WHITE HOUSE SHAKE-UP SOUGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920013-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 28, 2012
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: November 23, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920013-4
WASHINGTON POST
23 November 1986
White House Shake-Up Sought
Reagan Confidants Ttrsue (htster of Shultz, Regan, Poindexter
By David Hoffman
troversy. He has refused to call the
and Lou Cannon Iran arms shipments a mistake and
"I'm Wnt. r. said last week it was a worthwhile
A group of longtime California
supporters of President Reagan, re-
sponding to what one of them called
"the worst hour in the president's
political career," is seeking a Cab-
inet and White House staff shake-up
in the aftermath of the administra-
tion's secret arms dealings with
Iran, sources said yesterday.
The sources said the group of
longtime influential friends is work-
ing with the encouragement of First
Lady Nancy Reagan, who has pri-
vately been highly critical of White
House chief of staff Donald T.
Regan and Secretary of State
George P. Shultz.
The goal of the group, which in-
cludes Californians inside and out-
side the administration, is to re-
place Shultz, Regan and national se-
curity adviser John M. Poindexter,
the sources said. The group is push-
ing for Secretary of Defense Caspar
W. Weinberger to replace Shultz,
and Drew Lewis, the former trans-
portation secretary who is presi-
dent and chief operating officer of
Union Pacific Corp., to replace
Regan.
Sources said several members of
the group, including Attorney Gen-
eral Edwin Meese III and former
secretary of the interior William P.
Clark, have contacted Lewis in re-
cent days to ask if he would be will-
ing to become chief of staff.
Former U.N. ambassador Jeane
J. Kirkpatrick has been suggested
by some members of the group as a
possible replacement for Poindex-
ter.
One source said it was not cer-
tain whether the group would have
any success persuading the pres-
ident to make staff changes, which
he has been reluctant to do in the
past. But, the source said, the effort
was highly significant as an indica-
tion of how seriously Reagan's in-
timates view the damage caused by
the revelation of the secret Iran op-
eration.
At his news conference Wednes-
day, Reagan said he was "not firing
anybody" as a result of the Iran con-
"high-risk gamble." Reagan repeat.
edly erred at the news conference
when commenting on a crucial as-
pect of the Fran operation-the in-
volvement of third countries.
Nancy Reagan was particularly
upset with what she believed was
sloppy preparation for Reagan's
Wednesday news conference, the
sources said.
Since the Iran arms shipments
were first disclosed, Reagan's pub-
lic approval rating has dropped to
points from its September levels,
according to an ABC News poll.
The Californians have been call-
ing themselves "the friends of Ron-
ald Reagan," the name they used 20
tears ago when they first organized
behind Reagan's gubernatorial can-
lKiacy. They include Holmes Tu-
trle. one of the earliest Reagan
hackers; former attorney general
William French Smith; former
White House political director Lyn
Notziger: California industrialist
Jacqueline Hume: Meese and Clark.
Sources said retiring Sen. Paul
Laxalt (R-Nev.) has also been sym-
pathetic to the effort. Central In-
telligence Agency Director William
J. Casey is also seeking changes, in
particular, the replacement of.
Shultz with Weinberger. the
sources said.
"The consensus of the friends is
that there need to be some
changes," said one member of the
group. "The concern is that too
many members of the present team
are more interested in protecting
their own hindsight than in protect-
ing the president."
Another source familiar with the
effort said the group felt the final
two years of Reagan's presidency
are at stake. "It's headed South-
fast," the source said. "Nancy saw
the loss of the Senate, and that re-
ally shook her. And now all of this
happening."
A source close to the president
said Reagan has been privately crit-
ical of Shultz despite giving the sec-
retary a vote of confidence in last
week's news conference. The
source said Reagan saw Shultz's ap-
pearance on t tv3 ivew s "Pace the
Nation" Nov. 16, in which the sec-
retary tried to distance himself
from the fran operation.
"'The president saw what Shultz
did to him on television last week,"
the source said. "He takes very se-
riously what he sees on television."
Since then, Shultz has said he
took part in two "fullscale discus-
sions" leading to the clandestine
shipment of weapons to Iran.
The Californians have been
sharply critical of Regan, whom
they believe has failed to defend the
president adequately. One called
Regan "totally incompetent." An-
other complained that "Regan
hasn't let others in the loop," pre-
venting outside advice from reach-
ing the president. This source also
said the group was unsettled by
Regan's high-profile role in such
events as the Reykjavik summit,
crowding out others. "If he was a
genius he could do it all-but he's
not," the source said.
Poindexter's loyalty to Reagan has
not been questioned, but, as one
member of the group put it, "You
could hardly ask Shultz and Regan to
leave and keep the architect of the
policy." An administration official fa-
miliar with the effort said, "There is
a consensus among everyone that
Poindexter has to go." He added that
if Kirkpatrick was the choice, this
would prompt Shultz to leave be-
cause he has made it clear in the past
he opposes her in that post.
Several members of the group
said it would be wrong to make Po-
indexter, Regan or Shultz a "scape-
goat" for the Iran arms shipments.
"The idea here is not to say that
any single person is to blame but to
give the president an opportunity to
put this policy behind him and focus
on the agenda of the next two years,"
said one member of the group.
Sources said this is not the first
time the Californians have at-
tempted to remove Regan, and they
.ire aware that Regan has rapport
with the president.
The sources said Weinherger
would accept the post of secretary
of state if asked by the president.
Weinberger could not he reached
for comment.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920013-4
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920013-4
Other sources said members of
the group, including Clark and
Meese, had telephoned Lewis and
asked if he would be interested in
the chief of staff position. Lewis
could not he reached for comment.
The sources said Lewis was not
part of the group advocating
Regan's replacement.
The sources said Lewis would he
reluctant to accept the post, unless
strongly urged to by the president.
Sources said Lewis thinks that if
Regan leaves, the next chief of staff
should seek a commitment for an
active final two years on such issues
as the deficit and arms control.
Weinberger, like Shultz, original-
ly opposed the Iran arms ship-
ments, but since the disclosure, he
has defended the president. Shultz,
however, has sought to publicly dis-
tance himself from the decision. At
the same time, the secretary has at-
tempted to persuade the White
House to give him a public grant of
authority over the future of the Iran
policy-which Reagan has so far
not agreed to do.
The Californians have, in the
past, been instrumental in persuad-
ing Reagan to make staff changes,
such as the 1980 firing of campaign
manager John Sears on the night of
the New Hampshire primary. How-
ever, members of the group said it
may be much more difficult-and
take more time-to get the pres-
ident to make changes now.
Members of the group said their
effort was being made out of what
one called "intense hand-wringing"
over the damage Reagan has suf-
fered. An ABC News poll showed
that a majority of Americans did not
believe the president's claim that
he did not trade arms for hostages.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Na-
tional Committee's executive com-
mittee yesterday adopted a reso-
lution expressing its "outrage" at
the administration's Iran dealings.
"Our position in the world has been
weakened, our credibility on the is-
sue of terrorism is now virtually
nonexistent and other American
lives have been put at risk," the res-
olution said.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920013-4