Cass R. Sunstein, Columnist

Reagan's Lesson for Trump: Listen to the Lawyers

Also, respect the career staff. Otherwise things go poorly.

January 4, 2017 at 12:30 PM UTC

Cass R. Sunstein is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of “The Cost-Benefit Revolution” and a co-author of “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness.”

Not exactly.
Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

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The last time progressives were this alarmed about a presidential transition, there were just two Star Wars movies, “Dallas” was the most-watched show on TV, and Ronald Reagan, dismissed by many as an actor and an extremist, was about to become commander-in-chief.

At the time, I was a young lawyer in the Department of Justice, fortunate enough to witness important aspects of Reagan’s first year up close. Reagan and his team did two exceedingly smart things early on, providing a remarkably stable foundation for the first term of his transformative presidency.