Reagan: What to Watch For

For the new President, the next few weeks may be critical

Ronald Reagan has said what he intends to do as President with considerable power and sincerity. Now it remains for him to translate words into action. The success of his presidency could rest on how quickly, adroitly and decisively he moves in the next few weeks. Says Frank Freidel, American history professor at Harvard: "If Reagan is going to be an F.D.R. of the right, he is going to have to act rapidly and not let the good will evaporate. The time is past for general exhortation. We had that in the Inaugural speech. Now is the tune for specifics." Adds Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ed Campbell: "I think the honeymoon period could be shorter than usual because people are just not going to accept business as usual."

The question still to be answered is whether the new President has the will to back up his words. His friends are more worried than his foes about a seeming irresoluteness on occasion, a remoteness from the events over which he should be exercising command. James David Barber, professor of political science at Duke University, feels that Reagan is a "sentimentalist whose presidential style is overwhelmingly rhetorical. He invests very little in the homework of office or tough negotiations. I think we're all going to see more Ben-Gay than blood."

But what appears to be passivity could be careful planning. Leroy Corey, chairman of the Iowa Conservative Union, expects Reagan to keep his campaign promise to try to restore school prayer and to restrict abortions, but he does not think the President should act precipitately. "The worst thing I think Reagan could do would be to take on too much at one time," he says. "That was one of Carter's big mistakes, trying to do 25 things at once. No one realistically expects the welfare state to be dismantled overnight."

The first Reagan moves to be closely scrutinized will be his actions on the economy. The President and his advisers are still wrestling with the economic package they will present to Congress and the public in early February: a blend of tax and budget cuts aimed at seeking a middle ground between risking too much and risking too little. But even before the major policy is unveiled, there will be other telltale clues. Though the President imposed a hiring freeze on the Federal Government last week, as he had pledged, much depends on his follow-through. Carter, after all, took a similar action, yet ended up with some 40,000 additional employees on the federal payroll at the end of his term. Reagan said that hiring outside contractors for federal work—another ruse for getting around a freeze—will not be permitted. But he did not issue a flat ban on the practice. Another tip-off will be the size of the White House staff. Like Carter, Reagan has promised to pare it. One measure of his resolve will be quickly apparent: the number of employees listed on the payroll of other agencies who are actually working for the White House—a typical gimmick for hiding fat.