Nation: Dueling over Defense

Carter and Reagan argue about who favors a stronger military

"We have strengthened every element of our strategic deterrent ... no potential enemy of the U.S. should anticipate for one moment a successful use of military power against our vital interests."

—President Carter

"Every single analysis of which I am aware directly contradicts this Administration's smug assertion that the U.S. is and will remain militarily superior, or at least 'second to none.' We are already second to one."

—Ronald Reagan

Scarcely pausing for the customary post-convention breather, the presidential candidates clashed last week over what could become a major issue of the campaign: national defense. The man who can convince the American public that he is right may well be the winner in what is already looking like a photo-finish horse race. The attention generated by the Democratic Convention collapsed Reagan's commanding lead in the polls (see chart).

Looking as earnest as recruits entering boot camp, Carter and Reagan, as well as Independent John Anderson, pledged to work for the strongest possible national defense in their speeches to the annual American Legion convention in Boston last week.

Reagan berated the Carter Administration for deserting the defense policies of "Harry Truman, John Kennedy and many contemporary leaders of the Democratic Party." He quoted President Kennedy to the effect that only by being No. 1 can the U.S. "stop the next war before it starts." Though Reagan was the clear favorite of the Legionnaires, they had no real complaint with any of the candidates.

Said one member: "They told us what we want to hear."

The next day, after being referred to by House Speaker Tip O'Neill as "Jimmy Roosev ... er ... Jimmy Carter," the President warned that security cannot be attained by "nostalgic or wishful thinking or by bravado." He got a big hand when he pledged: "If a nuclear arms race should be forced upon us, we will compete and compete successfully."

The speeches heated up the debate between Carter and Reagan over which party is responsible for the U.S.'s falling behind the Soviets in defense spending. Carter claims that defense expenditures were reduced 35% during the Nixon and Ford Administrations. That is basically correct, since outlays dropped dramatically as the Viet Nam War ended. But Republican White House budget requests were trimmed still further by the Democratic Congress.

Carter is also accurate when he contends that he has boosted defense spending 4% a year in real terms since he took office. But he skims over the fact that he campaigned vigorously in 1976 to trim the Pentagon budget, and early in his Administration boasted of cutting some $7 billion from the defense spending urged by Ford in his last year in office. As Reagan charges, Carter canceled such key weapons programs as the B-l bomber and the neutron warhead. In rebuttal, Carter claims that the B-l was obsolete and that his Administration is considering developing a more effective manned bomber.