"A Low Profile"

George Bush speaks--quietly

In keeping with his view that a Vice President cannot be effective unless he stays in the background, George Bush has spent much of the time since the election almost unnoticed in Houston, assembling the 25-member staff that will work with him in Washington. But he emerged briefly from his self-imposed anonymity last week to chat in his cramped office with TIME Correspondent Douglas Brew about the problems that will confront the new Administration and the role he expects to play:

On his relationship with Reagan: It is very, very good. I was in on all the final Cabinet decisions. But the proof of whether you are a good Vice President comes later, not by trying to show now what influence you have or if you got whom you wanted for the Cabinet. I've got to feel my way along. But I'm beginning to develop what I think is an excellent relationship with Reagan.

On declaring an economic emergency: What's needed is to do what Reagan said he would do. The semantics don't matter. What he said he would do is stimulate the private sector through cutting taxes, simplifying the regulatory morass and controlling the growth of Government spending. That's what should be the first and early thrust of this Administration, and in my humble view, that's what it will be.

On when the economy will improve: If people expect an instant fix, they're wrong. But what you can have relatively early is a restoration of confidence that inflation will not continue at an ever accelerating rate. That's important because a lot of what fans inflation is the lack of confidence that anybody can do anything about it.

On the hostage crisis: I'm doing a hell of a lot of reading and being briefed. My recommendation is that we start from scratch and review every possible option, all the steps that have been taken, and then make an objective determination as to whether they have been effective. But Reagan, I think properly, is determined not to try to act like the President before he is the President. Nothing is being done that would undermine what the Carter Administration is doing.

On "barbarians": I think Reagan was expressing sentiments that an overwhelming majority of Americans feel. But he was also sending a diplomatic signal. If there was any doubt, the Iranians now know that they won't gain anything by toughening their bargaining stance or holding back on something. I think some of the liberals in our country would have us believe that "gee, if you say anything nasty about them, you won't get anything done." The Iranians don't play by those rules. We forget that the rhetoric of the Iranian leaders has been much more shrill. They have made vicious personal attacks on Jimmy Carter. They say plenty of nasty things about the U.S. and expect to get something done. So I don't worry about that. I think there's something refreshing about what Reagan said.

On Poland: The situation appears to be de-escalating a little bit. But that can change fast. Clearly, if the Soviet Union went into Poland, it would cause enormous difficulties in terms of the new Administration's relationship with Moscow. The Soviets underestimated world opinion over Afghanistan; they bit off more than they could chew. An invasion of Poland would produce an amazing world reaction.

On Soviet meddling in the Middle East: I'm not one who thinks Soviet military intervention is a danger right this minute. The more dangerous problem ahead is the subversion, with Soviet support, of pro-Western, moderate Arab regimes. That is a matter of great concern. If you saw an intensification of Soviet moves to stir up disorder in the Middle East, that would be an overall statement to the U.S.

On being Vice President: I have not been given any specific functions. I have talked to Reagan about my responsibilities. But I think the Mondale formula is a good one. The way in which he was a generalist was good. That is what I would like to be. What I want is for people to wake up in two years and say, "You know, this guy really did something." But I will keep a low profile, and I will not have hurt feelings when people ask, "What happened to George Bush?" How much I do depends on how little I have to say about it publicly. qed

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.