[Met with leader of opposition party in West Germany; short economic briefing with positive figures.]
A half hour of desk time then lunch with V.P.—pleasant as always. When Dole drops out of race I want to go public & declare that Geo. B. has been telling truth about “Iran-Contra.” He played no part in whatever went on.
[Visited school in Virginia; returned to W.H.; photos with senior NSC staff; GOP candidates; greeted National Republican Heritage Council Board; visit from Anna Chennault; exercised.]
Friday, March 25
[Discussion of opposition senators, including Sen. Wilson (R-CA.) and his attack on INF treaty; NSC briefing for and then visit with President Joaquín Balaguer of Dominican Republic; turned down people who wanted to join trip to Moscow, specified, “Paul Laxalt, Armand Hammer, Suzanne Massey etc.—We have to say no to each one. No one we could say yes to without having to take the others”; discussion of sugar program and of Nicaragua, noted, “evidence that Contras gave in to Sandinistas in agreement because no longer believe they can trust us. All due to Congress shutting off aid”; meeting with Prime Minister Balaguer; greeted Archbishop of Greek Orthodox Church; addressed Center for Study of the Presidency.]
Then Geo. S.’s regular meeting. He started with Nicaragua & feels strongly that we must have an aid program fast & a fast track clause that we can if called upon provide lethal aid. On Noriega he proposed additional things we can do. One would be to get Pres. Delvalle to announce a post Noriega govt. He asked me to O.K. another mid-east trip over Easter so he can explain to the people there what’s in our peace plan.
Sat.—tomorrow he is meeting with 2 distinguished scholars who are Americans—but also Palestinians. Shamir is very upset with him. Last item is—for some reason King of Saudi Arabia is on the outs with our Ambas. who is a darn good man. We’ll bring him home though & nominate a replacement. He speaks flawless Arabic & for some reason this upsets the Arabs.
[Photo with departing staff member.]
That did it—upstairs for exercise & evening. Part of eve. I’ll be alone. Nancy has to do a publicity thing for “drugs” at the Hockey game. I watched it on TV—she appeared on the ice with a group of young people & the mascot Snoopy—spoke of the contribution to the drug fight the Hockey League is making. Then she took a hockey stick & sailed 2 goals past the goalie. It was very nice & the crowd loved it.
[Saturday, March 26: slept late; radiocast; spent afternoon reading book on Channel Islands in California; attended Gridiron Club dinner. Sunday, March 27: watched TV and read; dinner with Maureen.]
Monday, March 28
[Met with Republican congressional leadership regarding Contra aid.]
The Sen. Foreign Relations Committee is starting mark-up on I.N.F. today & tomorrow. It should be on the Sen. floor right after Easter week. We’re expecting the trade bill to come out of conf. this week. Then some top secret info. on Meese investigation. Howard thinks it might call for his resignation. D--n he’s done nothing wrong.
NSC—S.D.I.—papers put some false statements together & came up with a story that we were backing away from it. Taint so! Panama—our actions of 2 weeks ago are working or aren’t they? Do we need additional action? One idea is to get 8 Panamanians of distinction here in Am.—putting them on our mil. base in Panama to lead opposition to Noriega—there in Panama. Then a short desk time & a meeting with Bill Webster—reports by C.I.A. He let me in on a secret of an information source by way of a country friendly to us. Then an early lunch & at 12:45 off for Richmond Va. On arrival (by helicopter) to a hotel where I met with a group of Repub. leaders—handshakes & photos. Sen. John Warner was with me on round trip. After that to Reynolds Aluminum plant. First a tour of the factory—it was fascinating. Then to H.Q. & a forum on trade etc. I addressed about 600 employees then about 2000 were listening outdoors. I dropped by & said a few words to that crowd & home & mother. Mermie still here for dinner.
Tuesday, March 29
Rcv’d. 2 resignations from the number 2 & 3 man in the Justice dept. Their resignations just said they wanted to return to civilian life. We think they are leaving because they believe that special investigator is going to hand down an indictment or a censure on Ed Meese. I hope not. Ed may have used bad judgment a couple of times but he is honest as the day is long.
[Meeting (does not specify with whom) on prospects for INF in Senate; meeting with Republican congressional leadership; short meeting with NSC; briefing for group interview with journalists not based in Washington, participated in interview, then turned it over to Howard Baker.]
Lunch on the patio with George Will. He’s been critical of our tax policy & some other things. I hope I straightened him out.
[Participated in ceremony honoring cancer survivors; National Security Planning Group (NSPG) meeting on Noriega and to consider military options there; interview with biographer Edmund Morris; meeting with senators on budget, commented, “I’ve agreed to go public to explain need for more money for Space & science”; allergy shot; measured for bust for presidential library.]
Wednesday, March 30
Ed Meese on ticket again—Howard B. thinks we’re in for a big fire storm.
NSC—Contra funding—they are coming close on the hill & we may be winning. Plan calls for our AID program to deliver to Latin Am. then some other means must be found to get the supplies to the Contras—we’re talking about Humanitarian supplies. If Lethal aid is required—the Dems. want me to write a letter to the “Speaker” & he’ll have to respond in 10 days. It’s possible we may have a deal by end of the week. I.N.F. treaty seems to be coming along in the Sen. OK. I received a phone call from Pres. Zia of Pakistan. I think we may be close to a deal on Afghanistan.
[Greeted science students; swearing-in ceremony for Secretary of Navy William Ball; met with Shultz; filmed scenes for documentary to be shown at presidential library.]
Finally upstairs—no Nancy—she’s in Calif. now. But I’m entertaining a dinner—some prominent citizens—a mix just to hear their ideas. Ms. Cathy Black, Howard B., John Connally, Col. Frank Borman (USAF Ret.), Robert W. Galvin, Daniel J. Boorstin & Walter Cronkite. The dinner turned out great—good conversations & humor also. An early evening over by 9.
Thursday, March 31
Brief talk about the House passing Contra Aid by a sizeable margin. Also change in Moscow trip schedule—we leave for Helsinki May 25 instead of May 26.
NSC—Les Aspin of House Armed SVC’S. Committee took $300 mil. away from M-X rail launchers & added it to the Midget Man missiles which only the Congress wants—the mil. doesn’t want them. F. Carlucci had already raised them by $200 mil. Now the Cong. also removed $800 mil. from our figure for S.D.I.—this is a terrible setback.
At 9:45 down to the Situation room for an NSPG meeting. Main purpose was on problem of Philippines making noises like we should remove our bases at Clark Field & Subic Bay. Of course if we wanted to raise the rent a fantastic amount they’d reconsider. Then we got on Noriega again & cleared up a few items that had been suggested but that would have been very counterproductive.
[Lunch with Vice President Bush; interviewed by student journalist; launched Baldridge National Quality Award.]
A Cabinet meeting during which word came the Senate had passed the Contra aid bill 88 to 7.
[Photo sessions with former staff member from California; with representatives of W.H. athletic center; bill signing; videotapings; Michael Reagan visiting.]
Friday, April 1
Getaway day. Mike taped an interview & was back at the W.H. in time for a 10:15 AM takeoff in Marine 1. At Andrews we left on A.F.1 for Calif. It was an uneventful trip. Whoa! I forgot before we left the W.H. I signed the $48 mil. Contra aid bill. Landed at Point Mugu & helicoptered to Ranch. Mike of course headed home by car from Point M.
[Relaxed at ranch, commented, “I got into Jeans & then met Nancy at the helipad when she came in from L.A. an hour later.” Saturday, April 2: rode; cut trees.]
Sunday, April 3�
��Easter
And there was a rabbit on the lawn when we sat down for breakfast. It’s also the first day of daylight saving.
Another ride—then Dennis & I (after lunch) went back up on Mt. Rhino—more clean up. Ken Duberstein is coming for dinner. I just called Sydney his wife to say Happy 39th Birthday & to tell her from now on no more birthdays, just anniversaries of this one. Ken arrived & it was a very pleasant evening.
[Monday, April 4: helicoptered to Newport Beach for library fund-raiser at home of William Lyon.]
Tuesday, April 5
The best day yet—warm & bright. A good ride with a beautiful view whichever way we looked. Barney is back. A call from Howard early to let me know Ed M. was doing a press conference today & that we believe we have some solid names as nominees to replace the quitters in the Justice Dept. Then Colin called on secret phone to tell me the Soviets seem to be going ahead with pulling out of Afghanistan even though they seem unwilling to sign the Geneva accords.
Also he reported that Jesse Jackson is denying he tried to get into the matter of Noriega—even though we know what was in Noriega’s letter to him.
After Lunch, Dennis, Barney & I as well as Dr. Hutton who always joins in when he’s here went back up on Mt. Rhino to continue the pruning & clearing we’ve been doing there. It’s now 5:25—I’m showered & in P.J.’s already but with daylight saving it looks like high noon.
Wednesday, April 6
Same schedule but a really warm day. Our morning ride, then after lunch Roy Miller & his lady assistant came with our income tax forms. We signed Fed. & State forms. Then I hurried up to Mt. Rhino to join Barney & Dennis. It was a short session but we got some more pruning done. A call from Ken D.—he’s on his way back to Wash. & tomorrow Howard Baker will be here with us for dinner tomorrow nite. A lot of paper work was sandwiched between meals, riding & pruning. I almost forgot—we had a visitor before the ride—a Western Artist drove 1500 miles from Oklahoma to deliver as a gift 3 of his paintings. One was of “No Strings,” then “Gaualianko” & finally “El Alamein.” They are beautiful & I’m excited about having them.
[Thursday, April 7: rode; finished major pruning job; Howard Baker arrived for dinner, no progress on Noriega, commented, “I’ve O.K.’d further financial moves for whatever they are worth.”]
Friday, April 8
[Rode.]
After lunch it was next to final day at Mt. Rhino—more pruning & cleaning up. TV news had our inc. tax on showing we paid less tax than last year on greater earnings. So we have tax reform & it works even for Presidents. Word came Judge sentenced Lyn Nofziger to 90 days in prison & $30,000 fine. I still say he did nothing wrong. Dinner & Early to bed.
Saturday, April 9
[Rode; read radiocast; photo session with military staff; received honor from California Highway Patrol Association.]
Rcvd. an explanation of the ABC special event alleging—h--l they outright accused us (based on evidence from unnamed sources) of using planes in Contra aid in cahoots with Israel & those same planes then ran drugs into U.S. It’s all a phony story & just never happened.
[Continued pruning. Sunday, April 10: back into, as noted, “store bought clothes”; flew to Las Vegas; addressed National Broadcasters Association; flew to Washington.]
Monday, April 11
[Started work at 10 am, rather than 9 am, due to jet lag; Howard Baker reported on recent stock market increase.]
Howard reported Sam Nunn & Sen. Helms are raising h--l about I.N.F.—trying to block its ratification by the Senate.
N.S.C.—Colin & John Negroponte came in for their meeting. Colin told me George S. would report in a later meeting on the Afghanistan situation. Sen. Gordon Humphrey is objecting to the Geneva accords which George S. will be signing—possibly this Thurs. The Sen. thinks we’re selling out the Afghans. He’s wrong as H--l. We are not deserting them at all & if Soviets continue arming the Kabul govt. We’ll continue arming the Mujahadeen.
A problem with the French has come up—they have a high tech firm that is selling high tech. products to the Soviets similar to the Toshiba deal.
Honduras—quiet now but leftist students still trying to get riots going again.
A witness at Sen. Kerry’s hearings on drugs claimed P.M. Seaga of Jamaica was involved & that it’s been covered up. Seaga is naturally upset & has a right to be. The story is a phony. Ethiopia is fighting some internal problems & has pulled all relief agencies out of famine area which can mean no food for ¾ of a million people.
[Issues lunch; meeting with Shultz, Carlucci, and Webster on Middle East and Afghanistan; greeted men’s and women’s college basketball champions; dinner for King and Queen of Sweden, entertainment by Barbara Cole after dinner.]
Tuesday, April 12
Another 10 AM day—they’re spoiling me.
[Discussion of budget; trade bill nearing acceptable state; rejected bill calling for harsher treatment of Japan due to Toshiba matter.]
NSC—Kuwait & Jordan have both volunteered to storm the hijacked 747 on Cyprus. It won’t work without causing the slaughter of the hostages.
Believe it or not we’ve been approached by Iran to see if we can’t have a better relationship. In Honduras Pres. Ascona is having some trouble over his release of drug king-pin Mattja. Our Sec. of Air Force has been invited to the Soviet U. to visit their space center. Of course they then want a visit to ours. At 11:30 another meeting with leaders of hard core Conservative leaders Paul Weyrich, Gen. Graham etc. Half hour meeting became an hour. As usual they had us on the wrong side in Afghanistan settlement, Mozambique, Chile & Angola. It’s amazing how certain they can be when they know so d--n little of what we’re really doing. A late lunch for me then my postponed meeting with Frank Carlucci. He reports Pakistanis are most pleased with us & eager to cooperate in helping us in the Afghan affair. Then down to the situation room for an hour of NSPG meeting. Subject Panama. We’re all agreed we must not fail in the Noriega matter. A group is going to explore additional steps we might take.
[Desk time; visit from personal physician Dr. Burton Smith and his wife; attended reception for PBS series “Concert at the White House”; dinner with Ted Graber.]
Wednesday, April 13
Back on regular time. Nine o’clock meeting—1st A. B. Culvahouse with a message I had to O.K. It seems that Eastern Airlines is bankrupt & cannot be approved as safe to fly. Even our military has ruled Eastern cannot be used by mil. persons. Then Ken Dub. came in, Howard B. is still in Tenn. We are somewhat encouraged by progress in cleaning up trade bill—but it still isn’t something I can sign.
[Hopeful of progress against Senator Sam Nunn’s resistance of INF Treaty; approved Ken Khachigian as writer for three speeches; briefing for visit by Prime Minister Lu Kuan Yew of Singapore.]
Some strange antics have been going on at our oil storage base in Panama. Last night Marines were reported to be firing on invaders. We don’t know yet if there was a real fire fight or something cooked up by Panamanian radio. No one was hurt. Confusion ended about 1 AM.
Three more Soviet defectors (deserters) in Afghanistan have arrived in U.S. by way of Canada.
We have a problem with Sen. Jake Garn who is determined we must take some very punitive action against Japan’s Toshiba Company. We think it is mindless interference. He’s trying to get in the trade bill. We think we’ve taken action already. At 11 AM went over to E.O.B. to address “Young Presidents Org.” They are being briefed by a number of our people. Then it was Lee Kwan Yew time. A short meeting in Oval O. & then over to the W.H. for lunch. It was really good to see him again. He’s been working to help Pres. Aquino in the Philippines.
[Addressed American Society of Newspaper Editors.]
Thursday, April 14
Dem. Leadership in Cong. has asked for meeting with Howard B. & Jim Baker. I think they want to find out where I’ll decide enough has been done on Trade bill to get me to sign. Howard B. leans toward reducing numbers & having me attend the meeting.
NSC—I’m going to call (Colin’s request) P.M. (of Pakistan) Junejo. Later in morning I did call. We were just recognizing each other’s part in Afghan agreements George S. signed in Geneva today.
One of the hostages released from the Hijacked plane now in Algeria identified one of the terrorists who got on plane in Iran as the murderer Izz Al Dim who killed our Navy man on the TWA 847 hijacked in 1985. We have notified Algerians we have a warrant for his arrest.
Colin and Howard are going to the hill to meet with Sens. on I.N.F. A 2nd INF issue has arisen—we had agreed to ban conventional cruise missiles (ground launched) as well as nuclear cruise missiles. Some Sen’s. are objecting.
[Received new polls numbers, approval steady at 55 percent, commented, “Some figures reflected, I believe, result of Dem. Presidential candidates fairy tales. For example that Dems. are better than we are on cutting Fed. spending”; met with party donors; lunch with Vice President Bush, running unopposed in remaining GOP primaries; met with former Senator John Cooper (R-KY) regarding Contra aid; presented award to Teacher of the Year, and outstanding students; received word of U.S. frigate damaged by mine in Persian Gulf and of a car bomb near a USO building in Naples, Italy; dinner with Ted Graber and Maureen.]
Friday, April 15
[Negotiation with Congress over Trade bill.]
Next subject was I.N.F.—This time Colin & Howard met with Bob Dole & Byrd. We want ratification before I leave for Moscow. Sen. Nunn is still the roadblock with some of our right wingers on his side. The issue is over conventional warheads on cruise missiles.
Then a little time on 2 of our Sens. Pete Wilson & Al D’Amato who want us to decertify Mexico on grounds of not doing enough to fight drugs. I won’t do it. Mexico is trying I know but is dealing with a lot of corruption.
NSC—Report on our Frigate hitting a mine in the Persian Gulf. List of injured up to 10—only 1 serious but Dr. is convinced he will live. He’s burned on 90% of his body. Mines had only just been laid—48 hours earlier ships had gone through on that same course. Later in day we had an NSPG meeting. Our mil. is now studying what retaliatory measures we should take.
The Reagan Diaries Page 82