First Lady’s Right-Hand Man Lays Groundwork on Her Trip

On his first day on the job, Nancy Reagan’s new chief of staff, Jack Courtamanche, embarked on a 22,000-mile trip to help plan, among other things, what colors the First Lady could safely wear to formal dinners on her four-stop tour of the Far East, culminating at next week’s Tokyo economic summit.

The former Los Angeles businessman made careful notes:

No yellow, blue or white in Kuala Lumpur. Long sleeves, no shoes that reveal heels or toes, and no black, purple or solid white in Bangkok. No mauve in Tokyo. According to the customs of each country, some of these colors should only be worn by royalty while others connote grief.

And then there is the all-important matter of the hand and the face.

Courtamanche learned that in Indonesia, if you rest your chin on your hand with your index finger pointing up your cheek, you are making an obscene gesture.

“You learn very quickly,” Courtamanche said, “that people in Asia have very distinct customs.”

During the 22 years he lived in Los Angeles, Courtamanche had handled a litigation-filled, multimillion-dollar sale of his Crown Coach school bus company, and held high-level fund-raising positions in Ronald Reagan’s 1976 and 1980 presidential campaigns.

Moving to Washington in 1983, Courtamanche was executive director of the White House Conference on Productivity, deputy assistant to the President for public liaison and head of the White House Conference on Small Business before becoming Mrs. Reagan’s fifth chief of staff two months ago.

So Courtamanche had experience in a number of fields, but never anything exactly like overseeing Mrs. Reagan’s public appearances.

Of course, his job involves more than dress colors and hand gestures. On this trip, the strictest security measures were planned, cultural sites selected and, after daily telephone reports from White House staffers who have been at her four stops for a week, some of Mrs. Reagan’s events have been rescheduled with less outdoor time and more indoor time because of temperatures in the mid-90s, “about 10 degrees higher than normal at this time of year,” and high humidity, he said.

Mrs. Reagan has enjoyed increasing stature as an activist against drug abuse, a situation that reflects a good light on the President as well. White House polls show that Mrs. Reagan, who once had the lowest approval rating of any modern First Lady, is now extremely popular.

“In certain areas,” Courtamanche said, “her numbers are much higher than the President’s.”

Courtamanche’s primary responsibility is to keep those numbers high.

A Puzzling Step?

Despite the positive aspects of the job, there are those in power-conscious Washington who consider a move from the President’s West Wing domain to Mrs. Reagan’s East Wing offices a strange and puzzling step into political limbo.

But Courtamanche, 51, said he had no hesitation in making the move.

Former Reagan aide Michael K. Deaver, one of Mrs. Reagan’s closest friends, had known Courtamanche during the campaigns and asked him to consider the job. Deaver had just started smoothing over an already difficult situation, giving a job in his now-controversial consulting firm to Mrs. Reagan’s previous chief of staff, Lee Verstandig, who had lasted 24 days. Verstandig left after reportedly angering Mrs. Reagan and her staff by bringing a high-priced assistant with him from his office at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Since Deaver originally had recommended Verstandig as well, he apparently felt obliged to rectify the situation.

‘Willing to Help’

“I was surprised (when Deaver called),” Courtamanche said. “But I am willing to do anything I can to help the Administration.

“He felt strongly that she wanted someone she had known for a period of time.”

That way there would be no surprises, a la Verstandig. Mrs. Reagan made a similar move in naming her longtime secretary Elaine Crispen as her press secretary, after Jennefer Hirshberg’s six-month stay in the press office ended amid some controversy.

“The whole atmosphere had changed when Deaver was no longer there,” to help Mrs. Reagan, Courtamanche said.

“I have known her for a long time. To me, she’s very easy to work with. I have no problem whatsoever. I know how she wants things done.”

From running the Crown Coach bus company and other business ventures, Courtamanche said he brings “management skills.”

“We do have a staff and her schedule, and the ability to work with people is important,” Courtamanche said.

In February, 1984, the President nominated Courtamanche to be administrator of the General Services Administration, a post that requires Senate confirmation.

At the time of the confirmation hearings, Courtamanche was entangled in civil suits involving the sale of Crown Coach.

By the time the matter was settled out of court, the Senate hearings had elapsed without Courtamanche being confirmed.

Courtamanche said he plans to stay on as chief of staff for the duration of Reagan’s term, and won’t mind if he is asked to perform a duty the former chiefs of staff have done: hold Mrs. Reagan’s purse during events.

“That won’t bother me,” he said.

At least it will be the right color.