Word: schweikered
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...that same day, Reagan and Nancy served a tuna salad lunch at their home to Schweiker, Laxalt and Sears. The talk in which the deal was struck lasted at least six hours...
Despite the philosophical chasm between them, Reagan and Schweiker claimed they found some areas of general agreement: skepticism about the Government as the primary means of solving social problems, opposition to busing, amnesty, gun control and abortion, criticism of the Ford Administration's handling of détente, resumption of the death penalty for heinous crimes. Reagan was especially impressed by Schweiker's devotion to religion and his family. According to an aide, Reagan concluded that Schweiker was "a guy he can live with." Yet on many of the topics discussed, the conversation was strained-until Reagan said...
...Schweiker was grilled further that night by some of Reagan's close friends, including Justin Dart, the chief of Dart Industries, and Holmes Tuttle, a millionaire Ford dealer. They were satisfied. Tuttle rationalized: "A running mate does not have to be a Charlie McCarthy. Senator Schweiker voted for some social-reform bills that haven't worked, but he realizes now that they should be changed." Added Dart: "No one should think that the Governor is changing his basic posture. If anybody is changing, it is Senator Schweiker...
Reagan then decided to break tradition and disclose his choice before the convention. His announcement last Monday described his compatibility with Schweiker in the broadest of generalities. Both believe, he said "in a strong America able to preserve the freedom of its people." He added that Schweiker "has not become a captive of what I call the Washington buddy system." In sum, he blandly and incorrectly implied that they had few differences. Reagan did not make the almost mandatory claim that he had selected the best man to take over the presidency if necessary...
Terming the Schweiker choice "the political boner of the century," Harry Dent, the President's chief delegate hunter in the South, argued: "Reagan people are supposed to be purists, but this is a very impure act." Reagan's embracing of Schweiker, declared Illinois Congressman Henry Hyde, was like "a farmer selling his last cow to buy a milking machine...