In 1985, President Reagan gave a State of the Union speech that rocked the Nation, pushing for government accountability. That speech echoed his 1964 speech, “A Time for Choosing.” In 1994, those two Reagan speeches helped shape “The Contract with America,” Gingrich’s House Republicans’ pledge to shrink government. Next? “Trump’s Contract with America.”
To understand what Trump is facing, what he plans, and how—in our era—he hopes to limit government, one must unpack history. Although he held no office, Reagan’s 1964 speech, “Time for Choosing,” challenged common thinking.
He explained how the overgrowth of government threatens individual liberties, how rogue ideologies – especially communism – threaten freedom and America, and why these threats are urgent.
Specifically, Reagan said: “The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing.”
He continued: “You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream – the maximum of individual freedom consistent with law and order – or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism.”
Earlier than his famous 1985 State of the Union, Reagan spoke the truth in June 1982. He reminded us where overgrown government leads, to the bankruptcy of the overgrown government. “The march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history, as it has left other tyrannies which stifle freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.”
Then came his 1985 speech, which again reminded us truth matters. As an overgrown government suffocates the individual soul, the American Dream invites it to fly. In fact, “There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.”
Then came the “Contract with America,” pledging a return to sanity with eight simple promises, ten pieces of legislation.
The eight promises were to apply all laws to Congress; audit Congress for waste, fraud, and abuse; cut all staff to legislators by a third; term limit committee chairs; ban proxy votes; make all congressional meetings public; require a supermajority for tax increases; and return the federal budget to zero base-line budgeting, not needed then cut it. They did all in congressional power to make those promises real.
The legislation included: restoring a measure of fiscal responsibility, endorsing a balanced budget constitutional amendment; pushing a major anti-crime and anti-drug bill; limiting welfare to those who need it, getting them back on their feet; restoring tax credits for married and parents, plus tax-free savings for middle-class Americans; restoring national security in clear ways; incentivizing small business, lower regulations, better jobs; congressional term limits (failed).
They pushed, and when things failed, they pushed again – until the narrative, or basic story around these issues, became more conservative, not spend-tax-entitle-and abuse power.
Now, with a new “Morning in America” or “Golden Age,” we have pledges from a president who has kept his word, and who understood Reagan, Gingrich, knows accountability is hard. He wants a smaller federal government, wants to end rule by a federal Jave The Hut, no more entitled, fat, abusive, and unaccountable bureaucracies, but clarity, honesty, and accountability.
How will “Trump’s Contract with America” become real? We know. He will redline dozens of wasteful and abusive federal programs, policies, agencies, and even departments. He will bring the bureau to heel, force accountability down to the federal level, issue executive orders that – even challenged in court –highlight the abuses, educate the public, and spur legislation.
Trump will put real leaders where they can lead, and let them lead, getting rid of Marxist ideas like identity politics, persecution of political enemies, codes like CRT, DEI, and ESG, and exploitation of class, race, and economic differences – pivoting to merit-based advancement, promotion, reality.
So, where do we go from here, how will this work, what next? Brace yourself. We may start to get more limited, transparent, honest, less petty, and more accountable leaders. Reagan would love to see this happening, and our Founders. Brace for Trump’s “Contract with America.”
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).
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