Reagan Defended After Criticism by Marshall

The White House today defended President Reagan’s civil rights record and rejected a highly unusual public criticism from Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who said Reagan ranks at “the bottom” of U.S. Presidents.

Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said: “The President has an outstanding civil rights record (and) he has supported racial equality in six years of this Administration. And I can’t understand (Marshall’s) remarks, frankly.”

The White House spokesman said Reagan’s actions in the field of civil rights have been intended to strengthen the law.

“We will not back away from his civil rights record,” Fitzwater added.

Marshall’s remarks came in an interview, conducted by columnist Carl Rowan for a documentary on the Constitution by CBS affiliate WUSA-TV, scheduled to air Sunday.

“Honestly, I think he’s down with (Herbert) Hoover and that group and (Woodrow) Wilson, when we didn’t have a chance,” Marshall, the first black on the Supreme Court, said of the Reagan presidency.

Marshall’s harsh ranking of Reagan was given in the context of the jurist’s comment that an elected official, whom Marshall refers to as “the gatekeeper,” determines the level of justice in the United States.

“I don’t care whether he’s the President, the governor, the mayor, the sheriff,” Marshall said. “Whoever calls the shots determines whether we have integration, segregation or decency. That starts exactly with the President.”

When reminded of Reagan’s overwhelming popularity, Marshall replied, “Is he more popular than the average movie star?”

Marshall, 79, predicted that Harry Truman “will come out on top” in the judgment of history.