From the Inside Flap
Mr. Richey first became interested in politics in 1960 during the Kennedy-Nixon presidential contest, the first for which he was old enough to vote, when he detected something amiss in presidential politics. Especially frustrating was the Kennedy sandbagging of Humphrey in West Virginia on the Catholic issue. Kennedy invented the issue, thus putting the state into the Kennedy column on a sympathy vote, and thereby eliminating Humphrey’s chance to win the nomination.
Four years later, Richey’s frustration with things political increased astronomically with the treatment of Goldwater by the Democrat Party and their allies in the media. Once elected, both Johnson’s prosecution of the Vietnam War and his Great Society with it’s ‘War on Poverty’ were unmitigated disasters. Richard Nixon violated the trust of the American people, saddling us with any number of failed liberal programs: EPA, OSHA, wage and price controls to name a few. Gerald Ford was a caretaker president, with no chance of election in his own right, while Jimmy Carter was a well-meaning national disaster, who brought about a four year national malaise.
With the election of Ronald Reagan came ‘Morning in America.’ He made America proud of herself once again. Reagan assumed office with three large objectives: Getting regulations off our backs, reducing taxes, and strengthening the military. He accomplished them all, and, won the cold war along the way.
George Bush the elder really has only one credit to his name: kicking Iraq out of Kuwait, but he failed to finish the job. After his ouster came Clinton—and eight years of disaster, disgust, and disarray in America.
With the election of George W. Bush, our long national nightmare was at last at an end. Of course, listening to Al Gore and company would incline one to believe that Bush was ‘selected,’ not ‘elected.’ With the country behind him in the war on terrorism, Mr. Bush has the chance to make things right in America with programs such as his faith-based initiative. His problem is, and will remain, however, the successful ‘long march through the institutions’ by the liberal ethos.
About the Author
Mr. Richey is a native Oregonian. After high school, he joined the Navy, retiring after twenty years’ service, with the rank of Chief Petty Officer. After spending a few years in the private sector as a production manager, he joined the Department of Energy, from which he retired, again after twenty years service. He is currently again associated with that Department, as an independent consultant. At age forty-two, he received an honors degree in Political Science from Portland State University. Mr. Richey, his wife, Maureen, and their dog, Frosty, live in Vancouver, Washington.
