Julian E. Zelizer: Did Obama underestimate his critics?
[Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. His new book, "Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security -- From World War II to the War on Terrorism," will be published this fall by Basic Books. Zelizer writes widely about current events.]
One of the great puzzles this summer has been why President Obama seemed to have underestimated the intensity of the counter-mobilization he would face in proposing health care reform.
Historically, each time an American president has sought to reform the health care system, opponents mounted a fierce and unrelenting attack to undermine public support.
President Harry Truman confronted such an attack after his dramatic upset against Republican Thomas Dewey in 1948. Truman proposed national health care as part of the "Fair Deal." The American Medical Association instantly branded the proposal "socialized medicine." It hired a public relations firm, Whitaker and Baxter, for $1.5 million in 1949.
The firm employed a variety of tactics, sending out speakers to drum up opposition and distributing information to the press. One of their pamphlets asked: "Would socialized medicine lead to socialization of other phases of American life?" The mobilization worked. Public approval plummeted from 58 percent to 36 percent.
Similar charges were leveled against Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson's Medicare proposal between 1961 and 1965. When Kennedy first announced his plan to provide health care to the aged, the AMA's bi-weekly publication compared the fight over this proposal to the "struggle to prevent the spread of incipient cancer."
They warned that, "The Socialist Party in the United States has launched a nation-wide campaign for socialized medicine in America and has made it clear it supports President Kennedy's proposal for health and medical care through the Social Security system as the vehicle with which to bring full-blown socialized medicine to this country."
According to Johnson biographer Randall Woods, the AMA hired 70 publicists and 23 lobbyists, spending over $50 million. Local activists in the budding conservative movement also included Medicare as one of the main issues in their litany of warnings about how both administrations were promoting a communist government here in America.
The same thing happened to President Bill Clinton. After he released his plan, the Health Insurance Association of America, which represented small insurance companies, released a blistering "Harry and Louise" spot that shook public opinion. The ads showed a married couple sitting around the kitchen table saying how they were scared and confused about what the legislation would do...
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One of the great puzzles this summer has been why President Obama seemed to have underestimated the intensity of the counter-mobilization he would face in proposing health care reform.
Historically, each time an American president has sought to reform the health care system, opponents mounted a fierce and unrelenting attack to undermine public support.
President Harry Truman confronted such an attack after his dramatic upset against Republican Thomas Dewey in 1948. Truman proposed national health care as part of the "Fair Deal." The American Medical Association instantly branded the proposal "socialized medicine." It hired a public relations firm, Whitaker and Baxter, for $1.5 million in 1949.
The firm employed a variety of tactics, sending out speakers to drum up opposition and distributing information to the press. One of their pamphlets asked: "Would socialized medicine lead to socialization of other phases of American life?" The mobilization worked. Public approval plummeted from 58 percent to 36 percent.
Similar charges were leveled against Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson's Medicare proposal between 1961 and 1965. When Kennedy first announced his plan to provide health care to the aged, the AMA's bi-weekly publication compared the fight over this proposal to the "struggle to prevent the spread of incipient cancer."
They warned that, "The Socialist Party in the United States has launched a nation-wide campaign for socialized medicine in America and has made it clear it supports President Kennedy's proposal for health and medical care through the Social Security system as the vehicle with which to bring full-blown socialized medicine to this country."
According to Johnson biographer Randall Woods, the AMA hired 70 publicists and 23 lobbyists, spending over $50 million. Local activists in the budding conservative movement also included Medicare as one of the main issues in their litany of warnings about how both administrations were promoting a communist government here in America.
The same thing happened to President Bill Clinton. After he released his plan, the Health Insurance Association of America, which represented small insurance companies, released a blistering "Harry and Louise" spot that shook public opinion. The ads showed a married couple sitting around the kitchen table saying how they were scared and confused about what the legislation would do...