The Reagan Diaries

by Ronald Reagan

  [Light workload; photo sessions; meeting with Shultz; interview with People magazine; left for Camp David.]

  Saturday, January 12–Sunday, January 13

  Got a call on Sat. that David Murdock’s wife Gabrielle 43 yrs. old died Sat. afternoon of Cancer. Nancy & I reached him by phone about 10 P.M. our time. What does one say? When we got back to Wash. the snow was completely gone & the weather quite mild. Mermie is here.

  Monday, January 14

  Not bad for a Monday—climate good too, temperature up & bright sun.

  Patti called about her visit here for the inaugural. She’ll get in Sun. & be on hand for the big doings on Mon. Paul can’t come. She says they can’t afford for him to give up a couple of day’s pay.

  Visit by P.M. Martens & Foreign Minister Tinderman of Belgium. Big issue was whether Belgium will hold off deploying cruise missiles as their part of the ’79 agreement with NATO. They put up quite a pitch for us to approve delay. I know they both favor deployment but don’t have the backing of their Parliament. I stood firm on their agreement to deploy. I’m sure this is what, in reality they wanted me to do. Now they can tell their parliament they tried & I said no.

  [Visits from Glamour magazine’s annual honorees; talked with Kay R. Whitmore, president of Eastman Kodak. The president noted, “He’s been most helpful to us”; Paul Gottlieb, publisher of Michael K. Evans’s book People and Power: Portraits from the Federal Village; LaVell Edwards, coach of Brigham Young football team.]

  Then after dinner it was off to open at Corcoran Gallery Mike Evans’s exhibit. Maureen went with us. It was a case of saying a few words to a crowd of more than 1,000 & then declaring the exhibit open & home to bed.

  [Tuesday, January 15: met with Council for a Black Economic Agenda, with leaders of a wide array of business groups; cabinet meeting heard report on consolidating government departments; ambassadorial formalities; discussion of trade imbalance with CEO of Caterpillar; appearance at reception for Hoover Institution.]

  Wednesday, January 16

  N.S.C. briefing—I made a decision to equip several planes with equipment capable of joining Cuban radio & TV. We may never use them—I hope not. But we intend to start Radio Marti—broadcasting truth to Cuba. We intend to offer Castro a channel upon which he is free to broadcast to our people. But we’ll also tell him that if he jams our radio & (as he has threatened) interferes with our commercial stations we’ll black out Cuban TV & radio. We must be prepared to carry that out instantly.

  Greeted & thanked our entire Geneva (Soviet talks) delegation. Then I dropped by a meeting of the “Committee of The Next Agenda.” Surprisingly this was a group representative of a number of Inst’s. from Brookings to Hoover etc. They have come up with an agenda for our 2nd term that is pretty basic to what I want to do. Then over to E.O.B. to speak to Nat. Assn. of Republican Mayors who are here for the Nat. Conf. of Mayors.

  And upstairs early to work on Inaugural address which I think I’ve finally finished.

  Thursday, January 17

  Sent Ambas. Goodby on his way to Stockholm for the continuing European peace talks. He says, strangely enough the Eastern Block Nations are getting bolder & bolder about siding with the West & disagreeing with the Soviets.

  [Interviewed by two journalists; lunch with Vice President Bush; uneventful cabinet meeting, except “Dave S. telling us we will come in with about $50 Bil. in cuts for the ’86 budget”; met Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, then new members of W.H. press corps; reception for Citizens for America.]

  Mike, Colleen, Cameron & Ashley arrived—here for the inaugural.

  Friday, January 18

  Called Pvt. Initiative to tell them about a young Black man interviewed on TV last nite in hospital. He rescued a 10 yr. old boy from a man holding him with a 12 inch knife at his throat. Thomas Locks—the rescuer, 25 yrs. old is an unemployed landscaper. He will have a job when he gets out of the hospital with a nursery in Alexandria. I’ve just called him & the man who has the job for him.

  (N.S.P.G. meeting—settled an action we’ll take immediately against Iran if the Hisballah terrorists carry out their threat to punish as spies the 5 Americans they are holding in Lebanon. It’s time to serve notice we won’t hold still for their barbarism.)

  Met with George S.—we have a problem with General Ed Rowny (retired). We’ve named the 3 chief negotiators in the arms talks but we want Ed—who headed up the last negotiations to stay here as a special advisor to me & George. He sees this as a demotion. I met with him & did my best to convince it was nothing of the kind—that we need him & his expertise right here when these talks begin again. I’m not sure I convinced him.

  Mermie has arrived & Dennis. Also Dick Davis’s family. Tonite the 1st of the inaugural events. A show & fireworks down on the ellipse. It was wonderful. There were 100’s of young people—volunteers from all over the country. I puddled up at their obvious patriotism & enthusiasm.

  Saturday, January 19

  This morning went down in the Rose Garden with Cameron & Ashley & we built a snowman. I’ll bet that’s the 1st snowman ever to inhabit the R.G.

  A wonderful Luncheon hosted by the Annenbergs & Tuttles. It was at Blair house & was like a replay of New Years—all our friends plus some Cabinet & staff (who are also friends). Back at the W.H. spoke briefly to the Inaugural Trust—the people who raise the money to fund the events.

  Tonite the big Inaugural Gala—produced by Frank Sinatra. It was a smash—a cast of 52 plus the Naval Academy chorus.

  Sunday, January 20

  Up for the traditional prayer service at the Nat. Cathedral. Billy Graham preached the sermon & it was as always inspirational. Back to the W.H. where George & I both took our oaths as the Const. requires. Then all our friends & family were here for a buffet. Later in the afternoon entertained the cast of last nights gala & some others. Late in day members of Inaugural Committee came to me about canceling tomorrow’s parade & moving the ceremony into the Rotunda of the Capitol. The weather with wind chill factor is predicted to be more than 20 below zero. At the temp. exposed skin surface is subject to frostbite in about 15 mins. There is no way we should inflict this risk on all the people who would have to be out in the cold for hours.

  King Hussein called with Congratulations. The Super bowl was won by S.F. & I flipped the coin on live TV.

  Monday, January 21

  The big but very cold day—below zero early morning without factoring in the wind chill. We made the right decision about canceling the parade & moving the ceremony into the rotunda. First stop was St. John’s Church. Learned that Congressman Gillis Long (LA.) died last night in his sleep—heart failure. Back to the W.H. for a family photo then on to the Capitol with Tip O’Neill & Mac Mathias as escorts. About 1000 people in the rotunda. When the ceremony & my inaugural address were over we moved into Statuary Hall for the Congressional lunch. Back to the W.H. & we helicoptered out to Capitol Center where the thousands of paraders from 50 states were gathered all in their uniforms & regalia. A tremendous job had been done of putting things together—just overnight. We & the Bushes & Ron Walker (Chmn.) were on what would have been the final float in the parade. Those marvelous young people really had an enthusiastic time. The All American band put together of bands from all over the co. provided music & a good time was had by all.

  Back at the W.H. we met the 50 state parade marshals. At lunch Tip told me privately he was very conscious of the fact that I had received 59% of the vote.

  Then 11 Inaugural balls to attend & we did them all—11 of them. At almost all we were supposed to (and did) dance about a minute. Except for 1 orchestra they all played very slow music. I figure they were being nice—or thought they were because of my age.

  Tuesday, January 22

  Back to work. A late start 10 A.M.—Phoned & addressed about 71,000 Right to Life people down on the Ellipse. Then met with our arms negotiators. Told them we wanted a good agreement or no agreement. Then a meeting with top Congressional leadership
of both parties. There seemed to be a better relationship all around—several remarked about it to me afterward.

  Met with “Right to Life Leaders.” Thanks to modern science (ultra-sound) they have filmed inside the womb a baby being aborted. The Dr. responsible had performed 10,000 abortions—this turned him around. He is now anti-abortion activist. I scheduled a showing for tonite. In the meantime had a reception for about 400 of the people—volunteers who served on the inaugural committee. The movie (28 minutes) was most impressive & how anyone could deny that the fetus is a living human being is beyond me.

  [Wednesday, January 23: Baker nomination going smoothly through Congress; report of National Guard plane lost on training mission in Honduras; visit from Miss America; interviewed by Helen Thomas of UPI and Mike Putzel of AP; lunch with directors of inaugural; met with team planning summit in Bonn, West Germany, for May; meeting with Shultz and McFarlane. Thursday, January 24: visit from Italian defense minister, former prime minister Giovanni Spadolini; addressed meeting of Latin American legislators; lunch with Vice President Bush, who was planning trip to Africa and Brazil; meeting with Malcolm Baldrige on consolidating Department of Commerce and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, commented, “I know I have to come up with an answer soon but I’ve got to listen to some others—this subject really has 2 sides”; Cabinet Council meeting to hear report on making U.S. industry more competitive; greeted Special Olympics competitor, then karate instructor of son Ron; videotapings.]

  Friday, January 25

  Don Regan & I met to talk about the transfer—him to Chf. of Staff. We are in agreement about some personnel changes & he wants to alter the chain of command a little to simplify it. I agree. He’s also completely in agreement that we don’t make any change with regard to Jim Brady. I addressed the Exec. Forum at Constitution Hall. This is an annual affair attended by all W.H. top staff & Cabinet. They were really Gung Ho—the execs from all the depts. George S. & Bud & I met to talk about the Middle East. The problem is to get the moderate Arabs moving toward peace. Their problem is fear of Syria. Just recently a top P.L.O. person openly spoke of peace—he’s dead now.

  No Camp D. this week so I went upstairs early & did some housekeeping.

  Tomorrow the radio program starts up again.

  [Saturday, January 26: radiocast; live radio interview followed; answered mail from constituents; Alfalfa Club dinner. Sunday, January 27: continued answering letters; visit from Cliff White, 1968 campaign manager and conservative activist, encouraging administration to concentrate on major issues.]

  Monday, January 28

  Set the fellows in motion about a news story: an El Salvador young lady who entered the country illegally but who now has an Am. husband & baby is slated for deportation. I want it stopped. We shouldn’t be breaking up families.

  A succession of meetings—first with national trade assn. leaders. They are ready to turn their constituents on in support of our Budget reductions. An issues briefing lunch—nothing out of the ordinary. Then Repub. members of Sen. Finance Comm. & Reps. members of House Ways & Means. This meeting was on the tax simplification plan. It was worthwhile. Finally a meeting with Trent Lotts Whip organization. This was a good one mainly on budget reductions. I phoned Berke Breathed—cartoonist who does Bloom County. He obviously thought I was calling to bitch about something. I called to thank him for the Sunday strip where he had Nancy in the strip looking lovely. He’s sending me the original.

  Tuesday, January 29

  A long NSC session to decide what degree of violation of SALT II provisions by the Soviets we would report to the Congress. I don’t think there is any question there have been violations but could we prove it in court. Most of our reports will refer to them as almost positive violations.

  Foreign Minister from Hungary was in briefing. Hungary is a target for friendly efforts to woo them a little away from the Soviets. They don’t seem too unwilling. Had a good meeting with 3 controversial members of the Civil Rts. Commission—my appointees Linda Chavez, Morris Abrams, & Clarence Pendleton—an Hispanic, a Jew & a Black in that order. All 3 are solid as a rock & while totally dedicated to civil rights they are opposed to quotas which actually bring on reverse discrimination.

  A long Cabinet meeting—with a fine report on our success in improving govt. management but a long fruitless discussion of the farm debt problem. A lot of farmers are going to go belly up & there really isn’t anything we can do about it. A taping session & tonite a dinner for the new freshman class in Congress & their wives & husbands. It was a nice affair & I think most if not all went away with a leaning toward bi-partisanship.

  Wednesday, January 30

  F.M. Rabin of Israel came in. I was able to tell him we are asking Congress for $1.8 bil. in Foreign Mil. Sales for his country—a sizeable increase. I tried to impress on him why we feel we must sell weapons to the moderate Arab States if we are to ever bring them around to making permanent peace with Israel. It isn’t an easy sell even when I tell them we’ll never let Israel lose its qualitative edge.

  Did a Q&A with a bi-partisan roomful of Sen’s. on the Arms talks, M.X. etc. I hope we’re making them realize we can’t unilaterally disarm & hope to persuade the Soviets to enter into arms reductions talks.

  Jeanne Kirkpatrick came in—this was D-day. She didn’t feel she could do the job I wanted her to take & wants to return to academia. She has a lifetime endowed chair at Georgetown U. Sorry to see her go & the conservatives who worry that I’ll go soft will lose a lot of sleep.

  [Thursday, January 31: Annual Prayer Breakfast; met with House Armed Services Committee; lunch with Vice President Bush; considered plan for two-year trial of line-item veto; decided against Shultz’s advice to maintain U.N. ambassador as a cabinet-level position; received photo album of whistlestop tour of Ohio; report that Edwin Meese would be approved by Senate Judiciary Committee as attorney general; called Michael Jackson about an appearance at World Youth gathering in Jamaica.]

  Friday, February 1

  [Visit by President-Elect Tancredo Neves of Brazil.]

  An interesting lunch with “The Futurists.” This is a group of men & women who are engaged in various kinds of projections for business & industries. Some are academicians. I’m happy to say we weren’t too far apart on our ideas about where we are going & what we should be doing. We agree that many of our social programs were started without thought as to where they might be taking us & how they could make worse the problem they were intended to solve. For example did the “war on poverty” actually increase poverty because it removed any need or incentive for people to become independent. Off to Camp D.—had to drive again—low clouds, rain & icing conditions.

  [Saturday, February 2: radiocast; caught up on reading. Sunday, February 3: sunny day.]

  Monday, February 4

  Met with So. African Chief of Zulus, Gatsha Buthelezi. He’s a very impressive man—well educated & while dedicated to ending apartheid in S. Africa still is well balanced & knows it will take time. I’d quoted him in my own speeches before I ever met him.

  [Presented copies of budget congressional leaders of both parties; addressed other congressmen; met with private sector leaders; spoke at convention of National Religious Broadcasters.]

  Tuesday, February 5

  New French Foreign Minister Dumas came by. He’s an improvement over Chaysson. It was just a get acquainted meeting.

  I told our people I wanted to use the renewed Sat. Radio talk to educate the people on such things as who really is responsible for the deficit & the budget, etc. We’ll start doing that Sat. The Sen. Judiciary Committee approved Ed Meese for A.G. & the Sen. will vote on it right after the recess. All Repubs. & 2 Dems. gave him a 12 to 6 win.

  A 90 minute NSC meeting on the upcoming visit by Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd. This will have its touchy moments.

  [Visit by leaders of new industries; cabinet meeting on administration economic report; call from King Juan Carlos regarding planned visit to Spain i
n May.]

  Wednesday, February 6

  Happy birthday to me. It was a nice day & I am touched by some of the greetings from staff groups with everyone signing the cards.

  A meeting with Congressional leadership (Repub.). Everyone got into the act giving a kind of preview of what I’ll be saying tonite. Bob Michel then presented me with a cake. We have a little strain. Yesterday appearing before a committee Dave Stockman blasted the mil. as being more devoted to preserving their pensions than they are to Nat. Security. He’d been badgered for 3 hours by some like Sen. Metzenbaum & sort of exploded emotionally but still should never have sounded off as he did.

  Later our people were backgrounding the TV anchor people at a lunch. I stopped by & received a chorus of “Happy B.D.”

  [Photo session with son of old friend; visit from former Vietnamese refugee graduating from West Point, expressed intention to introduce her during State of the Union Address that evening.]

  Well—it’s done & over with. The speech went over fine & the Cadet & Mother Hale of Harlem received a great ovation. Calls to W.H. came in 10 to 1 favorable.

  Thursday, February 7

  Ambas. Bosworth—our man in Manila came by & reported on the situation there. Marcos is still the best man on the horizon to straighten out the problems except his ill health may prevent that. His kidneys are the problem & he puts in less than 2 hours a day & Imelda keeps people from seeing him.

  [Visit from Clara McBride “Mother” Hale, of Harlem’s Hale House; swearing-in for new cabinet members.]

  Rest of morning a lunch with Bob Hawke—P.M. of Australia. He’s a good man. We’re both upset about New Zealand—refusing to allow our destroyer to use the port. Has to do with N.Z.’s ban on ships powered by or carrying anything nuclear. We’ve cancelled the Anzus war games.

  A colorless interview by the Wall Street Journal & then signed off on Maureen to go to Nairobi next July to the women’s conference.