 levels." Mindful of the fairness issue, he wrote into his text the words, "progress helps everyone." But he read the line as "Congress helps everyone," one of an unusual number of verbal flubs. Reagan recovered nimbly from this one. He corrected himself, then said benignly, "Congress does too," to laughter and applause.
To counter the widespread fear that he is a hard-line militarist who is increasing the risk of war, Reagan sounded a line he will repeat frequently: because his military buildup has strengthened the nation, "we can now move with confidence to seize the opportunities for peace." He adroitly addressed an appeal for renewal of arms-control negotiations "to the people of the Soviet Union," telling them "there is only one sane policy, for your country and mine, to preserve our civilization ... the only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely?" Soviet Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin joined in the applause.