Ronald Reagan: Can He Recover?

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The Tower commission blamed Shultz and Weinberger, the two most prominent opponents of the Iranian arms sales, for in effect closing their eyes to what was happening. The commission also scored Reagan and his aides for never bothering to consider whether their actions complied with the law; as the chief legal adviser to the President, Meese must bear blame for that. But Shultz says he will not resign, and replacing him would cause more turmoil in foreign policy. Weinberger and Meese are old friends of Reagan's from California days. Replacing lower-ranking Cabinet members unconnected to Iranscam would prove nothing, though it might serve to energize an Administration that suffers from intellectual lameness.

Reagan may also have to look for a new CIA chief. He has nominated Deputy Director Robert Gates to succeed the ailing William Casey. Though the Tower commission found that Gates had played only a minor role in the sale of arms + to Iran, it raised suspicions that he might have been involved in the secret, and possibly illegal, provision of military assistance to the contras.

Before the report was issued, nose counters projected an 11-to-4 Senate Intelligence Committee majority for recommending Gates' confirmation. Now the count is thought to be 8 to 7 -- and nobody is sure which side would wind up with the eight. The committee will question Gates again in closed session this week, but is likely to put off a vote, possibly until all congressional investigations of the Iran-contra affair are concluded. That would be a "solution" satisfactory to nobody; Gates would be running the CIA as acting director, probably for many months, but with a cloud hanging over him.

The real challenge for the Reagan presidency is whether it can now get energetically involved again with other issues. Reagan's aides are counseling him to revive the strategy that proved so effective during the first term: pick two or three major proposals and push them for all they are worth. Domestically, they are urging him to hit the road, selling his package of "competitiveness" proposals -- aimed at pepping up American industry and education to meet foreign trade competition -- in schools and factories across the country.