Ronald Reagan as Presidential Symbol Maker: The Federal Bureaucrat as Loafer, Incompetent Buffoon, Good Ole Boy, and Tyrant

Abstract

Federal bureaucrat bashing has a long history in this country. In recent years Ronald Reagan, in particular, played on the public's resentment of the federal bureaucracy. For Reagan and his devoted audiences the federal bureaucrat was a symbol represent ing many of the qualities that are wrong with present-day society. Four dominant images of the federal bureaucrat emerge from Ronald Reagan's Public Papers. Reagan depicted the federal bureaucrat primarily as a loafer, incompetent buffoon, good ole boy, and tyrant. It is possible that these images were so well-received by much of the public because of widespread ambivalence about our organizational society.