Unity Meeting of Reagan, 6 GOP Hopefuls Canceled

Faced with upheaval in the stock markets and partisan criticism of his economic performance, President Reagan canceled what was to have been a unity-building meeting Tuesday afternoon with the six squabbling Republicans campaigning to succeed him.

White House officials decided to reschedule a reception Reagan planned to hold out of concern that it would appear overly partisan at a time when he is calling for Democrats and Republicans to work together to bring stability to the economy.

The White House session was intended to outline Reagan’s plans for the coming presidential campaign and at the same time to portray him as the senior Republican overseeing the 1988 race. But, agreed one senior White House official, creating such a portrait would have been difficult in the midst of the turmoil in the financial markets.

Talk With Officials

Instead of meeting with the candidates, Reagan conferred in the White House residence with Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan S. Greenspan.

“In a volatile situation like this, the President’s partisan hat can be put away for another day,” another White House official said.

He said the White House would try to reschedule the meeting despite the candidates’ increasingly crowded campaign calendars.

Reagan had summoned the candidates to listen to a sermon on his “11th Commandment”--”Speak no ill of a fellow Republican”--and to hear his explanation of his intended role in the campaign. He plans to promote the Republican Party in general while remaining neutral on the candidates until a nominee is chosen, his staff said. After the Republican National Convention, he will campaign as actively as the nominee wants him to.

In the early going, Reagan himself has become a target of some of the GOP hopefuls. “It’s fair to say he’s become a bit chagrined at some of the statements that have been made,” one adviser said.

Last Friday, Pat Robertson, in a pointed reference to the First Lady, remarked that “my wife does not like Communists” and “she has never suggested that I make an accommodation with the Soviet Union in order to win a Nobel Peace Prize.” Mrs. Reagan is said to have encouraged her husband to work for an arms control agreement with the Soviet Union and to believe that he should be awarded the peace prize.

Also, former Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr., another candidate, said in an interview with the Washington Post that Reagan’s economic and defense policies were responsible for the nation’s enormous budget and trade deficits.

“It’s nice to say the President should be neutral, but he reserves the right to respond when his policies are criticized,” the Reagan adviser said.