Shultz Derailed Buchanan Bid to Be Envoy to NATO
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WASHINGTON — Secretary of State George P. Shultz vetoed White House Communications Director Patrick Buchanan’s application to become ambassador to NATO because it would be opposed by European diplomats and the U.S. Senate, it was learned today.
The outspoken Buchanan told United Press International that he applied for the post in late October but on Dec. 1 withdrew his name from consideration because “I was given to understand that it was not in the cards.”
UPI learned that it was Shultz and other State Department officials who blocked the appointment on the grounds that Buchanan would have trouble being accepted by allied leaders, he was too conservative and he would have difficulty winning Senate confirmation.
The State Department, one source said, “dug in its heels” when told of Buchanan’s interest.
A top contender for the NATO job is retiring Sen. Charles McC. Mathias Jr., a liberal Republican from Maryland.
Buchanan earlier this year irritated members of Congress by suggesting that if they did not support President Reagan’s contra aid legislation they were siding with Nicaragua’s Marxist president, Daniel Ortega.
Buchanan said that while he was turned down for the NATO post, he has no plans to leave the White House.
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