October 9, 1983: The Resignation of Secretary James Watt

October 9, 1983: James Watt resigns as U.S. Secretary of the Interior. To say that this was too long in coming is erroneous, simply because he never should have had the job in the first place.

Born on January 31, 1938 in Lusk, Wyoming, he became a lawyer, and an aide to Senator Millard Simpson of Wyoming, whose son Alan also became a Senator. He served as Secretary to the right-wing Natural Resources Committee and Environmental Pollution Advisory Panel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He served in the U.S. Department of the Interior under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. When Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980, he appointed Watt to be Secretary of the Interior. On paper, he was qualified for the job.

On May 7, 1982, on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Carson did a fantastic impersonation of Reagan, with an actor standing in for James A. Baker III, then the White House Chief of Staff. (The actor looked nothing like Baker, but that didn't matter.) It turned into a variation of the Abbott & Costello "Who's On First?" routine. It involved Watt, with whom Reagan would be swimming at the YMCA, or "The Y"; Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat; and a fictional Chinese leader named Hu:

Baker: Mr. President, Hu is on the phone.

Reagan: Well, I don't know, Jim, who is on the phone?
Baker: Yes, sir.
Reagan: That Arafat guy is on the phone?
Baker: Who?

Reagan: What?

Together: Swimming, tomorrow at the Y!

That was funny. Watt was not funny. He was the worst Secretary the Department ever had, and it isn't even close. He proposed that 80 million acres of undeveloped land in the U.S. be opened for drilling and mining by the year 2000. The area leased to coal mining quintupled during his term. He boasted that he leased "a billion acres" of coastal waters, even though only a small portion of that area would ever be drilled.

Environmental groups accused Watt of reducing funding for environmental programs, restructuring the department to decrease federal regulatory power, easing regulations of oil and mining, and recommending lease of wilderness and shore lands to explore and develop oil and gas.

It was all for money, for the corporations that fund Republican political campaigns. Watt wanted to get them what he could, while he could -- and not just because he knew that, at most, he would be in office for 8 years. He was also an "evangelical" "Christian": Speaking before Congress, when asked why he would try to preserve more land and waters for future generations, he said, "I do not know how many future generations we can count on before the Lord returns."

And, like so many other evangelicals, he was a bigot. On January 18, 1983, he was interviewed by the Satellite Program Network, and he said, "If you want an example of the failure of socialism, don't go to Russia, come to America and go to the Indian reservations." Native American groups were furious. What nobody yet knew is that, when it came to bigotry, Watt was just getting warmed up.

As Secretary of the Interior, he was in charge of maintaining the National Mall, and setting up the annual 4th of July concert there. For the last few years, there had been appearances by rock groups. Watt said that rock hands that had performed there in 1981 and 1982 had "encouraged drinking and drug use," and "attracted the wrong element."

The Beach Boys had previously played the show, and were scheduled to do so again, but Watt vetoed this choice. His choice? Las Vegas showman Wayne Newton. Newton was, and (he is still alive as of October 9, 2022) remains, a great entertainer. He also was, and remains, a heavy Republican donor. So that may have been a part of it.

If Watt knew anything about rock and roll, he might have known that Beach Boys lead singer Mike Love is also a hardcore Republican, as is bass guitarist Bruce Johnston -- and that's one of the things had caused friction between the band members. On one side, there was Love and Johnston. On the other side, there was Love's cousin, the band's founder, keyboard player, and former bassist Brian Wilson; Wilson's brothers, lead guitarist Carl and drummer Dennis; and rhythm guitarist Al Jardine, who had been Brian's best friend.

It should be said that the Beach Boys had their issues with booze and drugs. Indeed, at the end of the year, Dennis would get drunk, fall off his boat, and drown. Being the most conservative member of the band, Mike suspected that the real reason Watt didn't want the band for the Mall show was that the Soviet Union invited the band to visit and perform in 1978. Love said, "Obviously, they did not feel that the group attracted the wrong element."

What Watt apparently didn't know was that both Ronald and Nancy Reagan said they were Beach Boys fans, and Vice President George H.W. Bush said, "They're my friends, and I like their music."

On September 21, Watt finally went too far. He addressed a breakfast in Washington, held by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the most conservative organizations in America. He attacked the media, Congress, and "liberal Democrats."

He also compared affirmative action -- which, as few people realize, has helped more white women than it has black people -- to the diversity on a coal leasing panel at DOI: "I have three Democrats, two Republicans, every kind of mix you can have. I have a black, a woman, two Jews, and a cripple. And we have talent."

The live audience laughed. Of course they did. But on the outside, the reaction was overwhelming: People from coast to coast were furious, and demanded Watt's resignation.

One of the commission members, Richard Gordon, a professor at Penn State, was Jewish, and had also lost the use of an arm. so he was one of the "two Jews" and the "cripple." He said he was "disturbed" by Watt's remarks. Julia Walsh, the woman on the panel, said, "I resent it being implied that I am the token woman, because I have a 30-year background in investment and finance."

The commission's chairman was David Linowes, an economics professor at the University of Illinois. He was Jewish, and said, "I know he has a sense of humor," adding, "If the remarks were made by a bigot, I would have been offended. His track record shows a wholesome record in dealing with other people."

This had already been proven to be a lie. Linowes didn't help matters by saying, off the cuff, "Maybe the Secretary thinks I'm mentally handicapped."

Reagan did not need this. This remark came 3 weeks after the Soviet Union shot down a Korean airliner, and Cold War tensions were as high as they had ever been since the Cuban Missile Crisis 21 years earlier. The economy was finally beginning to recover, but many people weren't feeling it yet. Several other officials in his Administration were under investigation.

And, in a little more than a year, he would have to face the voters for re-election -- and, contrary to what the Reagan myth-drivers, both in 1984 and in the 21st Century, would have you believe, in the early Autumn of 1983, Ronald Reagan was not overwhelmingly popular.

From December 1981 to October 1983, he never had an approval rating of over 50 percent. From April 1982 to August 1983, his disapproval rating was higher. In a poll ending on January 31, 1983, with unemployment at 11 percent, he bottomed out: 56 percent disapproval, 35 percent approval. And in one ending on October 10, which included the day of Watt's resignation, his approval rating was only slightly ahead, 45-44.

Watt announced his resignation on October 9, taking effect on November 8. He was succeeded by William P. Clark Jr., who had been Reagan's National Security Adviser. He served out the remainder of the 1st term, and Donald P. Hodel, formerly Secretary of Energy, served at Interior through Reagan's 2nd term. Neither Clark nor Hodel generated anywhere near the controversy that Watt did.

Reagan personally called the Beach Boys' manager, and invited the band to play the National Mall on July 4, 1984. It was too late for Dennis, though, and Brian led a tearful tribute to him. Riding an improved economy, and a wave of patriotism from that holiday through the Olympics that started in Los Angeles in the Summer of '84, Reagan's approval rating reached 55 percent in late January 1984, stayed roughly there through the election on November 6, and peaked at 68 in mid-January 1985, at the time of his 2nd Inauguration.

Like so many other public officials before and since, as soon as he was legally able to do so, Watt became a lobbyist, targeting the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Unlike many Reagan officials, who fell under criminal investigation while still in office (or, at least, while Reagan was), Watt ended up being charged for things he did afterward. In 1995, he was indicted on 18 felony counts, relating to his lobbying. He made a deal, pleading guilty to 1 misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 5 years' probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine.

The most wacko member, if not the worst, of a wacko Administration, James G. Watt retired to the suburbs of Phoenix. As of October 9, 2022, he is still alive. (UPDATE: He died on May 27, 2023.)

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October 9, 1983 was a Sunday. Both baseball Leagues' Pennants had been won the day before: The American League's by the Baltimore Orioles, beating the Chicago White Sox;  and the National League's by the Philadelphia Phillies, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both were won 3 games to 1.

These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 17-13 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to the Cleveland Browns, 10-7 at Shea Stadium.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the New England Patriots, 12-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The New Orleans Saints beat their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, 19-17 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-24 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 38-35 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears, 23-14 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers, 38-14 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Washington Redskins beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 38-14 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Houston Oilers, 26-14 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 21-20 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, 10-7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 28-21 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-14 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

The NBA season hadn't started yet, but there were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The Boston Bruins beat their neighbors, the Hartford Whalers, 4-1 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Washington Capitals, 5-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Black Hawks beat their arch-rivals, the Detroit Red Wings, 6-4 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets played to a tie, 1-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Denver. Jari Kurri scored the winning goal with 1:10 left in overtime.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.