Chapter 6: The First Hundred Days
"If there's one thing Phil taught me, it's that the first hundred days of a Presidency are the most valuable. You're riding high in all the polls, you have a mandate from the people, and you have a mountain of political capital to spend. All of these can go up if you manage things well. If you don't, you never recover."- Joe Biden, 2008 interview.
Though Harts plans for his Presidency were far-reaching, he wanted to start small. The idea was to pass something non-controversial that all of Congress would either get behind, or look extremely petty in the eyes of the public and give their opponents plenty of campaign material. With the long game in mind, he set Brzezinski and Gavin on the plan for Vietnam. The two developed a pretty standard good cop/bad cop routine over time, but that was a way off. Hart needed a domestic win to solidify his Presidency in the eyes of the people.
Sargent Shriver proposed to him the Soup Kitchen Act. The bill, while not that ambitious, was a practical one: a fully organised federal program for the opening of homeless shelters, soup kitchens and food banks across the country. It was as basic as anti-poverty legislation could come, but that was exactly what got the attention of Hart, Inouye and Treasury Secretary Barr. It was a bill that no one could feasibly argue against without it sounding like they
wanted poor people to starve.
The Soup Kitchen Act of 1969 was proposed in April and passed by early May, giving Hart an early win and boosting his reputation with the public. This allowed Hart to focus on bringing out the more long-term plans for reform, particularly around transportation and housing. Inouye was given the task of assembling a policy committee within the White House to develop a series a comprehensive bills for both major issues. Katzenbach was finally given a licence to go full-bore with civil rights, and built up his own staff with an eye to properly enforcing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts.
Of course, there were other appointments that would have to be made as well. Hart wasn't ignorant of world affairs; he would have to find a way to not just extricate from Vietnam but also to keep America ahead in the Cold War. The best chance for this came from an unlikely source: Henry Kissinger. For all of his faults, Hart knew the man was a serious expert on foreign policy, and a possible detente with China got his attention. Secretary Brzeznski supported the idea as well, and began sending out feelers for a possible arrangement between the two countries.
"The Soup Kitchen Act wasn't transformative like Hart's transportation plans were, but it was a needed piece of legislation. The bill did something simple-provide subsidised food and water to low income earners-at a low cost to the federal government. There was some opposition on fiscal grounds, but by and large it had strong support."-Birch Bayh, 1987 interview
The Soup Kitchen Act sped through the House and Senate, aided by Hart bringing on Republicans at early notice. He did have to make some concessions of course, such as a trial programs in cities and counties before fully implementing the bill and tasking the establishment of food banks and soup kitchens to local community groups first, but it was worth it to override the Dixiecrats.
As for the Dixiecrats themselves, their power had taken a battering in November. Not only had George Wallace failed to deadlock the electoral college or allow Nixon to win; it had allowed Hart-a liberal northerner from Michigan-into the White House. They were despondent, and it showed in their attempts to oppose the SKA. They made a half-hearted attempt at filibustering the bill, but it fell through.
The Soup Kitchen Act was signed into law on April 17, 1969.
I am aware this has taken nearly a month, but I have had some other things happen here.
