Damage Limitation: the Modern Experience

Abstract

A number of significant crises in American government and scandalous incidents involving the President of the United States preceded the Iran-Contra scandal. In modern times these have included the U-2 incident, the Bay of Pigs crisis and the Watergate affair. These events provide valuable information about damage control strategies invoked by the Executive branch of government. They also place the Iran-Contra scandal in context, its substantive and procedural aspects cast against a background of past indiscretions by Presidents determined to avoid the conventional policy-making process and act unilaterally. This chapter not only considers political episodes which can be described as scandalous in nature, it also examines the damage control strategies used by a number of Presidents to address political concerns during times of crisis. Presidential credibility and the maintenance of presidential power are central to the functioning of the Executive branch of government. In the aftermath of crises and scandals, particularly those with the potential to cast negative aspersions on the Chief Executive, damage control strategies are important in convincing the American public that the national interest and the principle of democratic accountability has been protected and, if possible, advanced. An examination of modern political crisis and scandal permits comparative analysis of damage control efforts, and an evaluation of successful attempts to assuage public opinion, or alternatively, failed efforts which resulted in a loss of presidential credibility.