Posted on 08/07/2018 2:06:32 AM PDT by iowamark
Paul Laxalt, the son of Basque immigrants who rose to political power as a Nevada governor, U.S. senator and close ally to Ronald Reagan, has died. He was 96. Laxalt died Monday at a health care facility in Virginia, according to the public relations firm The Ferraro Group.
The conservative Republican had a storied political career, including a brief run for president in 1987. But he described that bid as "the four most miserable months of my life," and in a 2000 interview with The Associated Press said he was happy to be out of politics.
In the interview that focused on a memoir he wrote, Laxalt said he wasn't trying to compete with his brother, the late, award-winning author Robert Laxalt, and planned to "hang onto my day work."
Robert's writing included "Sweet Promised Land," his classic story about the Laxalts' father, a Basque who left the Pyrenees in 1906 to herd sheep in the American West.
Paul Laxalt's memoir told of his youth and rapid rise to political prominence in Nevada, his years as a U.S. senator, Reagan confidante, presidential aspirant and, finally, legal adviser and lobbyist. He refused to write an insider's "kiss-and-tell" account of the Reagan years. He said he wouldn't retire on proceeds from the memoir because it avoided a salable mix of "gossip, sex or scandal."
Laxalt's successes in the political realm fit right into old-fashioned, log cabin American tradition. Born in Reno and raised in Carson City, Laxalt first learned the Basque language of his immigrant parents. But once he learned English, he got an earful at the small hotel-restaurant his parents ran on Carson's main street: lots of political talk, including bourbon-lubricated speeches from top elected officials who would show up for dinner and drinks...
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
RIP
RIP
The real deal, a Reagan Republican. Had RR listened to Nancy he would have been VP in 1981 and US would have changed significantly. RIP Senator Laxalt.
I really liked him. Nevada is a great state. Starkly beautiful. Fitting for a man and his heritage.
I remember Paul Laxalt nominating RR at the 1980 convention, a good speaker and would have been a far better choice for VP than the duplicitous Bush. We could have avoided the disastrous Bush presidencies had Reagan rightly selected Laxalt for president.
May he RIP.
Wow. He was old. Guess I thought he had already passed.
Yes, add that to the list of Ronaldus Magnus’ biggest mistakes.
- Nominating GHWB and not Laxalt, opening the door to decades of Deep State Bushism.
- Promising to nominate a woman to SCOTUS (who turned out to be a Feminist hag).
- Pulling the Marines out of Lebanon after that car bombing (which only emboldened the terrorists, eventually to the point of plotting 9-11).
- Getting schnookered by Congress on the amnesty deal.
Paul Laxalt: The man who should’ve been Reagan’s running mate instead of the execrable Bush family dynasty. RIP to a giant. I’m sorry he didn’t live long enough to see his grandson elected NV Governor in November.
Truly a wonderful person. Prayers to his family...
Amen. How the last 30 years would have been different. Rest In Peace to a great and good man.
Amen to that.
Reagan wasn't as sure he was going to win as we are in hindsight. He had to go with somebody who was strong with voters outside his own core constituency.
"In many ways, Laxalt is like a younger Reagan and from the same region," says one who knows both men well. "He brings nothing to the ticket that isn't already there." Source
It could have been worse, though.
Don Rumsfeld was also high on Reagan's list.
There should be a lot more posts in this thread!
RIP
I have a message for Adam on the passing of his grandfather, use your pain Adam, use it to tear Harry Reid’s bitchboy Steve Sleazak’s face off in November!!!
There were last minute negotiations with Ford and Henry Kissinger to name Ford the VP candidate with Kissinger controlling foreign and defense policy. Kissinger himself was ineligible to be President or VP because he was a naturalized citizen. Reagan finally saw that this would just be a mess, and asked George Bush at the last minute.
Yes, there should be. :-(
I remember friggin Mario Cuomo had a lot. SMH.
As soon as I heard I checked FR, there wasn’t even a thread yet. I thought well I’m sure it will be posted in the morning and more people will see it then.....
Hateful figures tend to attract more replies than beloved ones these days. I think when Ted the Swimmer died, it almost broke FR (or at least the mods probably felt like committing suicide having to do clean-up). But, the lack of responses in this thread is dreadful. This is the man who might’ve ended up (should have) as President. With a President Laxalt, Bubba the Rapist and the Bitcheress of Benghazi would never have gotten to the White House (at least not in 1992).
Just a wild guess, but Laxalt might’ve picked Bob Dole (who would still likely have been Senate leader) for VP (since Bush, Sr. might’ve not landed in any important position in the ‘80s, and would’ve been out of the running), and Dole would’ve been defending 16 years of positive GOP change - and he may very well have won even with the Dems claiming “party fatigue” (that didn’t work in 1948 with the GOP). Carried that clear to 2005 - 24 years of GOP control.
We’d have had many of the leftists cleared out of the judiciary - no insanity like Obergefell or the like (although the key vote of Kennedy wouldn’t have mattered, since it probably would’ve been lucky to muster 2 votes tops at SCOTUS).
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