Phrasemakers at Work

"New Foundation." How did that unresounding term come to be Jimmy Carter's slogan for what his Administration is trying to achieve? Rick Hertzberg, a presidential speechwriter, thought it up about two months ago, but when he offered it at an informal meeting on Administration goals, the reaction was leaden. "Everyone said, 'Can't we come up with something better?' " one aide recalls. Apparently not. Indeed, some of the alternatives were clearly worse --"groundwork," for example, or "building blocks." And though "new" is one of the oldest terms in political rhetoric, repeatedly reappearing as in "New Deal" or "New Frontier," the Carter team played with the idea of "improved."

As the deadline for the State of the Union message neared, Hertzberg tried New Foundation, and it turned out to be, as they say, a slogan whose time had come. But for how long?

"I doubt if it will survive," Carter confessed at his press conference.

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