I disagree. He surrounded himself with evil people alright, but they weren’t smart.
Attorney General Edwin Meese for example, explaining why the Supreme Court’s Miranda decision (holding that subjects have a right to remain silent and have a lawyer present during questioning) is unnecessary: “You don’t have many suspects who are innocent of a crime. That’s contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not a suspect.”
This is the same guy who explained that no children in America are going hungry; people were going to soup kitchens because the food is free. He ultimately resigned after a series of scandals where he abused his power on a world-wide level for his own personal enrichment.
Watch Charlie Wilson’s War, about American involvement in the Afghan-Soviet war. Watch the ending where Gust Avrakotos thanks Wilson for supporting the fight.
Now realize that in real life, long before the end of the war Avrakotos had been banished to a do-nothing job. This because in his typically blunt fashion he described Oliver North and friends as a “lunatic fringe” and warned that their Iran arms-for-hostages deal - the proceeds going to terrorists in Central America - was illegal and wouldn’t remain secret and unprosecuted. He was right on all counts.
Pre-internet and 30 years ago, high-level incompetent corruption was easier to get away with. When caught, “We’re doing it for America!” was more easily believed.
