Nation: Eight for the Cabinet

As the economy nosedives, Reagan's men have their work cut out for them

It was not exactly a halcyon time for Cabinet making, as the Soviet shadow grew longer over Poland and the U.S. economy once again lurched out of control. But Washington can be a parochial town where people and power are concerned, and week after week the anticipation had been building. Résumés flowed into the drab transition headquarters. FBI agents conducted background checks. There was feverish speculation in the corridors of the bureaucracy, as well as in the daily accounts of newspapers...