President Rips Regan ‘Attack’ on First Lady

President Reagan, stung by a series of “kiss-and-tell” books by former White House officials, lashed out Friday at once-trusted Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan for choosing “to attack my wife” in his soon-to-be released memoirs, saying: “I don’t look kindly upon that at all.”

Reagan’s remarks reflected the deep disappointment with which the books by former senior advisers are being greeted by the First Family.

In the final year of the Administration, books by three former aides--each disclosing unflattering anecdotes and behind-the-scenes tales about life inside the White House--have shaken the Reagan family and left the President “very, very upset,” said one source outside the White House who maintains ties to the Reagans.

The latest work, Regan’s “For the Record,” is already being called “Regan’s Revenge” for its revelation that First Lady Nancy Reagan has consulted astrological charts in helping to schedule the President’s activities. Mrs. Reagan had openly urged Regan’s ouster as chief of staff.

When asked whether Regan sent him a copy, the President said during a photo session: “No, and I don’t think he’s going to, unless I’m prepared to send a check in return.”

White House aides said the President’s view of his former senior assistants who have written about their White House experiences was reflected in the tone of his remarks as they left a photo session at the start of a Cabinet meeting.

“I have tried to avoid commenting on all the ‘kiss and tell’ books, but I doubt that they will be on my reading list either,” he said.

When asked whether he felt betrayed by Regan, the President replied: “Well, I will say this: I would have preferred it if he had decided to attack me. Apparently, from what we hear, he’s chosen to attack my wife, and I don’t look kindly upon that at all.”

To the suggestion that he can strike back when he writes his own memoirs, Reagan quipped: “I carry a pen all the time.”

Later, a senior White House staff member said Reagan “doesn’t usually talk that directly about things. You can take that as a sign of how strongly he feels.”

Regan’s book is scheduled to be published Monday, and excerpts are to appear in the issue of Time magazine that will be sold on newsstands that day.

While the White House staff braced itself for more revelations--involving more substantive matters than astrological charts--in the Regan work, a senior official who joined the White House staff after Regan departed said:

“I think those who write books like that have to make a decision for themselves what is appropriate and what’s not. Positions like these carry with them a certain level of responsibility. You have a chance to see decisions as they are shaped. It’s a little disappointing that people choose this way to vent their opinions.”

Follows Similar Effort

The Regan book comes on the heels of a similar effort by former White House spokesman Larry Speakes, who wrote that he had attributed fake quotations to the President on at least three occasions. The practice was branded “a damned outrage” by Speakes’ successor, Marlin Fitzwater.

Michael K. Deaver, who was Reagan’s deputy chief of staff during the President’s first term and who served Reagan in a variety of capacities for more than a decade before Reagan took office, provided an overall picture of a President detached from detail who must not be over-scheduled for fear that he will doze off, as he has in Cabinet meetings or as he did in 1982 while visiting Pope John Paul II.

Moreover, he wrote that Reagan “does not laugh off paranormal experiences.” He quoted Reagan as saying:

“All my life I have had a recurring dream, that I lived in a house with high ceilings. I never knew what it meant. But I read somewhere that the Lincoln bedroom is haunted. Every once in a while, I’ll find Rex (the Reagans’ dog) running down the hall and barking at the door of the Lincoln room.”

Pressed by Deaver for his interpretation, the President replied: “Well, it must be Lincoln’s ghost he’s barking at.”

Deaver added: “I believe he was quite serious.”

In addition, the President’s eldest son, Michael, wrote lovingly of his father in an autobiography that was published in March, but he also said the President “can give his heart to the country but he just finds it difficult to hug his own children.”

The Regan book has the potential of proving to be the most damaging of any written by the White House insiders. As chief of staff during Reagan’s second term--until he quit under severe pressure on Feb. 27, 1987--he was deeply involved in some of the most sensitive operations of the White House and saw more of the President than perhaps any other staff member.

He developed a reputation for keeping a close grip not only on the White House staff, but on access to the President and on the President’s schedule.

One senior White House official said that, in view of the bitterness that surrounded Regan’s departure from the White House staff and because it was well known over the last year that he was preparing a book about his experiences at Reagan’s side, the potential embarrassment had been diluted.

But another senior staff member complained: “The Speakes tide is just cresting and now we’ve got Regan coming on line. The feeling is, here we go again.”

Staff writer Don Shannon contributed to this story.