Lockheed had the F-117A about ready to begin flight testing when Reagan entered office. The plane made its first flight on June 18, 1981, not too long after Reagan entered office. Before that, Lockheed had developed and test flown a couple HAVE BLUE proof of concept vehicles. Both of them were lost during test flights.
At the same time, Northrup was working on stealth technology. During Project Harvey, they proposed the XST but it was never built beyond an RCS test model. Lockheed's approach was proven superior on the radar test range and that lead to the HAVE BLUE being built. Northrup did build and fly the TACIT BLUE, an even more advanced and uglier plane than the HAVE BLUE. It incorporated technology that was more sophisticated than what Lockheed was using to build the F-117A.
There are some good links about Northrup's stealth history at the linked site.
Current Events » in reply to Not exactly
Northrup had the stealth bomber contract all along