U.S. vice-president expected to visit N.Z. soon

Press, 15 February 1982, Page 21

U.S. vice-president expected to visit N.Z. soon

NZPA staff correspondent Washington

The vice president, of the United States (Mr Bush) will almost certainly visit New Zealand this (southern) autumn:

No announcement has been made; and it is believed that no formal proposal has yet been put to the New Zealand Government, nor officially submitted for President Reagan’s approval. However, the United States Ambassador to New Zealand (Mr H. Monroe Browne) who is in Washington for consultations, said that he was “under the impression” that “tentative plans” had been made for the visit.

Mr Bush, aged 57, is a former congressman, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and served as ambassador to both the United Nations and China.

He battled Mr Reagan for the Republic presidential nomination in 1980, and remains a potentially strong Presidential candidate for 1984, particularly if President Reagan decides to step down then. Mr Bush would then be. a relatively young 60. Mr Bush is the “quiet man” at the White House,

rarely speaking out and never criticising Presidential decisions.

White House sources say he has the President’s confidence, but always gives his advice in private to avoid disclosing to aides any disagreement with policies, and to avoid leaks to the press of White House conflict. In this he fits President Reagan’s desire to have “team players” around him who don't disagree in public — a policy which held for the first few months of his presidency but is becoming increasingly tattered now as more and more officials and aides announce, or leak, their disagreements. The most notorious public disagreements have ' pitted the Secretary of State (Mr Haig) against the Secretary of Defence (Mr Weinberger) and the former National Security Adviser, Mr Richard Allen, though these disagreements appear to have cooled since President Reagan shifted Mr Haig’s deputy, Mr William Clark, another team player, to the National Security Council where one of his main functions is to co-ordinate advice and information to the President. There has also been disagreement among the White House “troika” of top presi-

dential aides — Counsellor, Mr Edwin Meese, the Chief of Staff, Mr James Baker (Mr Bush’s former campaign manager and long-time friend) and the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Michael Deaver.

Mr Bush heads a team of top officials and military men who plan action when crises blow,up. He also presides over the Senate, but this is considered largely a ceremonial job which is often delegated to junior senators.

Mr Bush and President Reagan both began their political careers as outspoken supporters of Senator Barry Goldwater, the controversial Right-wing presidential candidate in 1964 who

was heavily defeated by the incumbent president, Mr Lyndon Johnson. He is kept well briefed by the President, with all important papers going across his desk, and tends to concentrate on broad problems rather than specifics.

Mr Bush’s name was reportedly on the “hit list” of the Libyan assassination squad that United States officials said was planning to kill American public figures. Mr Bush remains — in the old phrase — just a heartbeat away from the presidency. If President Reagan, now aged 71, should die, Mr Bush would become president until the elections in 1984.