Page 132 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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REHNQUIST, WILLIAM H.
Jimmy Carter, whose term was dogged by inflation, unemployment, and the Iran
hostage situation. Reagan won the race by attacking Carter's losing record. A
few days after his inauguration, the hostages were freed. It was later reported
that Reagan, advised by key military personnel, had given permission for the
hostages to be traded in exchange for arms.
Reagan's movie savvy and speaking talents helped him impress the nation.
He was at ease in front of the camera and often sought it out. Also his ability
to put the nation at ease during times of crisis, such as the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) spaceship disaster of the Challenger, won
him praise from Americans.
He became known as the "Teflon President" because of his ability to com-
municate in a reassuring way, no matter what the circumstances, and any blame
and criticism did not last long. He was easily reelected in 1984.
The event that Reagan is most likely to be remembered for was his work with
former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to negotiate the Intermediate-
Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, designed to reduce the nuclear war arsenals of
both nations.

SOURCES: Leonard Levy and Louis Fisher, Encyclopedia of the American Presidency,
1994; Peter B. Levy, Encyclopedia of the Reagan-Bush Years, 1996.
Jacqueline Nash Gifford

REHNQUIST, WILLIAM H. (1924- ) served as associate justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court from 1971 until 1986, when he was appointed the nation's 16th
chief justice. A conservative, Rehnquist generally took an unsympathetic view
of press freedoms. In the years he was associate justice, he voted for the First
Amendment only 21 percent of the time, which is one of the lowest figures for
any justice who ever served on the Court. He has become more supportive of
the amendment, but only slightly so, in his years as chief justice.
He was the lone dissenter in Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia (448 U.S.
555), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the public and the press have the
right to attend trials. Neither the First nor the Sixth Amendment requires public
access to courts, he said, although the guarantee of the Sixth Amendment is to
"a speedy and public trial."
Rehnquist wrote for the majority in Time v. Firestone (424 U.S. 448), in
which the Court decided Time magazine was not entitled to protection under
the "actual malice" standards by New York Times v. Sullivan and subsequent
cases. The Court held that Mary Alice Firestone was not a public figure, even
though she held several press conferences during her divorce trial.
An exception to Rehnquist's rulings against the press came in Hustler Mag-
azine v. Falwell (485 U.S. 46). Rehnquist wrote for a unanimous Court that
Rev. Jerry Falwell was not entitled to damages for emotional distress for a
parody that portrayed the nationally known minister as having his first sexual
experience with his mother in an outhouse while drunk. "At the heart of the