President Nixon, Senator Kennedy, & the Battle for the Health Reform Spotlight

• In Event: Presidents and Legislatures: A Complicated Relationship

Abstract

In this paper I explore how President Richard Nixon’s major health care policies – both 1971’s National Health Insurance Partnership plan and 1974’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan -- were formulated, rolled out, and communicated to the public in large part in response to the health care proposals and political activities of Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Using original archival research from the Nixon Presidential Library, I demonstrate that at every turn, the Nixon team’s internal discussion of health care was significantly motivated and shaped by its efforts to take any credit for dealing with this policy sphere away from Kennedy and to attack the senator, steering attention from his health initiatives toward the president’s. I then engage in a content analysis of major news sources of the era to determine the extent to which the Nixon administration was effective at steering health coverage away from the Massachusetts senator and toward the president over time. Overall, my research indicates the Nixon team faced significant communications challenges in seeking to build public support for its health proposals and obtain favorable news coverage, in contrast to what we might expect if their health plan development had been less reactionary. I then use this case to shed light on current health care policy debates, particularly how contemporary politicians who define their health care stances primarily in opposition to the Affordable Care Act or Medicare for All proposals, rather than in support of a more positive, independent health care agenda, have found difficulty constructing persuasive public messaging about their positions and gaining traction in public debates.

Author

• Jennifer Hopper, Southern Connecticut State University