Episode 2: Mandate for Power | The Kingmakers

Summary

Podcast Summary: Master Plan

Episode 2: Mandate for Power | The Kingmakers

Podcast: Master Plan
Host: The Lever & David Sirota
Release Date: March 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, David Sirota and the Master Plan team trace the origins and ascendant power of the modern "imperial presidency" by telling the story of how a group of movement conservatives—bankrolled by powerful business interests—engineered Ronald Reagan’s meteoric rise, then turbocharged and institutionalized presidential power in ways that continue to define American politics. The episode exposes the hidden kingmakers behind these transformations: the Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society, and Reagan-era legal architects, who built a plan—literally, a "mandate"—to expand executive power, often at the expense of democratic checks and balances. This is the second episode in the season exploring the machinery behind today’s democracy crisis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Legacy of Watergate and Nixon’s “Imperial Presidency”

• [01:47–03:18] The episode opens by revisiting the infamous Frost/Nixon interviews and Nixon’s audacious claim, “when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.”
  • Quote: Richard Nixon (03:18):

    “Well, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

• [03:22–04:33] Outrage over Nixon leads Congress to curb executive power with new oversight, notably the Ethics in Government Act and the creation of the Special Prosecutor—setting the scene for a “post-imperial” period.

2. The Conservative Counteroffensive: Resurrecting Presidential Power

• [05:07–05:56] Movement conservatives, previously sidelined, seize the opportunity to rebuild what Nixon had nearly destroyed—a presidency stronger than ever before.
  • The right invested in vision and strategy, intent on expanding the executive and bypassing new constraints.

3. Kingmakers and Their Blueprint: The Mandate for Leadership

• [08:39–09:49] Ronald Reagan, positioning himself not as a moderate but as the singular national leader, campaigns on the notion that the President alone speaks for “the people.”
  • Quote: Reagan (09:45):

    “The President is the one guy in Washington who represents the people.”

• [10:25–13:21] The Heritage Foundation, with Joseph Coors funding and inspiration from the Lewis Powell memo, publishes the Mandate for Leadership—a detailed, 1,100+ page policy manual for a conservative presidency.
  • Quote: Charles Heatherly (11:37):

    “It’ll be about 12 or 1300 pages.”

• [13:21–14:36] Producer Laura Krantz reviews the Mandate’s laundry list of proposals, revealing granular priorities: tax cuts, busting unions, shrinking food stamps, limiting the Freedom of Information Act, and above all, expanding executive authority.
  • Quote: Laura Krantz (13:35):

    “On page 655, the mandate recommended across the board cuts on personal income taxes.”

  • Quote: Sirota and Krantz, on FOIA (15:05):

    Sirota: “Limiting the Freedom of Information Act. That’s the open records law, right?”
    Krantz: “The policy should explicitly be reversed by executive order...”

4. From Blueprint to Reality: Reagan’s Implementation of the Plan

• [17:31–22:22] On day one, Reagan distributes the Mandate to cabinet members and immediately begins executing it: hiring freezes, regulatory rollbacks, slashing Social Security, and more.
  • Quote: Reagan (20:15):

    “The Heritage foundation provided us with copies of the remarkable 1,093 page workbook Mandate for Leadership. We’ve been using it to our and the country’s advantage ever since...”

  • Quote: Laura Krantz (22:36):

    “It suggested that Reagan take a tough stand against the air traffic controllers if they decide to strike.”

• [22:41–23:04] Reagan fires over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers, following the Mandate’s script to break labor and assert dominance.

5. The Legal A-Team: Federalist Society & Executive Power Expansion

• [27:42–29:25] The rise of the Federalist Society provides ideological and legal muscle to the administration. Reagan’s new “A-team” includes young, ambitious lawyers—many future Supreme Court justices—who set out to forge legal justifications for executive overreach.
  • Quote: Amanda Hollis Brusky (27:56):

    “The Federal Society starts as a small student group... ends up growing and getting the attention of Ronald Reagan himself.”

  • Quote: Sirota (29:05):

    “Ed Meese served as counselor to the President, the White House’s ideological point man for conservative policy... the cigar chomping Hannibal of this new legal A team...”

• [29:50–32:52] Notable figures:
  • John Roberts: Advocates for broad readings of statutes empowering the President.
    • Quote: Sirota (29:55):

      “Roberts said he believes that laws giving power to the President should be interpreted broadly.”

  • Ted Olson: Focuses on shielding executive actions from Congressional oversight.
  • Samuel Alito: Authors memos supporting presidential signing statements to reinterpret congressional laws.
    • Quote: Sirota (31:05):

      “Alito outlined a strategy for the President to issue signing statements... to shape the law...”

  • Judicial Appointments: Reagan appoints nearly half the federal judiciary, entrenching pro-executive power ideology.

6. Building the Legal Infrastructure: OLC and OIRA

• [32:52–36:45] Reagan's "A-team" uses the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to issue opinions justifying executive actions, further eroding congressional power.
• [36:45–38:03] The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), via Executive Order 12,291, becomes a quiet but powerful tool for the White House to block, gut, or delay regulations.
  • Quote: OLC memo (36:56):

    “The President is the only elected official who has a national constituency. He is uniquely situated to design and execute a uniform method...”

7. Foreign Policy: Expanding Presidential War Powers

• [39:32–41:40] The Reagan administration circumvents the War Powers Act by deploying forces in Grenada and Lebanon without genuine congressional authorization. Even when challenged in court, the effort to rein in executive action is thwarted by Reagan-aligned judges like Robert Bork.
  • Quote: Sirota (40:00):

    “The invasion of Grenada... had no congressional authorization.”

8. 1984 Election: The Public Accepts the Imperial Presidency

• [43:20–47:49] Democrats and Walter Mondale try to make Reagan’s actions a referendum on executive excess, but Reagan’s “rule-breaking moxie” chimes with the zeitgeist and popular culture. Reagan wins a landslide, seeing his approach validated by voters.
  • Quote: Reagan (47:49):

    “Indeed, the passion of the fire that we kept burning for two decades doesn’t jive just because four years have passed. To each one of you, I say tonight is the end of nothing. It’s the beginning of everything.”

9. Accelerating the Agenda: Little Restraint, Maximum Ambition

• [48:01–49:00] The post-election years are marked by unrestrained boldness among Reagan’s staff, leading directly into future scandals, namely Iran-Contra, previewed for the next episode.
  • Quote: Laura Krantz and Sirota (48:13–48:24):

    Sirota: “Was there anyone urging any caution at this point?”
    Krantz: “Please God, too far, you get busted.”
    Sirota: “No, quite the opposite...”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Nixon’s doctrine, foreshadowing modern presidential lawlessness (03:18):

  “Well, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.” —Richard Nixon

• Reagan on the presidency’s supreme authority (09:45):

  “The President is the one guy in Washington who represents the people.”

• The Heritage Foundation’s ambition (11:37):

  “It’ll be about 12 or 1300 pages.” —Charles Heatherly

• On shrinking oversight and increasing secrecy (15:08):

  “The policy should explicitly be reversed by executive order in the fields of intelligence, agency and investigative information.” —Mandate for Leadership

• Legal rationale for broad executive power (36:56):

  “The President is the only elected official who has a national constituency.”

• On the Reagan revolution’s cultural moment (47:17):

  “It’s morning again in America.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:47] – Frost/Nixon interviews & Nixon’s infamous statement
• [04:00] – Enactment of the Ethics in Government Act
• [09:45] – Reagan’s radical vision for the presidency
• [10:25] – Joseph Coors, Powell memo, and Heritage Foundation
• [13:21] – Mandate for Leadership policy details (taxes, unions, food stamps)
• [15:08] – Attempt to limit the Freedom of Information Act
• [17:31] – Reagan’s 1980 victory; Mandate for Leadership becomes roadmap
• [22:36] – Firing of air traffic controllers
• [27:42] – Emergence of the Federalist Society as legal engine of change
• [29:50] – Appointment of Roberts, Olson, and Alito
• [32:52] – Judicial packing and OLC’s powerful influence
• [36:45] – OIRA’s role in regulatory rollbacks
• [39:32] – Grenada invasion and circumvention of War Powers Act
• [43:20] – 1984 campaign debates over executive power
• [47:17] – “Morning in America” and Reagan’s landslide
• [48:46] – Iran-Contra and the next chapter in the story

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Thematic Tone and Style

The episode maintains a sharp, investigative tone—part documentary, part political thriller—rich with archival tape, wry asides, pop cultural references, and direct language. David Sirota guides listeners through dense legal and policy history with colorful metaphors (“the Abrams tank of books," “the A-Team of young lawyers") and humorous banter with producer Laura Krantz.

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Conclusion

“Mandate for Power | The Kingmakers” successfully exposes how radical conservative thinkers, funded by influential business elites, methodically built the modern imperial presidency. Through the Mandate for Leadership and cohorts such as the Federalist Society, they engineered a regime to bypass congressional restraint, slay regulatory oversight, and canonize the presidency as America’s first among equals. The episode ends anticipating further excesses—namely, Iran-Contra—in the next chapter of America’s master plan.

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For listeners seeking a comprehensive, fiercely researched, and lively narrative about how executive power has been reconstructed in recent decades, this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

[David Sirota]

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[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

The Lever

[David Sirota]

In 1977, British journalist David Frost asked a question that almost everyone wanted to know the answer to.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Why didn't you burn the tapes?

[David Sirota]

The tapes he's referring to are the Watergate tapes, and Frost was interviewing disgraced former President Richard Nixon.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I did not only consider, but I even suggested that Mr. Haldeman go through the tapes and make the search that would be necessary to retain all those that had historical value and to destroy those that had no historical value or,

[David Sirota]

you know, that had any incriminating evidence anyway. The interview took place almost three years after Richard Nixon's embarrassing exit from Washington. He'd stayed largely out of sight until this 1977 interview series, now famously known as the Frost Nixon Interviews.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Do you feel that you ever obstructed justice or were part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice.

[David Sirota]

This interview was supposed to be Richard Nixon's comeback, a way to restore his reputation with the public. Over the course of five 90 minute episodes, Frost probed Nixon about his personal life, Watergate, foreign relations, the conflict in Vietnam, and the war against Nixon's domestic enemies. And in response to a question from Frost about whether the President could do something illegal if it were in the best interests of the nation, Richard Nixon dropped a bombshell answer.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Well, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.

[David Sirota]

Why does that sound so familiar?

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I have an article too, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.

[David Sirota]

Oh, yeah, yeah, that guy again. The Frost Nixon interviews didn't do much to improve the public's opinion of Richard Nixon. A Gallup poll taken in the week after the interviews began airing showed around 65% of adults gave Nixon an unfavorable rating. He also remained unpopular with Congress, which was at that very moment writing legislation to try to prevent the possibility of future Nixons.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

This bill responds to problems that developed at the highest level of government in the 1970s.

[David Sirota]

This is President Jimmy Carter signing the Ethics in Government act, which challenged the whole idea of an imperial presidency and created a system to root out corruption and criminal activity inside the White House. Among other things, this new law required high ranking members of the government to be transparent about their finances. It created an office of Government Ethics. And perhaps most important, at least to our story, this law established a new method to police the executive branch. A special prosecutor.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

If in the future there are ever substantial allegations of criminal violations by the President or the Vice President or senior members of the President's staff, a special prosecutor will be appointed to prosecute or to investigate and see if a prosecution is necessary.

[David Sirota]

Government oversight, transparency, ethics. Sounds great, right? Not if you agreed with Nixon's belief that if the President does it, it's not illegal. And not if you're part of an ascendant political movement looking to radically expand the powers of the executive.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

There's conservatives who've been out of power for a great many years. Some of us had limited practical experience in how exactly to right all the wrongs that had preceded us. But we had a philosophy and we had a vision.

[David Sirota]

In our last episode, you heard how Richard Nixon pushed presidential power into the stratosphere. But like Lee majors in the $6 million man, Nixon crashed and burned in the wake of Watergate. Heading into the 1980s, the imperial presidency was on its deathbed, a man barely alive. But in this episode, a new conservative movement aims to resurrect the imperial presidency from that near death experience.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.

[David Sirota]

And these new kingmakers are intent not just on rebuilding. They want to turn the executive into something more powerful than had ever been seen before. Better, stronger, faster. Master I'm David Sirota and this is Master Plan.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Maybe when you'd like a dictator. Executive power.

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[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

So why do you want to be president?

[David Sirota]

A couple of months before launching his 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan sat down for an in depth interview with conservative historian Lee Edwards, an interview whose audio the Master Plan team unearthed for this series.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I certainly have never had any hunger for that position in the sense of wanting to be President of the United States.

[David Sirota]

I'm going to call bullshit on that answer because this was Reagan's third bid for the White House. He lost in the primary to Richard Nixon in 1968, then lost again in another primary against gerald Ford in 1976. But his arch conservative campaigns had made Reagan into a folk hero on the American and so in 1979, as Reagan was getting ready for his third presidential bid, he had no intention of moderating his beliefs to appeal to a wider public.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

If I had to move my positions and away from things that I believed in, then there wouldn't be any point in seeking job.

[David Sirota]

Reagan railed on anyone who claimed to be a moderate Democrat or Republican, and he attacked the entire concept of. Of moderation.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

You have to take moderation in moderation. Would you want your son to marry a girl who is moderately virtuous do you want your banker to be moderately honest? Do you want the doctor to be just moderately successful in the operation he's going to perform? Hell no.

[David Sirota]

Ronald Reagan was more politely reprising the famous line from the conservative movement's original standard bearer, Barry Goldwater, back in 1964.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

[David Sirota]

And in this same 1979 interview, Ronald Reagan smoothly introduces an extreme idea.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

The President is the one guy in Washington who represents the people.

[David Sirota]

He's the only one who speaks for

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

all of them, who has to make the decisions.

[David Sirota]

This was Reagan casting the executive branch as not a co equal to Congress or the courts, but instead as supreme. He was depicting the presidency as what Game of Thrones might call the one true king. This was music to the ears of would be kingmakers who were right then hard at work creating an outline for a potential conservative administration to seize power. They were toiling at a new think tank known as the Heritage foundation that had gotten its seed funding from a guy named Joseph Coors.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

It's not downstream beer, there's no Flatland beer.

[David Sirota]

It's not city beer.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

It's Coors.

[David Sirota]

Yes, that Coors. And what convinced the beer baron to give his silver dollars to the Heritage Foundation? None other than Lewis Powell's notorious memo from Master Plan Season one. Here's Joseph Coors himself in a never before aired interview that we discovered while researching this season old Powell just before

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

he was nominated to the Supreme Court. Otis memorandum. It stirred me up because of some of the things that it said.

[David Sirota]

The recording is a little hard to hear, but Coors is saying that he was so stirred after reading Powell's manifesto that he had to do something. And so banking on a Reagan victory in 1980, the Coors funded Heritage foundation wanted the prospective new president to hit the ground running. They began writing an ambitious policy bible, the Mandate for Leadership, a detailed blueprint for how to best implement a conservative agenda. And when I say it was detailed, I mean detailed when we started giving

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

head the draft manuscripts. And he said, well, how big is this thing? I said, well, by my best count, It'll be about 12 or 1300 pages.

[David Sirota]

That's Charles Heatherly, the lead editor of the Mandate for Leadership. In another recording unearthed by the Master Plan team, he's describing how they compiled the book which ended up being just over 1100 pages, weighing in at more than three pounds. This is the Abrams tank of books both in size and in firepower. 32 chapters authored by conservative subject matter experts. It covered the intricate workings of the cabinet departments from Agriculture to Treasury. The tome also included write ups on the independent regulatory agencies like the Civil Aeronautics Board and the US Postal Service and other government agencies including the EPA and the Office of Management and Budget. You know, even if you're a liberal

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

and you disagree with what was in it, you have to admit that it was ambitious and well done.

[David Sirota]

The Heritage foundation had done its homework. There were details on every decision the President might need to make, from improving military operational capabilities for the MX class of long range missiles to changing the fee structure of the Patent and Trademark Office. Here's historian Rick Perlstein again, who we heard from in the first episode. They all know the names of these dozens and dozens of obscure agencies. It's the fact that you can become a scholar and a master of the bureaucracy of the federal government. And I think that's what they spend all their time doing. In the 70s and the 80s. Master plan producer Laura Krantz was assigned the mind numbing task of reading all 1100 pages of the Mandate for Leadership.

[Laura Krantz]

David, this, this book, this book g me a hernia. Can I have hardship pay?

[David Sirota]

I. I'll see if that's available for you. Why don't you give us a few examples of what's in this manifesto?

[Laura Krantz]

Okay. So on page 655, the mandate recommended across the board cuts on personal income taxes. And then here on page 630, it suggested that Reagan take a tough stand against the air traffic controllers if they decide to strike.

[David Sirota]

I feel like, honestly, I feel like you, you only decided to read the pages in the 600s.

[Laura Krantz]

I wish the whole damn thing. We can go back to the beginning. Look here on page 27, it, it's pushing for shrinking the food stamp program.

[David Sirota]

Oh, nice, Nice. How generous of them.

[Laura Krantz]

Very. And it keeps going like this. For the remaining thousand pages. It's an instruction manual with endless suggestions for running a government which it all seems a little bit hodgepodge. But there is one clear objective, which is the expansion of executive power, even if it means pushing the limits of the law.

[David Sirota]

So what I hear you saying is to these would be kingmakers, that Nixon

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

line, when the President does it, it is not illegal.

[David Sirota]

Like that line was not a cautionary tale for the people who wrote this book. It was kind of like their guiding star, right?

[Laura Krantz]

Exactly. And the last chapter of Mandate for Leadership is where they got really real. It's titled what the President can do. By executive order. And there are 25 very specific suggestions. We don't have time to go through all of them, so let's play a game instead.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Okay.

[Laura Krantz]

All right. Pick A number between 1 and 25.

[David Sirota]

A number between 1 and 25. All right, let's start with. Let's try 17, limiting the freedom of Information Act. Okay, just. Just to be clear, that's. That's the open records law, the law that, like, lets us see what the government's doing. Right.

[Laura Krantz]

And here is a quote from that section. Current policy has been to allow discretionary disclosure on a very broad basis. The policy should explicitly be reversed by executive order in the fields of intelligence, agency and investigative information.

[David Sirota]

So increasing secrecy. Kind of the opposite of what the post Nixon Congress had been trying to do. Okay, let me pick another number. Okay, what about number eight?

[Laura Krantz]

This one is about reorganizing sections of government, specifically in ways that got around Congress, like, say, getting rid of that pesky Department of Education. The president can't abolish it without Congress's approval, but he can get rid of all the personnel, which effectively kills the department.

[David Sirota]

That idea. I feel like that idea has made a comeback.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

In a few moments, I will sign. Sign an executive order to begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all.

[David Sirota]

Okay, let's try one more. How about. How about. How about number three?

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Ooh.

[Laura Krantz]

This one is a huge deal to the Reagan administration's goals. And basically, it says that the government's regulation needs to go in a procedural

[David Sirota]

straitjacket that's very on brand. If there's one thing I know about conservatives, it's that they despise regulation pretty much.

[Laura Krantz]

So we could keep doing this all day, down to the tiniest detail. The mandate for leadership lays out the conservative master plan.

[David Sirota]

All they needed was a president who'd be willing to follow that plan. And here in 1980, they'd found him. Ronald Wilson Reagan. The Heritage foundation was thrilled about this guy. Here was a man who was uncompromisingly anti communist, anti taxes, anti big government, anti labor union, anti regulation, anti abortion, anti affirmative action. He also seemed willing to grab back power that had been stripped from the presidency after Watergate. In short, Ronald Reagan was the man of their dreams, their hero, their quarterback.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Someday, when the team's up against it, the brakes are beating the boys, asking to go in there with God, win just one for the kipper.

[David Sirota]

And win one he did in 1980.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Well, the time has come. You've seen the map. We've looked at the figures, and NBC News now makes its projection for the presidency. Reagan is our projected winner.

[David Sirota]

Reagan's huge electoral victory over Jimmy Carter really did give him a mandate for leadership, which meant the Heritage Foundation's book Mandate for Leadership was no longer a thought experiment. Its directives had a shot at becoming reality. That's after the break.

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[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Nothing that lives in the imagination is more frightening than the terror that lives in Castle Rock, Maine.

[David Sirota]

In 1981, the best seller list was epic. It seemed to have a book for everyone. If you wanted something scary, it had Stephen King's Cujo. If you were into fitness, it had the Never say Diet book from the era's most ridiculous fitness guy.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Do you have a brand new New Year's resolution? Is it a brand new body and a better body?

[David Sirota]

And if you weren't into rabid dog horror or working out your body with Richard Simmons, maybe you were into slimming down your government, eliminating those pesky checks and balances and turning the President into an all powerful king who could do whatever he wanted regardless of rules, laws and the constitution. For you, America's 1981 bestseller list had the Heritage Foundation's Mandate for Leadership, which got a personal endorsement from the new President.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

The Heritage foundation provided us with copies of the remarkable 1,093 page workbook mandate for Leadership. The material combined mastery of the federal bureaucracy with a no nonsense plan to cut it down to size. We've been using it to our and the country's advantage ever since, rather than

[David Sirota]

being tossed into the dustbin of history. After the 1980 election, mandate for Leadership became a national phenomenon. It was the original edition of what ultimately became Project 2025, and in 1981, it was shaping White House policy.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

The Heritage Foundation's research continues to be useful to us and to our policy making process. As a matter of fact, one of the people it's been most useful to and used by is me.

[David Sirota]

At his very first cabinet meeting, the new president gave copies of Mandate for Leadership to every member of his team and his administration started implementing it immediately. On his first day, Reagan signed an order for a federal hiring freeze and two days later created the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief, a task force

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

that will review pending regulations, study past regulations with an eye toward revising them, and recommend appropriate legislative remedies.

[David Sirota]

A week later, Reagan ordered a 60 day freeze on pending regulations in key federal agencies.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

This action gives my administration time to start a new regulatory oversight process.

[David Sirota]

The Heritage foundation cheered Reagan on as he cribbed from Mandate for Leadership. Over Congress's objections, Reagan invoked executive authority to slash Social Security benefits. He ordered EPA officials to ignore Congress's requests for information. Without consulting Congress, Reagan dismissed all 15 inspectors general, the independent watchdogs of federal agencies, Efficiency task forces, government freezes, tightening control over the executive branch. This was the original Doge.

[Ronnie Rico Bene]

Elon Musk, who's advising the Trump administration on ways to cut government spending, has the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in his crosshairs.

[David Sirota]

According to the Heritage Foundation, Reagan would eventually adopt nearly 2/3 of the recommendations in the bestselling Mandate for Leadership. That includes one of the most famous recommendations of all, that one that producer Laura Krantz flagged earlier.

[Laura Krantz]

It suggested that Reagan take a tough stand against the air traffic controllers if they decide to strike.

[David Sirota]

Yeah, that's exactly what Ronald Reagan did. In August 1981, he issued a 48 hour ultimatum, after which he fired all 11,000 striking workers.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I must tell those who failed to report for duty this morning they are in violation of the law and if they do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated.

[David Sirota]

Reagan's Attorney General even threatened the possibility of jail Time for those who didn't follow the President's order to return to work. Over and over again, the Reaganites were going to the mats to fight for executive power. The way they saw it, they were up against the career civil servants like the air traffic controllers or those agencies like the EPA and the Civil Rights Commission that they saw as liberal pests.

[Ronnie Rico Bene]

They're met at every turn by an unwieldy executive branch that doesn't seem to want to fall into line with the Reagan agenda.

[David Sirota]

Politics Professor Amanda Hollis Brusky, who we heard from in the first episode.

[Ronnie Rico Bene]

They're met at every turn by what they see as constitutionally illegitimate statutes that limit the President's power, like the War Powers Resolution or allow congressional investigations and oversight of what the executive branch is doing.

[David Sirota]

Among the most enraging to them were laws and court precedents making it nearly impossible for the President to fire ideologically disloyal commissioners at independent federal agencies. Congress had long ago created special job protections for these commissioners, and the outgoing Carter administration had sped up its appointment process to try to leave behind as many of its own people in the government. For example, there was an early fight during Reagan's first term over a Carter appointee to the Federal Trade Commission. Here's a reporter asking Reagan about it.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Sir, in the case of Mrs. Patricia Bailey, who was was supposed to be named chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and who 12 hours beforehand had the ill fate to make a speech criticizing the cutback in money for her agency

[David Sirota]

because of those rules protecting independent agencies, Reagan could not actually fire FTC Commissioner Patricia Bailey for her disloyalty. He could not prevent her from staying at the agency and using her power to slow the new president deregulatory agenda. Reagan could only deny her a promotion to chairwoman in order to try to send a message of intimidation to other commissioners at other independent agencies.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Did you mean to give a signal to other Republicans that they don't conform,

[David Sirota]

that off will go their heads?

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

How can you say that about a sweet fellow like me?

[David Sirota]

Carrying out the President's agenda by following the usual order of operations was not going to work, not with ideas that were as unfair popular as what was in the mandate for leadership, and not with a Democratic House. The kingmakers in the Reagan administration knew that to move their conservative agenda forward, they'd need to change the balance of power. That meant either ignoring the laws or creating a legal framework that would justify their actions. The kingmakers would try both. That's coming up after the break. Every Sunday, we dissect the latest news in Tech on this Week in Tech. Hi, this is Leo laporte. Join me BBC Report reporter Thomas Germain, Stacey Higginbotham from Consumer Reports, and Wesley Faulkner as we talk about social media trial, the 30th anniversary of the 26 words that changed the Internet and how you can make $10 closing doors for Waymos. That's this Week in Tech. You'll find it at Twit TV and wherever you get your podcasts today. Still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. It's the early 1980s. Let's imagine your actor turned president, Ronald Reagan. You're kicking back in the White House residence. You flip on your television at night and you see this show. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A Team. As president, you and your whole Reagan administration are following the instruction manual given to you by the Heritage Foundation. You've been having some success with executive orders, but you're still frustrated by all, all of the laws that constrain your power. You can't fire everyone you want to fire, you can't withhold information from Congress, you can't destroy all the regulations you want to destroy, and you can't unilaterally slash the budget without pesky congressional lawmakers getting in the way. You have a problem and no one else can help. But Ronald Reagan at this point didn't need soldiers of fortune. He needed an a team of lawyers, legal commandos to produce all the memos and court filings and amicus briefs and esoterica required to turn their grand vision of an imperial presidency into reality. It didn't take long for Reagan to find that a team, a Federalist Society,

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

is waging the war of ideas on behalf of the ideals of our founding fathers.

[David Sirota]

The Federalist Society, a new group of young conservative lawyers that saw itself as the vanguard against the liberal legal establishment. Here's Amanda Hollis Brusky again.

[Ronnie Rico Bene]

The Federal Society starts as a small student group in a few elite law schools, but then ends up growing and getting the attention of Ronald Reagan himself. And so Reagan appears at one of their earliest meetings and encourages them and notices that they are bright, energetic, have great ideas, and are all, well, credentialed.

[David Sirota]

And Reagan didn't just praise members of the Federalist Society, he hired them.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Many members of the Federalist Society are now working in my administration, particularly in the Justice Department.

[David Sirota]

We covered the Federalist Society in detail in season one of Master Plan. So I'm not going to rehash it all here. What's important for the purposes of this story is that Federalist Society recruits became Reagan's new A team in an epic conflict over executive power. And many of Reagan's Federalist Society recruits were working directly under the tutelage of the President's right hand man, Ed Meese.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Edmies has worked for Ronald Reagan since 1967. He was a former law and order prosecutor who used to relax by listening to a police radio. At the White House, he became the chief advocate of conservative causes.

[David Sirota]

Ed Meese served as counselor to the President, the White House's ideological point man for conservative policy. Mies was the cigar chomping Hannibal of this new legal A team overseeing the whole stealth operation to build the executive power machine from scratch.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Of course I have a plan, but it's a secret.

[David Sirota]

Mies sought out staff who could help devise ways to push back against rules that he felt constrained executive power and to create the legal rationale for a more muscular executive branch. And among his new recruits were a cast of now familiar faces from the Master Plan cinematic universe. Playing the role of faceman was the young heartthrob John Roberts, the future Chief justice of the United States.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I just happen to be one of those guys who doesn't have any trouble separating work from pleasure.

[David Sirota]

As a Reagan administration lawyer, Faceman or John Roberts wrote that, quote, I am institutionally disposed against adopting a limited reading of a statute conferring power on the President. In other words, Roberts said he believes that laws giving power to the President should be interpreted broadly. Playing the role of the wacky Murdoch was Ted Olson, the lawyer who represented Bush in Bush v. Gore and Citizens United in its dark money victory. First I'm crazy, then I'm not, then I'm crazy, then I'm not. As Reagan's assistant Attorney general, Olson worked to expand the President's power to avoid post Watergate transparency laws and to shroud the executive branch in secrecy. Olson wrote that, quote, ever since the Watergate period, Congress has been able to place the executive branch on the defensive. And he insisted that, quote, the Reagan administration has nothing to apologize for when it legitimately resists congressional demands for information. And then playing the take, no shit, BA Baracas was Samuel Alito, yet another future Supreme Court justice. You messed up bad. Now I have to mess you up. As a Reagan administration lawyer, Alito outlined a strategy for the President to issue signing statements that unilaterally interpreted or even undermined bills passed by Congress. Alito wrote that such signing statements quote, would increase the power of the executive to shape the law and basically tell Congress, shut up, fool. In addition to this, a team operating inside the executive branch, the Reagan administration was also packing the judicial branch with allies that would give a green light to the imperial presidency. The White House's newly established Office of Legal Policy became central to the judicial selection process, screening every candidate's judicial philosophy. They looked at candidates previous rulings, read any article or speech they'd given, and assessed their political loyalties. That might not seem so unusual now, but at the time, it was revolutionary. By the time Reagan left office in 1989, his administration had appointed nearly 50% of the judges who in the federal judiciary, two of those judges will be familiar to those of you playing master plan bingo First, Robert Bork. Bork's bona fides on executive power should be unquestionable. After he willingly fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox at the request of Richard Nixon during Watergate, Reagan installed Bork on the powerful D.C. circuit Court of Appeals, the court of jurisdiction. In many arguments about the balance of powers on that same court, Reagan also installed future Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who had questioned the constitutionality of the congressionally created independent agencies and who was a cheerleader for undoing regulation. I am a textualist.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I am an originalist. I am not a nut.

[David Sirota]

We'll be hearing more about both Scalia and Bork later in this series, but the point is that the Reaganites were filling jobs that would make decisions about the extent of executive power with people who believed in the idea of a powerful executive. Finally, there was one other outpost for the kingmakers to build out the legal architecture of the imperial presidency. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, the olc, which is sometimes referred to as the President's law firm. It advises the executive branch about what is lawful. That's journalist Charlie Savage, who's written extensively about presidential power and how different administrations have leveraged the legal infrastructure of the federal government. Its opinions are binding on the rest of the executive branch. When the OLC weighs in, unless the President overrules it, all the other lawyers at all the agencies around the government have to fall in line. Essentially, Savage told us, the OLC provides legal cover for the President. The OLC says this is lawful. I'm simplifying slightly, but even if later people come in and say this opinion is garbage and they rescind it and it's ludicrous on its face, they can't then prosecute you. If the President wants to do something, anything that might have legal implications. The OLC issues an opinion on whether the President can legally do it. And in the early years of the administration, the OLC was busy pumping out official justifications for the President to unilaterally claim more and more power. There was a memo from Ted Olson that said the President could fire members of independent agencies like the congressionally created Commission on Civil Rights. Another memo argued that legislative vetoes, one of the tools Congress could use to override the President, were unconstitutional. And there was the memo, also drafted by Ted Olson, that argued why the President and his close advisors should be immune from congressional subpoenas. This was the Reagan administration's first term blueprint in action, and it was working.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I love it when a plan comes together.

[David Sirota]

But there was one memo from this A team that put all the other memos to shame. The President's authority to issue the proposed exhibit Executive Order derives from his constitutional power to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. It is well established that this provision authorizes the President, as head of the executive branch, to supervise and guide executive officers in their construction of the statutes under which they act in order to secure that unitary and uniform execution of laws, which Article 2 of the Constitution evidently contemplated, investing general executive power in the President alone. It's boring. Okay, yeah, it does sound boring, Ron Burgundy. But there's that word, unitary. This was the Reaganites testing the outer limits of executive power. This language was meant to give cover for Reagan's Executive Order 12,291 about federal regulation. This incredibly dry bureaucratic order, which flew under the radar of all the major headlines of Reagan's first 100 days. It gave extensive power to a little known department called oira.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

You find yourself singing Surrey with a

[Laura Krantz]

Fringe on Top in front of Ira.

[David Sirota]

No, Billy Crystal, not Ira. Oira. These are.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Or scrubs. Oh, are they? No.

[David Sirota]

Jason Schwartzman, oira, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. It's boring. Yes, Ron Burgundy, yes. It was supposed to sound boring. It was supposed to bore anyone out of looking at what was actually going on. OIRA was empowered to review existing regulations mandated by Congress, kill off the ones that Reagan didn't like, and block any new ones that he opposed if he and his aides and his campaign donors deemed them wasteful.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Waste and fraud in the federal government is exactly what I've called it before. An unrelenting national scandal, A scandal we're bound and determined to do something about.

[David Sirota]

That sounds good on its face, but was viewed by opponents as a way for the administration to ignore statutes and Deregulate business and industry, avoiding pesky rules about clean air and human health, regardless of whether Congress ordered them or not. And that's exactly what OIRA would do on everything from human exposure to toxic chemicals to pollution regulations. The memo that the Office of Legal Counsel issued About Executive Order 12,291 justified Oira's actions. This because the President is the only elected official who has a national constituency. He is uniquely situated to design and execute a uniform method for undertaking regulatory initiatives that responds to the will of the public as a whole. Did you catch that? Let me play it again. The President is the only elected official who has a national constituency. The memo says, the only elected official. Just like Ronald Reagan had said in that 1979 interview that we unearthed, the President is the one guy in Washington

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

who represents the people.

[David Sirota]

So here was the administration putting Reagan's own vision into practice. They're getting into the guts of the machine and rewiring it to consolidate control inside the White House. And now they have a tool that gives the President the right to shape, manipulate or distort the implementation of laws that Congress has already passed. It makes the President a more potent actor into shaping the way in which Congress's agenda is implemented so that it's actually consistent with the President's agenda. That's New York University law professor Peter Shane, who told us that Executive Order 12,291, designed to sound super boring, gave the Executive branch a level of oversight that Congress just could not match. And surely you're thinking Congress must have pushed back on this usurpation of its power, right? Amazingly, given how important it became, there was virtually no litigation challenging it on its face. In fact, Shane told us that Congress didn't really even try. In part, this was because the Reagan administration was popular. They charged into Washington D.C. with their mandate and a plan to slay the two headed beast of regulation and taxation. They burrowed deep into the machinery of government, finding ways to concentrate power in the hands of their leader.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Ask them to go in there with all they've got. Win just one for the kipp.

[David Sirota]

Now, up until this point, we've mostly talked about Reagan's first term domestic power grabs. But the Reaganites were also concurrently grabbing back power when it came to foreign policy.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

This is the CBS News special report.

[David Sirota]

On October 25, 1983, America watched as the Reagan administration unilaterally invaded another country.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

US Military forces have suffered some cases casualties during the invasion today of the small Caribbean island nation of Grenada.

[David Sirota]

The invasion of Grenada to overthrow the local communist government had no congressional authorization. And it followed Ronald Reagan recently deploying troops to Lebanon, also with no congressional authorization. These brazen moves came almost exactly 10 years after Congress passed the War Powers Act. You'll remember from episode one that this 1973 legislation was supposed to limit the president's ability to engage the United States in armed conflict and prevent a president from impulsively getting us into another Vietnam quagmire. Just a decade after the War Powers act passed, Reagan was effectively circumventing it. He was essentially following the mandate for leadership's recommendation to act as if, quote, only the the President and the White House can assume real leadership in foreign policy and to operate as if a coherent congressional leadership role is impractical. To be fair, the administration did send a letter informing Congress that American troops would be sent to Grenada. But that letter arrived well after the invasion had begun. It ended up being basically a big middle finger to Congress supposed war powers, which created quite the fracas in the House and the Senate.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Gunboat diplomacy has a new king.

[David Sirota]

Move over, Teddy Roosevelt.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

At an hour when our men are down there, there's no time for any of us to be criticizing. You cannot justify the overthrow of another government merely because neighboring nations have decided

[David Sirota]

it's something we ought to do.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

I believe the American public would be horrified if it became known that nations of this hemisphere asked for help.

[David Sirota]

Help.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

And we did not respond.

[David Sirota]

Eventually, a small group of lawmakers filed a lawsuit arguing that Reagan had violated the basic constitutional requirement for a declaration of war. But the case was thrown out by a three judge panel that included, wait for it, Judge Robert Bork.

[Laura Krantz]

Bork.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Bork.

[David Sirota]

In the end, after much dithering, Congress did invoke the War Powers act the same day that major combat operations in Grenada came to an end. A little late, guys. For Reagan, this was not just a military victory. It was also a victory in the push for executive power. The Reagan administration had gone to war, effectively sidestepping Congress. And they left lawmakers with little choice but to bend the knee. We're going to take one more quick break. If you're on our free feed, you're going to hear a few ads. But if you'd rather listen with no ads and support our investigative journalism, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. There's a link in our show notes. When we come back, you'll see why

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

1984 won't be like 1984.

[David Sirota]

That's coming up next.

[Ronnie Rico Bene]

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[David Sirota]

PROS Just because something on the job runs out doesn't mean you have to order it on the Lowe's app. Mylow's Pro Rewards members get free same day delivery on eligible order over $25. Get the fasteners, hardware or tools you need to keep the job Moving. Order by 2pm and get eligible in stock items delivered right to your job site by 8pm members get more at Lowe's Loyalty program subject to terms and conditions Subject to availability restrictions and terms@lowe's.com shippingterms subject to change By 1984, Democrats were trying to turn the national presidential election into a referendum on Ronald Reagan's revolution and, in part, his executive power grabs.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

We need to be strong. We need to be prepared to use that strength. But we must understand that we are a democracy. We are a government by the people.

[David Sirota]

That was the Democrats 1984 presidential nominee Walter Mondale. As a senator, Mondale had a long record fighting the imperial presidency. He'd been one of the original co sponsors of the War Powers act, and he had called Watergate, quote, the ultimate and most profound usurpation of power by a president in American history. Reagan, though, was undeterred. During the election, he decided to double down on his battle for executive power.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

In the last 10 years, the Congress has imposed about 150 restrictions on the president's power in international diplomacy.

[David Sirota]

This is Reagan at a primetime press conference that he called literally one day after Walter Mondale won the pivotal New York Democratic primary. Reagan used the strategically timed event to berate Congress for being too assertive.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

And I just don't think that a committee of 535 individuals, no matter how well intentioned, can offer what is needed.

[David Sirota]

Reagan went a step further. Just months after terrorists killed 220 of the US Marines that Reagan had deployed to Lebanon, a deployment that happened without congressional approval, the president insinuated that Congress had blood on its hands. He angrily blamed lawmakers for considering invoking the War Powers act, saying that their Debate about restricting executive power had emboldened the terrorists.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

A debate as public as was conducted here, raging with the Congress demanding, oh, bring our men home, take them away. All this can do is stimulate the terrorists and urge them on to further attacks.

[David Sirota]

This press conference had its intended political effect, landing on the New York Times front page with the headline Reagan Attacks Congress Role on many fronts. Mondale countered by trying to portray Reagan as completely out of control in Lebanon.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

This President exercised American power all right, but the management of it was such that our Marines were killed. We had to leave in humiliation. The Soviet Union became stronger, terrorists became emboldened and it was because they did not think through how power should be exercised.

[David Sirota]

But Mondale's arguments did not seem to land. This was 1984 and impulsive rule breaking moxie was raging in popular culture. This was the year that the A Team was near the top of the TV charts. Breaking the law to defend the vulnerable Americans. This was the year that Axel Foley was ignoring the higher ups to bust criminals in the movie Beverly Hills Cop. This was the year that the Ghostbusters were ignoring the government to save us from Zool. We came, we saw, we kicked its ass. In Reagan's telling, the White House was part of the same zeitgeist. Ignoring Congress and anyone else in its way to kick the ass of taxes and inflation and the commies. Reagan's presidential campaign ads were selling the country on the idea that under the imperial presidency.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

It's morning again in America.

[David Sirota]

On election day, Americans had a choice. Go with the institutionalist rule following Walter Mondale or give four more years to the ass kicking rule breaker Ronald Reagan. Here's what they decided.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

America voted today and returns in at

[David Sirota]

this hour appear to confirm the pre

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

election poll which gave President Reagan promise of a landslide victory.

[David Sirota]

Reagan cast his landslide victory as a validation of his revolution, the vision we outlined in 1980.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Indeed, the passion of the fire that we kept burning for two decades doesn't jive just because four years have passed. To each one of you, I say tonight is the end of nothing. It's the beginning of everything.

[David Sirota]

Emboldened by the election results, the kingmaker pushed forward, moving fast, taking risks and refusing to ask permission. Was there anyone urging any caution at this point?

[Laura Krantz]

Okay, Ferris, can we just let it go, please?

[David Sirota]

Was there anyone in the Reagan administration saying hold up or slow down Ferris,

[Laura Krantz]

please God, too far, you get busted.

[David Sirota]

No, quite the opposite. At this point, Ferris Bueller's bravado seemed to be the attitude of the entire Reagan administration. You can never go too far. And that attitude would soon be embodied by one man at the center of a huge scandal plastered all over national television. My name is Oliver North, Lieutenant Colonel,

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

United States Marine Corps.

[David Sirota]

That's next time on Master Plan.

[Various Historical Figures / Interview Clips (e.g., Ronald Reagan, Joseph Coors, Walter Mondale, etc.)]

Up on Master Plan.

[David Sirota]

Maybe we like it Dictator Master Plan is a production of the Lever. Our production team includes me, David Sirota, Jared Jakang Mayer, and Laura Krantz. Fact checking of this episode was done by Emma Wilke. Original music is by Nick Byron Campbell. Our director of podcast production is Ron Doyle. Special thanks to Ariella, Marcus Berkowitz, Charlie Savage, Peter Shane, Amanda Hollis Brusky, Rick Perlstein, and the archivists at the Reagan Library and the Hoover Institute. For a list of the books and other materials that we used in our research, go to masterplanpodcast.com or check the link in our show Notes. You can listen and subscribe to Master Plan on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. While you're there, please leave us a review or a rating. It really helps. For ad free episodes, exclusive bonus content, transcripts with links to our sources and access to the Lever's entire archive of investigative journalism. Please visit Levernews.com to become a subscriber.

[Ronnie Rico Bene]

Not all darkness is dangerous. Sometimes it's the doorway to becoming whole. On the brand new podcast the Shadow Session, hosted by me, Hiba Balfaqueh, a psychologist and trauma expert, we shed light on the hidden corners of the human experience through raw, unfiltered conversations from the edge of healing. The Shadow Sessions invites you to do the deeper work that leads to real change. Follow the Shadow Sessions wherever you're listening now.

[David Sirota]

Sometimes it feels like red and blue states are just as divergent as post World War II east and West Germany. So what can the US learn from German political history in order to create a more perfect union? Find out on the new season of the Future of Our Former Democracy, the Signal Award winning podcast from More Equitable Democracy and Large Media, hosted by me, Colin Cole and hello Villanueva. It's time to rethink democracy, so follow the Future of Our Former Democracy wherever you get your podcasts.