Paul N. "Pete" McCloskey
Republican House Member From California
Age at the Time: 41

Originally published Jan. 13, 2001

I was a freshman in Congress, and there was a group of Republicans -- I think 53 of them -- of which George Bush was the acknowledged leader. I think all of us were hopeful that Nixon had a plan to end the Vietnam War. That was the burning issue of the day, and he had run on the campaign promise that he had a plan to end the war. I think the inauguration was a day of hope that he would really carry out that plan. That's what I recall the most. I don't remember anything memorable about the speech.

Friends of mine were coming to the Administration, and we had participated in the transition group for Health, Education, and Welfare. I remember Wilbur Cohen, the outgoing Secretary of HEW, coming to us and saying Medicare, which we thought would cost $3 billion that year, would cost us $11 billion. That was a princely sum in 1969. He said it could bankrupt the country. And yet, despite that ominous proposal, there was a lot of hope in January 1969 that the new Administration would end the Vietnam War and would attack these challenging problems.

I think my impression has always been that in the first six months of the presidency, there has been a honeymoon no matter who the president is. I hope President Bush will have that honeymoon. We're a great country for putting things aside that have been difficult.

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