by Bob Spitz
“I had to swallow hard”: RR, national television address, Aug. 16, 1982, transcript, RRPL.
“the largest tax increase”: M. Stanton Evans, “The Largest Tax Increase in History,” Human Events, July 31, 1982.
“rapid decline of support”: The poll is attributed to Richard Wirthlin. Cannon, President Reagan, p. 233.
“The President’s image as a leader”: Memo, Richard Beale to Edwin Meese III, White House Staff and Office files, OA 9449, Elections 1982, RRPL.
THIRTY-FOUR: WAR AND PEACE
“Mr. President . . . Mike”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Sept. 30, 2014.
“He doesn’t know his ass”: Alexander Haig, quoted in Richard Reeves, President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), p. 111.
Still, the Republican Party: Steven V. Roberts, “Republicans Meet Setbacks in House,” New York Times, Nov. 3, 1982.
“Republicans sought to disassociate”: Martin Tolchin, “Incumbents Have the Edge in Winning Senate Contests,” New York Times, Nov. 3, 1982.
“What we are witnessing”: David Broder column, Washington Post, Jan. 12, 1983.
“Mr. Reagan’s loss of authority”: Editorial, “The Failing Presidency,” New York Times, Jan. 9, 1983.
“No other presidential speech”: Henry Steele Commager, quoted in Washington Post, Mar. 9, 1983.
“It was pretty clear”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Nov. 11, 2014.
“They didn’t like all the money”: Richard Perle, interview with author, Apr. 24, 2015.
“I knew Jim was”: John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014; “Jim told us, ‘It’s simply immoral for us to continue down this road.’” Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Nov. 11, 2014.
“Everything is in place”: Daniel Schorr, “REAGAN RECANTS: His Path from Armageddon to Détente,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 3, 1988.
“We may be the generation”: Ibid.
“Mr. President,” he said: James D. Watkins, quoted in Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Nov. 11, 2014.
“Bill, is he serious?”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Nov. 11, 2014.
“We are going to embark”: RR, diary entry, Feb. 11, 1983, RRPL.
“He kept talking about”: John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014.
“Let me share with you”: RR, speech, “Defense and National Security,” Mar. 23, 1983, New York Times, Mar. 24, 1983.
“We kept everyone”: John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014.
“It was the first”: Richard Perle, interview with author, Apr. 24, 2015.
“How much better”: RR, quoted in George P. Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State (New York: Scribner, 1993), p. 246.
“We don’t have the technology”: Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 250.
“Write the speech right here”: RR, quoted in Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Nov. 11, 2014.
“strategic experts within the administration”: Leslie H. Gelb, “Aides Urged Reagan to Postpone Antimissile Ideas for More Study,” New York Times, Mar. 25, 1983.
Ted Kennedy immediately ridiculed: Washington Post, Mar. 24, 1983.
“Buck Rogers style”: “The President went a little too far [with] this kind of Buck Rogers style last night.” White House News Summary files, Mar. 25, 1983, RRPL.
“cosmic war technology”: Tass, Mar. 25, 1983, reported in the White House News Summary, Mar. 26, 1983, RRPL.
staggering under a military budget: Richard Perle, interview with author, Apr. 24, 2015.
“could offer to give that same”: RR, interview with White House correspondents, Mar. 29, 1983, quoted in Bernard Gwertzman, “Reagan Sees Hope of Soviet Sharing in Missile Defense,” New York Times, Mar. 30, 1983.
“uncritically—even wishfully”: Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 263.
Syria agreed to leave Lebanon: David C. Martin and John Walcott, Best Laid Plans: The Inside Story of America’s War Against Terrorism (New York: Touchstone, 1988), p. 111.
“a Lebanese government”: RR, press conference, June 30, 1982, transcript, RRPL.
Then, on April 18: Thomas L. Friedman, “U.S. Beirut Embassy Bombed: 33 Reported Killed, 80 Hurt,” New York Times, Apr. 19, 1983.
“It was intended as a show”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
“the most important foreign policy”: Bill Casey, quoted in Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 285.
“Mr. President, we have”: Bill Casey, quoted in Richard Reeves, President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), p. 151.
“the moral equal”: Lou Cannon, “Reagan Says U.S. Owes ‘Contras’ Help,” Washington Post, Mar. 2, 1985; RR called them “a military fighting force . . . bringing democracy to Nicaragua in the same way that the freedom fighters who led the American Revolution brought democracy to our people.” AAL, p. 477.
“for the purpose of overthrowing”: Dept. of Defense appropriations bill, HR 7355, Dec. 8, 1982, congress.gov.
“at our doorstep”: RR, address to nation on Central American policy, May 9, 1984, RRPL; Francis X. Clines, “The Reagan Speech,” New York Times, May 10, 1984.
“First we will take”: Reeves, President Reagan, pp. 153–54.
“Nicaragua is not yet Cuba”: Human Events, Mar. 20, 1982, clipping from Ronald Reagan’s private office files, RRPL.
Reagan clipped the article: The author was granted access to the president’s private papers, among which this file was retrieved.
“If the Soviet Union”: RR, address to nation, May 9, 1984.
“resisting attempted subjugation”: President Harry S. Truman, address to joint session of Congress, Mar. 12, 1947.
“The CIA’s assessment”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Nov. 11, 2014.
It said that no federal funds: “The way we read it was that private funds or funds from other sources were okay.” Edwin Meese, interview with author, July 20, 2015.
“support and conduct covert”: Roy Gutman, Banana Diplomacy (New York: Touchstone, 1989), p. 95.
“My assignment was to try”: “I shuttled between Damascus and Tel-Aviv.” Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
“the cease-fire in Lebanon”: George Shultz, memo, “Our Strategy in Lebanon and the Middle East,” Oct. 13, 1983, NSC Records, RRPL.
“Clark Takes Charge”: Time, Aug. 8, 1983.
“The process of managing”: Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 313.
“I told him he had”: RR, diary entry, July 25, 1983; Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries: January 1981–October 1985, ed. Douglas Brinkley (New York: Harper, 2009), p. 169.
“He struck me as a user”: NR/MT, p. 243.
“a tough negotiator”: Ibid., p. 243.
She called Shultz: “Nancy Reagan called me. She was furious. She thought Clark ought to be fired.” Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 317; “I spoke to Ronnie about him.” NR/MT, p. 243.
James Watt, the confrontational: “Nancy Reagan felt he was divisive.” Edwin Meese, interview with author, Apr. 24, 2015.
“I’ve had a lot of opposition”: Hedrick Smith, The Power Game: How Washington Works (New York: Ballantine Books, 1988), p. 324.
“How can you make”: Edwin Meese, interview with author, Apr. 24, 2015.
“In the Reagan administration”: Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Caveat: Realism, Reagan and Foreign Policy (New York: Macmillan, 1984), p. 17.
On September 14, Reagan: Lou Cannon and George Wilson, “Reagan Authorized Marines to Call in Beirut Air Strikes,” Washington Post, Sept. 13, 1983.
“I want you to consider”: William Clark, quoted in Lou Cannon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991), p. 424.
“The problem was”: Edwin Meese, interview with author, Apr. 24, 2015.
“I’ll take the test—once”: George Shultz, quoted in Ibid.; Shultz recounts this policy almost word-for-word in Don Oberdorfer column, Washington Post, Dec. 19, 1985.
THIRTY-FIVE: URGENT FURY
“October of ’83”: John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014.
“The shelling out”: Leslie H. Gelb, “Lebanon Peacekeeping Sets Stage for War Powers Debate,” New York Times, Sept. 11, 1983.
“they were sitting ducks”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
“ammunition and morale”: Robert C. McFarlane with Sofia Smardz, Special Trust (New York: Cadell & Davies, 1994), p. 251.
“fish or cut bait”: “I wanted them to either better equip our forces and authorize them to defend themselves—or to get ’em out of there.” Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
“to put the screws”: Bud McFarlane, quoted in George P. Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State (New York: Scribner, 1993), p. 223.
“until the U.S. and the Arabs”: Ibid., p. 225.
“There is not a significant”: Gen. P. X. Kelley, quoted in Eric Hammel, The Root: The Marines in Beirut, August 1982–February 1984 (San Diego: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1985), p. 221.
“Are we going to let”: RR, quoted in Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 227.
“We have to show”: RR, diary entry, Sept. 7, 1983, private papers, RRPL.
“Our problem is do we”: RR, diary entry, Sept. 11, 1983, quoted in AAL, p. 446.
“Are we in Lebanon”: Ibid., p. 447.
“Something’s got to be done”: RR’s diary entry, Sept. 11, 1983.
A strong American presence: “My reasoning is that this can be explained as a protection of our Marines hoping it might signal the Syrians to pull back.” Ibid.
“think ahead about potential”: John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014.
“Grenada has no known natural”: “Grenada IG” document, Roger W. Fontaine files, Box 8 (1981 file), RRPL.
“Grenada doesn’t even have”: RR, nationally televised speech, Mar. 23, 1983, transcript, “Speeches,” RRPL.
Local teenagers patrolled: Joanne Omang, “Americans in Grenada, Calling Home, Say They Were Safe Before Invasion,” Washington Post, Oct. 26, 1983.
Earlier in the month: National Security Defense Directive 105, Oct. 4, 1983, RRPL; William F. Clark, “Memorandum to the President,” top secret, “Grenada,” undated, Roger W. Fontaine files, Box 8, declassified Aug. 12, 2007, RRPL.
“Their being there was a lucky”: Ed Meese interview with author, Apr. 24, 2015.
was “in chaos”: “The island, McFarlane said, “was in chaos.” Richard Reeves, President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), p. 179.
“Hey, fuck, let’s dump”: William Casey, quoted in Edmund Morris, Dutch (New York: Random House, 1999), p. 500.
So with some prompting: “We got her, with some prompting, to call for U.S. assistance taking action in Grenada to protect the people and restore stability. ‘A call for help would be helpful,’ we told her.” John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014.
“We certainly can’t refuse”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
said, “Do it”: AAL, p. 450.
Its driver, a local man: Francis X. Clines, “Reagan Unhurt as Armed Man Takes Hostages,” New York Times, Oct. 23, 1983.
“I don’t want anything to happen”: Fred Fielding, interview with author, Sept. 30, 2014.
The truck exploded on impact: White House Situation Room, top-secret memo, Oct. 23, 1983, partly declassified May 6, 2010, Exec. Secretariat NSC “Country” file, Box 41, RRPL.
“The president was distraught”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
“We cannot let this stand”: Ibid.
“Congress was in an uproar”: Tip O’Neill with William Novak, Man of the House (New York: Random House, 1987), p. 436; “There is intense congressional interest, mixed with criticism.” Situation Listing, “Marine Explosion,” Dec. 14, 1983, declassified Sept. 27, 2010, p. 1, RRPL.
“a well-planned and professionally”: Edward V. Hickey Jr., top-secret Situation Room memo to Robert McFarlane, Oct. 27, 1983, declassified Oct. 15, 2008, p. 2, RRPL.
The truck had been waved: Thomas L. Friedman, “Beirut Death Toll at 161 Americans,” New York Times, Oct. 24, 1983.
“The sentry on guard”: Lance Cpl. Robert Calhoun, quoted in Harry F. Rosenthal, Associated Press, Oct. 25, 1983.
“Remind me never to go”: RR, quoted in Caspar Weinberger, Fighting for Peace (New York: Warner Books, 1990), p. 113.
as looking “haggard”: White House News Summary, quoted as “Gannett Newspaper report,” Oct. 25, 1983, RRPL.
“grief-stricken”: Francis X. Clines, “Days of Crisis for President: Golf, a Tragedy and Secrets,” New York Times, Oct. 26, 1983.
Weinberger had been reluctant: “Weinberger said we didn’t know enough to act.” Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 329; Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
“Grenada wasn’t part of”: Edwin Meese, interview with author, July 8, 2015; “We didn’t have very good maps of the area. There was a lack of intelligence preparedness.” John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014.
“There are Soviet officers”: Francois Mitterrand, quoted in Jacques Attali, Verbatim I: Chronique des Années, 1981–1986 (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1993), pp. 528–29.
“I want you to be absolutely”: Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
“They’re invading Grenada”: O’Neill, Man of the House, p. 437.
“What does Mrs. Thatcher”: Ibid., pp. 438–39.
“We had to, Margaret”: Edwin Meese, interview with author, July 8, 2015.
“the United States has no”: AAL, p. 454.
“The decision had been made”: Cliff Haas, “ Grenada Briefing,” Associated Press, Oct. 25, 1983.
“I’m not confident”: Edwin Meese, interview with author, July 8, 2015.
“fierce house-to-house”: Valerie Strauss, UPI, Oct. 26, 1983.
“another Iran or another Beirut”: RR, speech, quoted in New York Times, Oct. 26, 1983.
declining to criticize: White House News Summary update of Associated Press report by Mike Shanahan, Oct. 25, 1983, RRPL.
“I have no intent to get”: Tip O’Neill, quoted in Hedrick Smith, “2 Americans Killed,” New York Times, Oct. 26, 1983.
“The price of freedom”: Caspar Weinberger, quoted in Valerie Strauss, “Americans Evacuated,” UPI, Oct. 26, 1983.
“We had imagery”: John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014.
“All right, I’ve heard”: RR, quoted in Robert McFarlane, interview with author, Oct. 15, 2014.
French warplanes to attack: “The Christian Phalangist radio said the casualties numbered in the ‘hundreds.’” Thomas L. Friedman, “French Jets Raid Bases of Militia Linked to Attacks,” New York Times, Nov. 18, 1983.
“You approved this operation”: McFarlane, Special Trust, p. 271.
“It was so poorly ordered”: John Poindexter, interview with author, Oct. 16, 2014.
“turn tail and leave”: AAL, p. 462.
as “pullout fever”: Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 230.
“He may be ready”: Wall Street Journal, Feb. 3, 1984.
Even leading Republican legislators: Robert Michel of Illinois, Dick Cheney of Wyoming, and Trent Lott of Mississippi. James Baker III file, Box 8, RRPL.
against “second guessing”: Steven R. Weisman, “President vs. Congress,” New York Times, Apr. 7, 1984.
“We have information right now”: “Reagan Says 1,000 Terroris
ts Are Being Trained in Lebanon,” New York Times, Dec. 10, 1983.
“Our policy wasn’t working”: AAL, p. 465.
“a more vigorous and demanding”: The Long Report, U.S. Dept. of Defense, 1984, RRPL.
“We don’t refuse to talk”: RR, televised speech, Jan. 16, 1984, PP/HW, “Speeches,” Folder 241, RRPL.
“Andropov,” by George Shultz’s assessment: Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, p. 126.
He’d even shared Time’s: “Men of the Year,” Time, Jan. 2, 1984.
“I don’t want to honor”: RR, quoted in Jack F. Matlock Jr., Autopsy on an Empire (New York: Random House, 1995), p. 87.
“to stress in public”: Robert McFarlane, memo to RR, White House Staff and Office files, James Baker III file, Political Affairs, Jan. 1984–July 1984, RRPL.
THIRTY-SIX: “TEFLON MAN”
“No matter who we have”: Lee Atwater and Edward J. Rollins, memo to James Baker III, Nov. 11, 1982, Craig Fuller files, Box 11, “84 Election,” RRPL, p. 11.
“No matter what we do”: Ibid., p. 3.
In early 1983: Michael Beschloss, “How Reagan Sold Good Times to an Uncertain Nation,” New York Times, May 8, 2016.
“She was hesitant”: Stuart Spencer, interview with author, July 21, 2014.
“Everybody does it differently”: “I am not Rosalynn Carter. I am not Pat Nixon or Jackie Kennedy.” NR, quoted in Laurence I. Barrett, “A Talk with Nancy Reagan,” Time, Jan. 14, 1985.
“The staff didn’t know”: Sheila Tate, interview with author, Oct. 3, 2014.
Quigley became known: “It was Mary Jane [Wick] who paid Quigley $3000 a month to read the Reagans’ charts, and Nancy reimbursed her friend.” KK/NR, p. 321.
On Quigley’s advice: Joyce Wadler, “The President’s Astrologer,” People, May 23, 1988.
“I yearned for more”: NR/MT, p. 264.
“cutting the deficit”: AAL, p. 325.
“polls showing the people”: RR, interview with Newsweek, requoted in Adam Clymer, “Reagan in Interview Says He Favors Idea of Having a Debate,” Jan. 30, 1984.
“We will finish our job”: State of the Union message, Jan. 25, 1984, PP/HW, “Speeches,” RRPL.