Reagan does things right
Policy of passivity keeps him young; 30 hours a week about does it
Only a few years ago, it was being
said by the experts that the pre
sidency had become too big ajob
for one man. It had become an impos
sible burden — dealing with the com
plexities of foreign policy, domestic
problems, the economy, Congress, mil
itary affairs.
They pointed at the experience of
Jimmy Carter, who had come into the
White House with a youthful bounce to
his step. After only one term, he was
haggard and looked 10 years older.
There was vague talk of somehow
restructuring the job of the president
to relieve the unbearable presures.
Think tanks pondered the problem,
but nobody came up with a solution.
Then along came Ronald Reagan to
prove how silly all those experts had
been when they talked about what an
overwhelming, impossible job the pre
sidency was.
With his remarkable talent for turn
ing complex issues into simple ones,
Reagan managed to simplify the com
plex job of being president.
And he’s done it in a way that should
strike a responsive chord with all
couch potatoes and park-bench sitters.
His approach is to not do too much
and to avoid paying attention to too
many problems.
Of course, Reagan’s critics have said
for a long time that he has kind of a
detached managerial style.
But now we hear it, posthumously,
from one of his most devoted followers
— William Casey, who was head of the
CIA.
In a new book by Bob Woodward
—“Veil: The Secret War of the CIA,
1981-1987” — Casey discusses Rea
gan’s approach to work.
Woodword writes: “Casey continued
to be struck by the overall passivity of
the President — passivity about his job
and about his approach to life. He
never called the meetings, or set the
daily agenda. He never once had told
Casey, ‘Let’s do this,’ or ‘Get me that,’
unless in response to the actions of
others or to events. . .
“Casey noted in amazement that the
Presidents the United States worked
from 9 to 5 on Mondays, Tuesdays and
Thursdays, and from 9 to 1 on Wednes
days, when he'd take the afternoon off
for horseback riding or exercise; on
Fridays he left sometime between 1
and 3 for Camp David.
Mike
Royko
“During the working hours in the
Oval Office, the President often had
blocks of free time — two, even three
hours. He would call for his fan mail
and sit and answer it.”
Reading about Casey’s observations
has caused me to revise my views of
Reagan.
1 used to think that Reagan wasn’t
too bright. Sure, he was charming and
capable of a brilliant reading of one of
his speechwriter’s creations. And he
had mastered the important task of
saluting or waving at the TV cameras
when he got on and off airplanes. But I
had doubts that he was smart enough
for the job of president.
Now those doubts are gone. If any
thing, 1 am in awe of anyone who is so
efficient and mentally nimble that he
can boil the overwhelming job of the
presidency down to. . . to what? About
32 hours a week, at most, if what Casey
said was true.
Even less. As Casey said, a few of
those hours are spent reading his fan
mail. And other sources have said that
Reagan regularly takes afternoon
nappy-naps.
So if you subtract the fan-mail time
and nap time, we have a president who
can handle his overwhelming chores in
fewer than 30 hours a week.
That is an amazing accomplishment.
I know many small-business men who
regularly put in 60 or 70 hours a week.
And they’re not contending with the
threat of Soviet expansionism.
During his 21 years as mayor of Chi
cago, Richard J. Daley drove himself 10
or 12 hours a day and was often in his
office on Saturdays. And he didn’t have
to deal with nuclear disarmament, the
possibility of war in the Middle East or
rallying Senate votes for a Supreme
Court nomination.
In every office building in New York,
Chicago or Philadelphia, there are
high-powered executives at, their desks
long after the night cleaning ladies
have arrived. And they’re not confronted
with trillion-dollar deficits.
Yet, Ronald Reagan can deal with all
of these responsibilities — being Pres
ident of the United States and leader of
the so-called Free World — and get the
job done in about 3 1/2 standard
workdays.
Someday, he should do a book on
how to get things done fast and
efficiently.
I mean, if he can find the time.
© 1987 The Chicago Tribune
Royko in a Pulitzer Prize-winning co
lumnist with the Chicago Tribune.
Letters
Here’s to Willie
for FarmAid III
Congratulations to Willie Nelson
and h i s performance atFarmAidIII.lt
was marvelous talcnton his part, also
superb talent and showmanship from
his family and friends from FarmAid.
He’s a truly dedicated, sincere and
honest person who tells it like it is.
I also would like to thank the
University of Nebraska for its part in
putting on FarmAid III. It was won
derful organization and cooperation.
I hope that this event will spark an
interest and help the ones who feed us
all — the farmers. If it wasn’t for
them, we would starve.
Mrs. Eunice Y. Everett
‘Hoots and honks’
go both ways, girls
In her editorial (Daily Nebraskan,
Sept. 30), Jeanne Bourne wrote about
some interesting views on sexual har
assmcnt of women by men. But she
failed tocommunicaleclearly thatthis
problem “walks on both sides of the
fence.”
I admit that it’s a shame that
women don’t make as much money as
men. They should. Some women arc
more qualified than most men. How
ever, I do not see it as out of the
ordinary that we have a woman gover
nor, women doctors and lawyers. I
wouldn’t be surprised to sec a woman
president in the near future.
As for the hoots and honks that
Bourne referred to, some women en
joy being noticed in that way. In most
cases it is very childish and improper,
but I have seen and heard women
hooting, honking and making gestures
to just as many men on the street.
Both men and women need to
become more aware of what they say
and think before they say it. Most
people don’t take time to consider
whether what they say might beoffen
sivc to another person. I’ve said things
1 shouldn’t have and apologized for
them.
Sexual harassment is a problem
that both men and women face today.
We must work together to solve this
problem. It can be solved if men and
women realize what they’re doing and
agree not to harass each other. They
need to work with each other and
respect each other for who we really
are and can become.
Chris Fair
freshman
architecture
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