"Neo-con" is not a catch-all term

[theboss]

I'm seeing a lot of people refer to the neo-cons in posts about Reagan. The neo-cons weren't a political factor for the most part of Reagan's time in office.

The neo-cons are former liberals who became conservatives with a foreign policy philosophy that is largely created to protect Israel. Reagan's core supporters (at least early on) were from the Buchanan/Novak/Will end of the party - Cold Warriors who saw Israel mostly as a pawn in a chess game with the USSR. The Reagan White House probably would have sold Israel out in a heartbeat if it could have hurt the Soviets.

The neo-cons foreign policy view is largely a post Cold War concept. The fact that they've converted Cheney and Rumsfeld to this view doesn't mean much in terms of the 80s.