A Fumble on Foreign Policy

The President meets the press, "recovered " but hesitant

He entered Room 450 of the old Executive Office Building with a jaunty step and a chipper "Good afternoon," flashing that familiar grin at the 150 reporters who had gathered for Ronald Reagan's first press conference since March 6, three weeks before the assassination attempt. "I have recovered," said the President, who described his return to health as a "medical miracle." Certainly there was plenty of the old zip when he urged Congress to get moving on his budget and tax-cut bills (see following story). But when the questions were about foreign policy--as 15 of 25 were--the Commander in Chief was less clearly in command. Reported TIME White House Correspondent Laurence I. Barrett: "His tone was hesitant. He groped for words, even for ideas; indeed, he seemed less like a President and more like the error-prone candidate Reagan of early 1980."

He was comfortable when repeating familiar ideology, envisioning "the first beginning cracks, the beginning of the end" for Communism. On topical foreign policy questions, however, he seemed awkward and unsure. When he tried simultaneously to condemn yet to defend Israel's bombing of Iraq's nuclear reactor, he literally lowered his voice. In answer to one question, he made a serious error of fact--calling Syria's SA-6 antiaircraft missiles in Lebanon "offensive" weapons, even though they are defensive.

Asked what he would do if Israel attacked the Syrian missiles "against our wishes," Reagan replied, "Well, this one's going to be one, I'm afraid, that I can't answer now as to how--I would hate to see this happen." In response to another question, he straightforwardly admitted that he had not given much thought to Israel's decision not to sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

White House staffers privately conceded that Reagan had been off form. In fact, it was perhaps the worst public performance of his presidency. Aides were quick with excuses. Reagan was a little tired, they said, because the White House air conditioning had not worked well the night before. The air indoors was dry, and that was why his throat was raspy. His briefing book on foreign policy had been delivered later than his book on domestic issues. In posing practice questions over lunch in the Cabinet Room that day, his advisers "did not do all we could have done to help." The press conference was only the third of his presidency--there were nine in the first five months for President Carter and 37 for Franklin D. Roosevelt--so "there probably was a little rust out there."

Reagan himself told at least one staffer that he had fallen below his usual standard. He had a few effective moments. When asked whether a shooting war with the Soviets would inevitably lead to a nuclear conflagration, he said pensively, "I try to be optimistic and think that the threat of both sides would keep it from happening. And yet, at the same time, as I say, history seems to be against that, that there comes a moment in desperation when one side tries to get an advantage over the other ... Our greatest goal must be peace."

Nonetheless, in talking publicly about foreign policy issues, the President generally seems somewhat insensitive to nuance and to how his statements will be understood abroad. Part of his problem is that he and his closest advisers lack expertise in this area. Another difficulty is the priorities he has set. With his economic program at stake, Reagan has been spending about 70% of his time on domestic issues. He has avoided making a definitive foreign policy speech, despite pressure from several quarters to do so. When asked at the press conference about making a statement of principles, he said: "I don't necessarily believe that you must, to have a foreign policy, stand up and make a wide declaration this is your policy." On that point the President made good sense. But as alternative proof that "we do have a foreign policy," he noted that he had "met with eight heads of state already, [and] representatives of nine other nations"; written letters to Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev expressing concern about Poland and indicating willingess to negotiate arms limits; and sent Secretary of State Haig on trips. That unconvincing catalogue, like the rest of the press conference, left critics wondering if this domestically able President does not need to work toward more foreign policy focus than he will find in a briefing book.

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