ABSTRACT
On January 14, 1982, the first anniversary of his inaugural address, President Ronald Reagan visited the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City to give another highly symbolic address-this time before the
financial luminaries of the New York City Partnership. After a glowing introduction by David Rockefeller, chairman of the board of Chase Manhattan Bank and founder of the Partnership, Reagan strode to the podium sporting an I¤NY scarf just given to him by Mayor Ed Koch, setting off a flurry of camera flashbulbs and a standing ovation from the New York City crowd. Then he gave a rousing speech about “the spirit of shared sacrifice” that allowed New York’s financial and political leadership to overcome the city’s recent troubles by trading the welfare state for “private initiative.” Thus New York became a beacon for the Reagan administration’s own plans for radical political and economic reform-“a tough little tug that can pull our ship of state off the shoals and into open water.” It was an event imbued with paradox and political stagecraft, the crowning moment in the decade-long transformation of New York City’s image from “working-class city” to a symbol for the nation’s new, pro-business economy and emerging right wing.
