Chavez: Goodbye, Washington D.C.

Linda Chavez

Townhall - The more things change, the more they remain the same. But just as Americans got through the lousy economy of the 1970s, I'm confident we'll recover from the mess we're in now. Unemployment will recede, and so will government spending -- not because of political deal-making but because Americans will boot politicians who fail to do their job out of office and replace them with those who will. Just ask Jimmy Carter.

I look back on a life in politics that took me from Capitol Hill to the Reagan White House to the public policy and media worlds with as much frustration as pride.

Ronald Reagan

Some of the policies I hoped to play a role in changing -- like racial preferences in hiring and education -- have become so ingrained and widespread many people no longer seem to notice their corrosive effect. But there were successes as well as failures, albeit modest ones. Bilingual education -- which as columnist Michael Barone once quipped is neither bilingual nor education -- has largely been replaced by English instruction for non-English speakers, a goal I advocated for more than 30 years. And I met -- and in some cases worked for -- some truly great Americans during my Washington years. President Reagan tops the list. It was a great privilege to work in the Reagan administration, first as staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and later as director of public liaison at the White House.
Even President Reagan's critics acknowledged that he was a true leader, but it has taken time and the publication of his handwritten diaries and speeches for some people to recognize the intellectual skills that those of us who worked with him saw first-hand. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Chavez: Goodbye, Washington D.C.