Stockman’s Book on Reagan

So now we have former Budget Director David A. Stockman asking the ever-more-frequently-asked question, “What do you do when your President ignores all the palpable, relevant facts and wanders in circles. I refer to your article (April 13), “Stockman Says Reagan Didn’t Grasp Policies.” Well, welcome to the club, Dave. Many of us have been wondering about that since Jan. 20, 1981.

The fact is, however, that Stockman’s characterization of Reagan as an “incorrigible optimist” who “registers anecdotes rather than concepts,” as a “consensus politician” incapable of making the politically unpopular decisions, which the office of the presidency demands, and as an amiable blunderer with only the vaguest grasp of economics and domestic policy, is extremely difficult to ignore. Stockman is one of the architects of the so-called Reagan Revolution, and his writings cannot be dismissed as either the mistaken perceptions of an outsider or as character assassination by a political opponent.

I, for one, will be interested to see whether Reagan’s inexplicable reputation as a tough, hard-headed, shrewd, farsighted visionary will survive this latest onslaught. The defenders of the Administration’s “policy” on various matters are becoming increasingly reminiscent of the story of the emperor’s new clothes; I find myself constantly waiting for the little boy to stand up and shout out the truth.

Maybe he finally has.

RANDALL SMITH

La Jolla