Adelman Resigns Arms Control Post : Says Charting of New Policy With Soviets Finished

Kenneth L. Adelman, the hard-line, feisty director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, submitted his resignation to President Reagan today and planned a future outside government that includes teaching classes about Shakespeare.

Adelman, who has served in the post four years, said in a letter to President Reagan that he is resigning because “I feel I have accomplished what I set out to do: to help you chart a new course for U.S.-Soviet arms control that dramatically reduces nuclear weapons.”

His resignation is effective in mid-October. But Adelman said he would be happy to serve through the completion of a summit meeting between Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Soviet Proposal Accepted

The resignation came two days after U.S. negotiators in Geneva accepted a Soviet proposal for a worldwide ban on intermediate-range nuclear missiles. This could set the stage for a summit meeting in Washington by year’s end. However, there are a number of issues to resolve before a treaty can be signed at the summit.

Earlier in the day, the White House announced that Secretary of State George P. Shultz will meet here with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze on Sept. 15-17. One of their tasks will be to plan a summit agenda.

Adelman, who also served in the Reagan Administration as deputy ambassador at the United Nations, informed the President he wanted to return to research, writing and speaking on public policy issues.

Plans to Write Column

An agency press release said he intended to write a nationally syndicated column twice a week, join an unidentified local “think tank” and resume teaching Shakespeare.

Adelman has previously taught Shakespearean courses at Georgetown University in the nation’s capital.

His more than four years at the disarmament agency began with stormy confirmation hearings and continued to be rocky as he was accused by critics within the government and in the press of obstructing arms control agreements by taking an unrealistically tough line toward the Soviet Union.

Policies Defended

In his letter of resignation, Adelman defended his hard-line recommendations:

“Traveling down this road has been tough. Along the way, critics contended that we could not deploy missiles in Europe and hold the (NATO) alliance together. The missiles were deployed and the alliance grew stronger in the process.”

He also defended the frequently criticized decision to propose an absolute elimination of the medium-range missiles in Europe, but, he pointed out in his letter, that the Soviets have come forward in Geneva with the identical proposal.

Adelman served as deputy envoy to the United Nations before becoming director of the arms control agency in April, 1983.

He is the second major arms control adviser in the Administration to resign in recent months.

Assistant Defense Secretary Richard Perle, who was the most outspoken critic of previous arms control agreements, announced his resignation in March to write a book and become a consultant.