INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE: ED MEESE DISAPPEARED, AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404180006-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: June 1, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

! Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404180006-0
ON PAGE June 1982 STAT
STAT
,
President Reagan. has become the
Hamilton Jordan of today's White
House: Nobody knows what he
does except stay on the good side
of the President.
With William Clark taking over
the National Security Council and
with the White House office of
domestic policy in disarray, Meese
is stranded without any signifi-
_CA1PIT1.36Lj&C0MMpJNT
INSIDE,THE HOUSE
Ed Meese Disappeared, and Then There Were Two
Edwin Meese III
counselor to
cant operational authority. When
asked about Meese, White House
colleagues invariably say some-
thing about his being "free to
concentrate on the issues." As
White House watchers know, that
is the road to oblivion.
When Meese first arrived in
Washington, he was warmly
greeted by the press. His avail-
ability and chubby countenance
imparted a sense of trustworthi-
ness and a lack of Machiavellian
guile. The New York Times said,
"He is very much a manager.
'Disciplined' and 'organized' are
the adjectives used most often to
describe him." The Christian
Science Monitor reported, "Mr.
Meese will, in effect, be 'deputy
President.' " TRB in the New Re-
public said of Meese, "You won't
see his name so often in the head-
lines or. his comfortable, intelli-
gent, slightly pudgy face on the
front page. He is merely general
manager of the United States. He
gets his authority because he is a
detail marl. . "
During the first year of the
Reagan administration, the Big
Three-Meese, chief of staff
James A. Baker 111, and deputy
staff chief Michael K. Deaver-
worked in harmony. But the White
House was then focusing its at-
tention almost exclusively on taxes
and the budget.
At the end of 1981 and begin-
ning of 1982, the White House
was overrun by events and crises-
Libyan hit squads, turmoil in
Central and South America,
mounting unemployment, grow-
ing deficits, controversy over a
new voting-rights bill, and de-
bates over defense and nuclear
parity.
It became evident that Meese's
talents were not in management
and organization. Around the
White House, Meese's briefcase
was referred to as a "bottomless
pit" into which papers vanished.
James Baker standin) and Edwin Meese
Government Triumvirate oesn l or
Meese was instrumental in sev-
eral major miscalculations: pro-
posing Social Security cutbacks
that were withdrawn almost as
soon as they were unveiled; al-
lowing the President to sleep while
US planes shot down two attack-
ing Libyan warplanes over the Gulf
of Sidra; adopting, then reversing
a plan to give tax exemptions to
segregated private schools. Meese
also sigped a fund-raising letter
on White House stationery on be-
half of the conservative Heritage
Foundation-an action reeking
of ideological politics.
Meanwhile Baker, the smooth,
trim-looking Houston lawyer and
experienced Washington political
hand, came to the forefront as the
key figure in devising legislative
strategy, administering the White
House, and managing media af-
fairs. Today, the Big Three is a
shell of what it was, and Meese
is the loser.
In building a "troika" system,
Reagan adopted an innovative ad-
ministrative design, certainly
worth trying. But now, well into
its second year, the trial has run
its course. When Reagan declared
at a press conference last Novem-
ber that his White House staff was
"a very happy group" and that
there was "no an imus ... no
bickering or back-stabbing going
on," Washington reporters, nor-
mally at least somewhat self-con-
tained in deference to the presi-
dential office, hooted with
laughter.
Why is the Big Three system
not working?
^ The troika system conjures a
popular image of a President di-
vorced from significant deci-
sions, dominated by his senior
staff, and insulated from unpop-
ular developments.
^ It clogs the policymakine
White House memo ise routed, to
each of the Big Three,who in
turn, must act on it.
^ It encourages in-house cliques
and leads to empire-building. Each
of the triumvirate has his own loyal
gaff jockeying for jurisdictional
turf.
^ It underscores divisions and
disagreements within the White
House because of personal and
Philosophical differences among
the three senior aides. Ideologi-
cally, Meese is the hard-line con-
servative, Baker the moderate, and
Deaver the swing man, whose
primary concern is the happiness
and well-being of Ronald and
Nancy Reagan.
^ It carries the potential for po-
litical disaster. The inflated stat-
ure of presidential aides during
the past several administrations
and the centralization of authority
within the White House tend to
convince many aides that they are
invulnerable to outside faces.
^ It inhibits the orderly for-
mulation of policy. Under the ini-
tial setup, the chief White House
foreign- and domestic-policy ad-
visers reported to Reagan through
Meese, who had neither the spe-
cialized staff nor the personal
background to handle the kind of
interagency issues that rise to the
presidential level. With Meese's
loss of influence, the principal
policy advisers have lost direct
access to the President.
It is uncertain where Meese will
o from here. There are rumors
that will a oint f eci
tary of Defense or ttt ie en-
eral or be named to succeed CIA
Director William 3. Casev Yet
the New Right is anxious to keep
Meese in the White House, where
he is their main line to the Pres-
ident. It seems unlikely, how-
ever, that he will continue to play
the role of a wandering trouba-
dour reciting sonnets to the ad-
ministration.
Recalling how Meese bested
John Sears for the top spot in the
Reagan campaign, a White House
aide counseled: "Don't sell him
short."
Nonetheless, Meese has dis-
covered that Washington politics
are not the same as state politics.
Hamilton Jordan made a similar
discovery-but by then it was too
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