Bush Chooses Lucas for Civil Rights Post

President Bush announced Tuesday that he will nominate William Lucas, a black lawyer who has been criticized by some leading civil rights organizations, to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Lucas, former sheriff and chief executive of Michigan’s Wayne County, which includes Detroit, has a background in law enforcement but virtually no experience with federal civil rights laws. His background has led the NAACP, among other groups, to oppose his nomination.

White House officials, however, have dismissed the opposition, suggesting that it is motivated primarily by partisanship. Speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon in Orange County, Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh repeated the charge of partisanship and gave Lucas a warm endorsement.

Confidence Declared

“Both the President and I have a great deal of confidence in Bill Lucas’ integrity, experience and competence,” Thornburgh said. “He has lived the civil rights story.”

Lucas, he said, “has the President’s full backing and my full backing.”

Lucas, who was once a Democrat, switched to the Republican Party in the early 1980s and has been one of the few notable examples of success in the GOP campaign to seek black support. He ran in 1986 as the GOP candidate to be Michigan’s governor but lost badly to incumbent Democrat James J. Blanchard.

Although announcement of the nomination long had been anticipated, it was delayed for several weeks by background checks. The White House announced the decision while Bush was here to deliver a speech on trade and competitiveness at a Ford Aerospace plant.

Capital Gains Tax

Bush used the speech to repeat his calls for lower taxes on capital gains--income from the sale of assets such as stocks or bonds. Bush maintains that the lower tax rate would spur investment. Democratic critics say it would merely line the pockets of the rich and have declared the proposal dead in Congress.

Lucas’ nomination would appear to have a relatively good chance for Senate confirmation, despite the opposition from the NAACP. He has received the endorsements of a number of prominent politicians, including Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), a senior congressional Black Caucus member who represents Detroit.

As assistant attorney general heading the Civil Rights Division, Lucas would fill the job held for most of the past eight years by one of the Ronald Reagan Administration’s most controversial figures, William Bradford Reynolds. Reynolds was the architect of many of the Reagan Administration’s attempts to dismantle traditional federal civil rights remedies.