Having a minority in the House would normally have rendered a party useless against the majority party. Having a minority in the Senate would normally give them some small measure of power against a majority party. Having a minority with the "
supply and confidence" of a third party put them half-way between in control, and locked out of control. The new third party on the block, the National Conservatives, intended to pull the Republicans to the right, and their leader Jesse Helms threatened to pull out if the Republicans didn't give them what they wanted in terms of legislation.
While much of the Republican-National Conservative legislation was based on cutting taxes (which only passed in small doses), gutting welfare programs (which was stonewalled by the Democratic House), and increasing military spending (which did pass through with the help of Democrats who wanted more pork for their states and districts) and other right-wing demands, it had a hard time getting through. Their demands were unpopular in Congress and to most voters. The President offered little help. In the face of repeated failures to extract concessions from the Republicans, Helms demanded during a private meeting with the Senate Republicans a constitutional amendment as a price for containing their "
coalition".
To balance out the Equal Rights Amendment, which Helms openly degraded as "
discrimination against good and proper women" and a product of the "
secular, pro-abortion, anti-family, and anti-god leftist elite" there should be a Values Amendment. One barring homosexuality from being practiced or promoted in any form, enshrining a ban of abortion for any reason (including rape, incest, or danger to the mother: something the court had decided was improper as at times an abortion might be the only way to save a woman's life), and explicitly describing marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Senate Majority Leader Robert Taft Jr. refused to entertain Helms' outrageous demands any more and told him "
either shut up and behave or get out you SOB!"
Helms announced the next day the Senate coalition, lasting a whole five months and twenty-two days, was over. The remainder of the two years would have the National Conservatives "
fighting tooth in nail to put God back in government, Christ in our schools, and faith back in our souls", at least according to Helms. Him and his party intended to fight every battle as if it were their last, and intended to treat moderation and compromise as heretical ideas pushed on them by their enemies.
Jesse Helms overestimated his power. Yes, fifteen seats out of one hundred was a lot for a third party, and he controlled his fourteen and fifteen man caucus extremely well for the first few years. But his scorched earth tactics quickly alienated him from the Republicans, whom he could have pushed rightward with some more quiet and gracious maneuvering. His fellow Senators on both sides of the aisle hated him for a plethora of reasons, the biggest being his demeanor.
Whatever you said about Jesse Helms, you couldn't say he was a nice or a popular man among his colleagues. When John Bell Williams died and his replacement Rubel Phillips (a Republican appointed by Governor Evers) arrived, Helms attacked him as not deserving of that seat, having gained it through illicit means (what kind he never said), and tried to have him not seated by the whole Senate. His plot was foiled when the Democrats refused to back him up on the issue, more then content in whittling down the NCP caucus and embarrassing Helms at the some time.
John Bell Williams was one of the original 14 NCP members in the Senate, a lifelong Democrat who lost the 1978 Senate primary in Mississippi and ran as an Independent instead. After his victory and two years on the political outskirts, he sided with the National Conservative Party after a little plying by Helms, and was the first to leave it. His death tremendously hurt the NCP as one of their old guards was now dead, and one of the few forces that was restraining the party hardliners was now gone.
Williams had combated those who wanted obstruct both majors parties regardless of what issue it was. Williams just wanted to pursue a conservative agenda via wheeling and dealing, as had been done since the first Congress. But his style was the old one, one of small victories via compromise and politicking. But a new generation of right-wingers emerged who didn't want old politics, they wanted something new, something more moral and holy rather then the muck of same-old, same-old politics.
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As the NCP moved away from pulling the Republicans to the right, and entered full obstruction mode, they actually helped out their enemies. While the GOP was vigorously attacked by the National Conservatives, they managed to deftly pull out victory after victory even if it wasn't particularly conservative. A big reason for that was the President himself: Roy Cohn was in many ways the ultimate foil to the NCP. While right-wing, he had no particular train of thought, or conservative ideology he trumpeted. Whatever was accomplished or finished during his time in office was a means to an end, a way to continue staying in power and achieving more success. That sort of governance was anathema to the base of the NCP, who held that
conservatism should come first, not political self-preservation that Washington insiders did.
Cohn was seen as everything they hated: a longtime political insider, a closeted homosexual, and a man with no principles other then "
stay in power at all costs." The right-wing base they cultivated loathed the man with a personal ferocity he just brushed off. He almost seemed above them, as if they were too insignificant to be noticed, a perception that fed into their ravenous hatred and opposition to him.
A good example of how the National Conservatives worked to undermine the Cohn Administration and failed is by looking at his Supreme Court appointees. Unlike MacBride, who only appointed one man to the Court, Cohn managed two appointments during his first term. First was Robert Heron Bork, who he nominated after the resignation of Potter Stewart on December 10th, 1981. The Democratic control of the Senate, and the Judiciary, allowed them to examine and pass the Circuit Judge after a tough, but fair, examination. The Democrats treated Cohn respectfully if suspiciously, the years of rumors of him coloring some perceptions.
Cohn's second appointment to the court, this time to replace Archibald Cox (who died of pneumonia in early 1983), went much rougher. Originally Cohn planned to appoint Elliot Richardson, on advice from several cabinet members and former President MacBride, who kept some of his fingers in the political waters from his home in Vermont. He was supported by several members of Congress, from both parties, and should have easily passed through. Instead, Senate Judiciary Chairman Lucien DiFazio (NC-CT) would not allow hearings for Richardson. Allegedly it was due to his competence, and lack of experience as a judge. Majority Leader Taft came to Cohn and told him what was really going on, it was Helms who was ordering DiFazio to obstruct Cohn until "
Helms is personally asked whom he thinks is best qualified for the Court." Apparently Helms felt insulted that he wasn't personally asked by the President who he thought was most qualified for the court.
Instead of giving Helms the satisfaction of forcing the President on his level, he refused to meet with Helms and stuck out with his nomination of Richardson. Eventually Richardson asked to be withdrawn, uncomfortable with the circus regarding his nomination. Cohn was embarrassed and scrambled to find a new man. He had a few choices before him, but waited until the Senate coalition ended and moved to appoint someone substantially different. On advice from Utah Governor Monson, Cohn moved to appoint Utah District Judge Orrin Hatch to the Supreme Court.
Hatch would prove to be an acceptable enough choice that the new Judiciary Chairman pushed him through the Committee, and he was passed on a mostly party-line vote, nearly every Republican and National Conservative voting aye, nearly every Democrat voting nay. One of the primary motives of Hatch's appointment was the fear that the western conservatives that had been split behind MacBride and Jackson in 1980 might go uniformly for whoever the NCP candidate was in 1984 and possibly later years. The loss of states like Utah and Wyoming might not hurt too much electorally, but losing more Senators and representatives to the NCP (a fear expounded to Cohn by Monson and some other Western Republicans) and to the Democrats (who would win among a split right-wing field) could make Congressional majorities difficult, if not outright impossible.
Hatch would be President Cohn's longest serving appointment, eventually becoming the senior-most Justice on the bench. He lead the courts right-wing throughout his tenure and served as a very vocal watchdog for religious rights, civil liberties, free-speech advocates, and intellectual property rights. He also served as the main opposition to the gay rights, drug legalization, and the liberalization of other "
victimless crimes"
