The new president was so well known to be a fervent opponent of the speculation on Wall Street that in the week of his nomination to the Republican candidacy, the stock market had gone down 7 percent. Like all of Washington, he faced a quandary. While he believed that the market was now living in a world of fantasy, the underlying economy was healthy and doing well. It was almost impossible to craft his comments in such a way as to talk the stock market back to earth without at the same time damaging the economy and laying himself open to accusations of undermining the American dream.
