By 1984, Chairman Rostenkowski began to hit his stride. He was praised for his role in drafting the 1984 Deficit Reduction Act, a three-year, $50 billion tax hike. During his 13 years as chairman, Rostenkowski grew to become larger than life, especially to Ways and Means colleagues. "He ran the committee the old-fashioned way, with loyalty, trust, and his word" said former congressman Mike Andrews of Texas. He was a consensus builder who commanded through his political judgment and his ability to make a deal. Not as much of an expert on the tax code as was a previous chairman Wilbur Mills, or one to lead with a light hand, such as Ullman, Rostenkowski built a staff of dedicated experts who were given broad leeway to shape legislation, leaving for himself the political judgments, and actions that were required to pass the proposals. "Is it good law"? was his directive to his aides. "I want people to be able to say, that son of a gun, he had some guts, he had some fortitude, he realized what you had to be in order to be a national legislator."