Aides Look to Moscow Summit as ‘Capstone’ of Reagan’s Presidency

In the final spring of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, while he spends a 10-day Easter holiday secluded at his ranch, his most senior aides are looking ahead to the final exclamation point of his two terms in office.

Even as official Washington pays greater attention to the race to succeed Reagan, one event--the President’s trip to Moscow in seven weeks--is beginning to rivet the attention of the White House staff.

One former adviser to Reagan describes it as “the capstone” of this Administration. And, another former senior White House official says, it will be “the first curtain call” of the Reagan presidency.

‘Evil Empire’ Characterization

Barring any hitches, Reagan--whose most famous characterization of the Soviet Union was as an “evil empire”--will arrive in Moscow aboard Air Force One on May 29. His five-day trip, the first of any U.S. President to the Soviet Union in 14 years, will parallel closely the visit by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to Washington in December.

Many of the tiny pieces of the complex, minutely choreographed journey have yet to fall into place. A planeload of government officials--including White House aides, communications, security and medical experts and members of the President’s household staff--is scheduled to leave for Moscow on Monday.

Their mission: to conduct the next round of discussions about such broad matters as the events on the President’s schedule and such nitty-gritty issues as the preparation of his meals.

For months, the theme of the trip as the opening to the coda on Reagan’s presidency has been evolving. And with little expectation at the White House that the two leaders will be able to sign a treaty reducing the superpowers’ arsenals of long-range nuclear weapons, officials are stressing that the meeting can find other symbols of success.

“When we were first very much involved, in January and February, in the conceptualization, I felt strongly it should be the capstone” of Reagan’s tenure, said the former Reagan adviser who has been consulting with the current staff about the summit.

This view holds that the trip provides an opportunity for him to enter the capital of the “evil empire,” sit down in the Kremlin and assert that his stewardship of the White House has left the world a better place.

“That overarching theme, ‘Is humankind better off?’--that is something we want to symbolize, to reinforce. That is the historical legacy,” the adviser said.

He added, “If there is anything that has struck me over the years, it is the constancy and consistency of some of the President’s initiatives--the human element, the human aspirations, the basics of life the Communist system couldn’t deliver.”

Thus, he said, Reagan has what may be a final opportunity on the global stage to talk about such common concerns as the horrors of war as well as the hopes for youth, for science and for medical advances.

‘Shared Value Stuff’

“The shared-value stuff could be good themes,” the former White House official said. “I’ve been saying: ‘Tangibly and intangibly, make sure the themes come through, without insulting the Russians.’ ”

In coming days, Reagan will focus on a number of U.S.-Soviet topics, including the progress of the intermediate-range arms treaty toward ratification in the Senate--and in a speech Sunday on the need of the Soviet Union to open up its society in order to achieve greater technological advances. His public approach will reach a pinnacle just before he arrives in Moscow, when he gives a speech in Helsinki outlining the “parameters” for the visit.

After a series of U.S.-Soviet conferences, aides have presented to Reagan the broad outlines of the schedule being arranged for him, which he has approved.

A senior White House official deeply involved in the preparations said it will include 6 1/2 hours of meetings with Gorbachev. “It mirrors almost to the minute” the time the two leaders spent together in Washington, the official said.

Reagan’s agenda includes human rights issues, cultural and other exchanges and regional topics, including the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. But overall, the senior official said, Reagan’s message will be one of “building a brighter future and a safer world. Whether you’re talking about arms control, human rights, regional issues or bilateral issues, all these are movements in a positive direction.”

The White House already has sent staff members on two trips to Moscow to scout possible sites for the President to visit, to negotiate details of the schedule with the Soviets and--in the words of one member of an advance party--”to get a sense of the Soviet people.”

To do that, the Americans strayed from some conventional tourist spots and even explored a jam-packed weekend pet market in Moscow, where dogs, cats, pigs and fish are sold by barter.

“The President’s time in Moscow will provide him with an opportunity to meet with people in a variety of walks of life, writers, students, people in the creative fields, film makers--a natural tie for this President--and religious leaders,” the senior White House official said.

And, the official said, “you have to anticipate a meeting with refuseniks,” the Soviet dissidents--many of them Jews and others subject to religious persecution--who have been refused permission to emigrate.

University Visit

Officials also are considering the possibility of Reagan giving a speech at Moscow State University that would be televised live in the Soviet Union.

As for the Soviet reaction to such events, the senior White House official said “there is nothing that will surprise them,” because they have helped set up the schedule and the meetings.

So far, White House officials have encountered no major problems in working out the outlines of the journey.

“I have no reason to think there’ll be a snafu,” said the senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. While holding out the possibility of potential obstacles, he said, “It’s been a smooth process.”

He added: “I hate to sound like everything is OK, but right now, it appears to be OK. They haven’t tried to put roadblocks in place--they’re trying to take them down. I think they’re going to go to great lengths to create an environment of cooperation rather than confrontation.”

To some extent, the planning process is a mirror of similar meetings that took place late last autumn, when Soviet teams visited Washington to prepare for Gorbachev’s visit.

“We sat down and did the very same thing four or five months ago,” the White House official said.

The official said he senses that the Soviets, for all the new sophistication they have shown in dealing with Western news media, do not fully grasp the role of symbolism in portraying the modern presidency.

“They don’t have a sense of how events fit together and drive a central message,” he said.

Without a long-range weapons agreement, “I wonder if it is not just window dressing,” said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor and a student of the American presidency.

Last Impressions

But in the end, Sabato said, the trip could form one of the final impressions the nation holds of Ronald Reagan.

“It adds to the image of the mellowing President over the years. These last six months are his last chance to affect history’s judgment,” he said, adding:

“For other Presidents, it wouldn’t be that significant. For Ronald Reagan, it is--this last image, all this summiteering. Having had a taste of this peacemaker role, he’s reveled in it.”