Ronald Reagan, A Book and One of My Stories From DC

Several weeks ago I posted a review of Perry Pendley's book Sagebrush Rebel: Reagan's Battle With Environmental Extremists and Why It Matters Today.  About the book Reagan's Attorney General Ed Meese says, "Sagebrush Rebel is one of the most important, insightful, and inspirational books about Ronald Reagan's domestic policies since An American Life by President Reagan himself."  That's quite an endorsement from a man who also served as Reagan's counsellor to the president (the senior position on the White House staff) from 1981 to 1985 before being appointed Attorney General.

Reading the book has brought back many memories of my time at Interior serving Jim Watt and Ronald Reagan.  Some of them aren't remembered fondly, like my first week on the job.

When I got the word of my appointment and was told to report to DC asap, Sharon and I went into a panic.  I didn't have any suits.  Penney's was having a sale, so I loaded up on suits, pants and sport coats, kissed my wife and kids goodbye and drove to DC.

My first day there I found the Interior bldg and headed to the 6th floor.  Introduced myself to the staff and things were going well until one of the secretaries waved me over to her desk.  As I approached her desk I noticed she had a big pair of scissors in her hand.  She told me to turn around and then started snipping.  I turned back around and she handed me the price tags that had been hanging from the tale of my suit coat.  Talk about embarrassed!  I blew my hick coverup in the first hour of my first day on the job.

Then came Saturday.  I was staying with a friend who worked for the NGA and sleeping on his couch.  He was gone for the weekend so I decided to go to my office and get some work done.  No dice.  The guards at Interior wouldn't let me in because I hadn't been issued my credentials.  Not too happy, I left there and immediately turned into a huge traffic jam.  The Daughters of the American Revolution were having some big shindig and traffic was not moving.

The guy behind me kept revving up his motor.  I looked back through my mirror and he had a hot mustang with two girls in the front.  That meant one of them was sitting on the hump with the gear shift.  He kept revving it up and all of a sudden Bang! he rear-ended me.  We both got out to survey the damage.  He apologized and explained one of the girls had moved her knees and hit the gearshift.  His grill was caved in, but there wasn't a scratch on my vehicle.  He had run in to my trailer hitch.  Sometimes being a country boy ain't so bad after all.

Everything was fine until I rolled...tried to roll off the couch the next morning.  I found out what whiplash was right away.

That pretty well sums of my first week. I was the red-faced and hump shouldered deputy assistant secretary from New Mexico.  Things got much better after that.

For you to get to know the author of Sagebrush Rebel a little better, below is an interview Pendley gave to the Steamboat Institute.  He discusses Federalism and the new book. 


http://youtu.be/5zd3n0zmSoY