Thread by @WalterGilliam

Excellent @nytimes op by @KathaPollitt on how close we came to universal affordable child care before Nixon-vetoed 1971 CCDA.

Ed Zigler, architect of CCDA, died just 2 days before this article. He was my mentor. Here’s the story he told me.

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nytimes.com/2019/02/09/opi…

Zigler was the last living member of the 1965 Head Start planning committee & the first director of the Office of Child Development during Nixon Admin (1970-72).

Nixon tasked Zigler w/ writing the 1971 Comprehensive Child Development Act.

Note, Nixon wanted it!

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As I wrote in my mentor’s Yale obit just 4 days ago...

“Zigler worked arduously on the 1971 Comprehensive Child Development Bill, the most comprehensive and far-reaching vision of child care ever conceptualized...

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news.yale.edu/2019/02/08/edw…

“The law would have resulted in affordable child care options for all working American families based on a sliding fee scale. Although it passed both chambers of Congress, with an overwhelming 63-17 vote in the Senate, ultimately it was vetoed by President Nixon.”

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What could’ve led Nixon to WANT affordable child care for all working American parents, and then veto his own bill?!?!

Even Nixon wasn’t sure which way he’d land. He had his staff write 2 speeches, 1 for if he signed, 1 for if he vetoed.

So, why the 180, Nixon?

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Now bear in mind that child care was actually a strong plank in the GOP platform at this time, as explained in this excellent @newrepublic article by @nancylcohen.

Plus, Nixon had just created the Office of Child Development in 1970.

newrepublic.com/article/113009…

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And Nixon had just hosted the 1971 White House Conference on Children, focusing largely on child social-emotional development.

Here’s a pic of Nixon, Steven Hess (WH Aid), & Edward Zigler discussing the conference and it’s recs. Sure looks like Nixon likes babies.

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And according to Zigler, Nixon was all in for child care.

Women were making up a greater share of the US workforce, necessitating child care.

In Congress, Nixon sat on the House Committee on Education and Labor. So he knew about both children and the workforce.

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Early childhood assistance was socioecomically segregated, with no subsidized child care for the non-poor.

But, despite the clearly racist motives of the “Southern Strategy,” Nixon had an arguably decent record on civil rights and school desegregation.

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As Eisenhower’s VP, Nixon helped get the Civil Rights Act of 1957 through Congress. Although it got a lot of its teeth knocked out in the Senate, it was Nixon who convinced Eisenhower to sign it.

The law was seen by some as congressional affirmation of Brown v BOE.

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So, it actually did seem realistic that Nixon might sign the 1971 CCDA.

And after all, it was Nixon who asked Zigler and his staff to write it in the first place!

But as much as Nixon may have liked child care, there was one thing he really did *not* like...

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Communists.

In 1948, Nixon was a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee & co-sponsored the anti-communist Mundt-Nixon Bill. Later in the Senate he was a vocal opponent of communism.

If you wanted Nixon to hate something, just call it communist.

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And that’s exactly what Pat Buchanan did.

Buchanan was a very trusted Nixon advisor. An early hire for his presidential campaign as an opposition researcher, he accompanied Nixon on the campaign trail. After helping Nixon win, he became his Special Advisor.

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Buchanan also was/is a vocal paleoconservative — stressing traditional values, religious right views, nationalism, and small government. In other words, he strongly disliked the idea of women working outside the home.

Below is a quote. Strong feelings, huh?

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The Equal Rights Amendment, was making its way through Congress, and Title IX and the Women’s Education Equity Act were on their way.

Feminism was making massive gains. And that’s not what a paleocon wants to see.

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So, when the 1971 Comprehensive Child Development Act came along, this didn’t sit well with Buchanan. CCDA would’ve created high-quality, affordable child care options for all working families. Women could more easily be employed.

And we know where that leads!

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CCDA had a lot of steam behind it. It had flown through Congress & Nixon wanted it. And he had just moved Head Start from the Office of Economic Opportunity to his newly created Office of Child Development, signaling a desire to focus more on child development.

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And CCDA had vocal support from professional groups that supported children & families & also large evangelical Christian conventions w/ a strong presence in the South.

Nixon wanted universal child care, so did Congress, much of the GOP, & the Christian right.

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But Nixon relied a lot on Buchanan, his early hire for the campaign, the oppo researcher who told Nixon he knew how his base *really* felt — the confidant who hated the idea of women in the workforce and knew that Nixon hated communism.

So, he connected them.

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Buchanan whipped up opposition (he was an oppo researcher after all) in the form of anti-communism.

Child care was cast as a political ideology and tied to communism and all sorts of “un-American” notions.

Really?!? Caring for our babies is “un-American”?!?

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And it worked like a charm. After some convincing that his base would be angered, Nixon vetoed his own bill.

Want to hear for yourself exactly what the rhetoric sounded like? Watch this brief vid from “The Raising of America.”

vimeo.com/197959027

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Child care was used as a political tool to energize a political base by whipping up fears of communism during the Cold War.

Phyllis Schlafly joined Buchanan on this issue, and the ideology spread in a broader anti-feminism direction.

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And ever since that 1971 veto of the CCDA, American babies have suffered w/ under-resourced care, child care professionals woefully underpaid, and working American families struggling w/ cost and availability.

What could possibly be more “un-American” than that?

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If you want to read more about child care deserts that have continued as a result of the 1971 veto, I suggest the excellent resources of @USAChildCare.

Child care resource and referral agencies across our nation continue the struggle.

usa.childcareaware.org/advocacy-publi…

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In the 20+ years I worked with Ed Zigler, hardly a conversation ended without mention of the 1971 CCDA veto.

He never really got over how close we came to universal, affordable, comprehensive child care.

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(An “after the veto” thread to follow.)