The Panama Canal and the Reagan Revolution
Thursday, May 15 2008
by Frank Stasio and Katy Barron
Photo: Panama Canal Authority
Before May 6th, 2008, North Carolina hadn’t mattered in a Presidential primary in decades. It was 1976, to be exact. When Ronald Reagan attacked incumbent President Gerald Ford’s efforts to negotiate a new treaty over the Panama Canal, he tapped into deep-seated fears about America’s role in a changing world. Reagan ultimately lost the nomination. Still, the “Canal Question” revitalized his career. And, according to a new book by veteran New York Times journalist Adam Clymer, it powered the Reagan Revolution. Clymer joins Frank Stasio to discuss this overlooked topic in American politics and his book, “Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: The Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right,” (University Press of Kansas/2008).
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