Performance by Reagan: ‘Cool,’ ‘It Got the Job Done’

By the time he strode up the red carpet to the East Room of the White House for his first news conference in exactly four months, President Reagan was convinced that he had pulled himself up from the depths of a trying winter and was described by associates as confident, ready to be questioned--bullish on his final 22 months in office.

And, although the fundamental damage inflicted by the Iran- contra scandal may never be completely repaired, Reagan’s 32-minute nationally televised session with reporters Thursday night appeared to be another step toward shoring up his beleaguered presidency, many Republicans and Democrats said.

Former Sen. John Tower (R-Tex.), head of the commission that investigated the National Security Council’s role in the Iran-contra affair, said the issue is “likely to be in the public eye for awhile, but I think the President certainly asserted himself well this evening and gave satisfactory answers to questions.”

Democratic Sen. Howell Heflin of Alabama, a member of the Senate select committee investigating the affair, agreed that Reagan was “calm, cool and collected. He had a lot of facts at his fingertips, and he seemed to be prepared for it.”

And Robert S. Strauss, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said: “It seemed to me that he was speaking with some specificity and was not fumbling. He was accurate.” Although it was “a dull press conference,” Strauss said, “it got the job done for him, I think, and it will help him.”

A former assistant who saw the President five weeks ago said Reagan was “really down” at that time. But, by Thursday, another former White House official said, senior colleagues reported that the President was “up” for the news conference and that the staff was “pleased with his attitude and approach.”

Reagan’s mood is of more than incidental interest, for his aides are well aware that he performs best not only when he is under pressure and facing a challenge but when he is optimistic and “on a roll.”

And his performance Thursday evening was seen by his allies in Washington as central to his ability to carry out a convincing comeback after the battering he has taken over the Iran-contra affair. “You can say you’re in charge, but you’ve got to show you’re in charge,” a former White House official said.

To do that, Reagan was advised not to try to hit home runs during the news conference, but rather to take a cautious approach and not make any obvious mistakes.

Larry J. Sabato, a University of Virginia professor of government, shared the view of White House advisers, saying Reagan had to make “sure he doesn’t say anything that is damaging.”

And, in the view of some opponents as well as his supporters, that is what Reagan did.

‘Stability and Soundness’

Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), a Reagan defender, declared happily: “There was evidence tonight of a stability and soundness. He responded, and he was his old self and I liked that. He was very good at it.”

A former aide who has kept in touch with the new team at the White House led by Chief of Staff Howard H. Baker Jr. said the overall tenor of the press conference served the President well.

“The press was not trying to be overly belligerent. The press didn’t come across as bullies, and the President came across as knowing his brief,” said the former presidential assistant, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Even such opponents as Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, acknowledged that Reagan “didn’t make the obvious glaring screw-ups that he did four months ago.”

However, the congressman added:

“I don’t know what he needed to accomplish, but I don’t think he accomplished it . . . . The grasp of foreign policy in a complicated world was very amateurish . . . . He’s playing this game where, if he says black is white long enough, he thinks people will believe it.”

Performance ‘Will Help Him’

Another Democrat, Sen. George J. Mitchell of Maine, a member of the Senate select committee investigating the scandal, said Reagan’s performance “will help him overall,” although Mitchell challenged Reagan’s description of the relationship between the Iranian government and the kidnapers.

It “simply doesn’t square with the facts,” Mitchell said. The President said he thought the Iranian government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had influence but not control over the kidnapers of the Americans held in Lebanon.

In the view of Reagan’s advisers, the standards to which this President are held in a news conference differ greatly from those applied to some of his predecessors.

Twenty-five years ago, when John F. Kennedy faced the press in the first regularly televised news conferences, viewers were conditioned to expect an urbane performance spiced with wit. Richard M. Nixon, on the other hand, was clearly uncomfortable in attempts at humor but was expected to be the ultimate manager--on top of all that was taking place in his Administration.

Reagan’s Task

For Reagan, in a period when questions are being asked about whether he is, at 76 years of age, still able to do his job, there was one overriding task Thursday night: to demonstrate competence and be able to head to his family quarters above the East Room 32 minutes after the start of the session without having made any serious mistakes.

When asked before the news conference what the President’s goal should be, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said that it was “just demonstrating that he’s in charge and can respond to the questions.”

Later, after listening to the news conference, Dole said: “Ronald Reagan was responsive, forthcoming and in command of the facts. The critics who were looking for ammunition came up with blanks.”

A spokesman for Dole said he telephoned the President and said, “Mr. President, you hit it out of the park.”