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Given the dire state of the economy facing Ronald Reagan when he assumed the Presidency, it would have been understandable had he focused exclusively on those challenges. But he came to office with a broad agenda, and there were many important problems to solve. One that was of particular importance to the President was the how well the government served the people. He firmly believed that the government should work for the people, not the other way around. Governor and then President Reagan thought of the people as his boss, who, by electing him, had hired him to do the job.
Throughout his career, Ronald Reagan was fond of telling true stories about the illogical and often mind-boggling – not to mention exasperating – inefficiency of the Federal bureaucracy. Although he did so with a smile, underlying the story-telling was a deep frustration. He vowed that if he ever had an opportunity to do something about it, he would. And he did. Not only did his Administration reduce the burden of excessive, redundant and unnecessary paperwork on businesses working with the government, it made changes that affected real people on a daily basis. When President Reagan took office, it took seven weeks to get a Social Security card and 43 days to get a passport. By the time he left, either one – or both – could be had in just 10 days