Leaks that drowned a Reagan adviser

Press, 14 January 1982, Page 13

Leaks that drowned a Reagan adviser

From

PETE PRINGLE

in Washington

Tiie demise of a senior politician is seldom a kidglove affair, but the departure of Richard Allen. President Reagan's National Security Adviser, has been particularly brutal. Behind the very public examination of Allen's misguided acceptance of the now famous SIOUO from a Japanese journalist in exchange for an interview with Nancy Reagan, there have been equally, if not more, damaging leaks from White House insiders about how the President's big three advisers thought Allen was no good at his job. These leaks have been fed assiduously to the press ever since Alien's Japanese connection was revealed in mid-November. When Allen resigned last week he told reporters "politics was involved” in nis resignation Certainly, there had been some very hard politicking in the White House to get him out. Over the previous six weeks two of the President's top aides. James Baker and Mike Deaver, had leaked their disapproval of Allen —

not so much for his ''oversight'' oi putting the $lOOO into his personal safe instead of the official White House "donation" box — but of Alien's job performance. in particular, they had become increasingly infuriated that Allen had let his feud with Secretary of State Al Haig get out of hand. That was totally against Reagan's definition of Allen's job. which stipulated keeping a low profile. Reagan took no part in these back-stabbing episodes, but his wife Nancy, in a somewhat regal manner, let it be known just before Christmas that she disapproved of Allen's Japanese adventures. In the end. Allen said, he felt as though he was Hanging on to the gunwales and they were pounding on his fingers. In retrospect, the writing had been on the wall for some time but Allen never took the opportunity of bowing out gracefully after being cleared by the'Justice Department of any impropriety. He could have left blaming

the press for poisoning the air with their overblown stories of the Japanese connection and most Americans would have been full of sympathy for him. But Allen grossly miscalculated the forces mustered against him and. to the end. stubbornly demanded to see the President to present his case. Reagans aides were so angered that even before the President had made the final decision to get rid of Allen they leaked the news that Haig's deputy at the State Department. William Clark, would get his job. That news surfaced pointedly on New

Year’s Day. Alien's fortysixth birthday. Allen refused to take the hint and the President finally granted him an audience in the Oval Office. Allen was still hopeful. “I suggested to the President that I wanted to be reinstated, but I understood he might have other ideas." Allen said later. Allen was told bluntly his job was going to Clark: if the Administration needed him again they would call on him as a national security consultant. at $l9O a day. All eves are now on William Clark, the 50-year-old former; Californian

Supreme Court Judge. He has come a long way, according to his recently voluble colleagues, since he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last February and was unable to identify the Prime Ministers of South Africa and Zimbabwe, had little or no knowledge of the row brewing over the introduction of new nuclear weapons into Europe, nor even of the split in the British Labour Party. Clark is now known as a "quick study” and has a reputation for being excellent at smoothing the rough edges Oi thq foreign policy

machine as it runs between the State Department and the White House. "What Clark lacks in knowledge of foreign affairs is more than compensated for by the tact that he knows every contour of the hearts and minds (of the President and his advisers),” said a veteran observer of the California "mafia.” "He shares tneir political outlook and their penchant for doing things in orderly, teamwork fashion." That was the kind of teamwork that finally ousted Richard Allen:- - Copyright — London Observer Service.