| 1981: |
Caspar Weinberger, defending his Pentagon budget against possible
cuts, is allowed fifteen minutes to present his case to President
Reagan. He uses a full hour. David Stockman describes the
presentation like this: "He talked and pointed, and Carlucci changed
the charts on the easel. There were so many of them Carlucci worked up
a pretty good sweat... His briefing was a masterpiece of obfuscation.
Incredibly, Weinberger had also brought with him a blown-up cartoon.
It showed three soldiers. One was a pygmy and carried no rifle. He
represented the Carter budget. The second was a four-eyed wimp who
looked like Woody Allen, carrying a tiny rifle. That was -- me? -- the
OMB defense budget." (The OMB plan merely proposed holding defense
spending increases down to what Reagan had promised while campaigning,
instead of double that as Weinberger wanted.) "Finally, there was G.I.
Joe himself... the Department of Defense budget plan.... I could
hardly bring myself to believe that a Harvard-educated cabinet officer
could have brought this to the President of the United States. Did he
think the White House was on Sesame Street?"
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