Making History Is Not Easy: 5-President Meeting in Doubt

Organizers trying to line up a historic meeting of all five living U.S. Presidents for the Nov. 4 dedication ceremonies of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library are finding it’s a bit like herding cats.

First, former President Jimmy Carter sent his regrets, saying he would be in Zambia monitoring the African nation’s first democratic elections on Oct. 31.

It would have been a logistic problem for Carter to meet his obligation to oversee the ballot count in Zambia and then scramble for a commercial flight to begin the two-day trip to the library near Simi Valley.

On Friday, Carter’s office announced that the former President has “graciously accepted” an offer from Ronald Reagan Foundation Chairman Lodwrick M. Cook, who is also chairman and chief executive officer of Arco, to provide a corporate jet to fly Carter to Zambia and back to the states at the first opportunity.

But Carter’s attendance is still uncertain, said his spokeswoman Carrie Harmon.

Carter has promised to stay in Africa as long as necessary, she said, and election results may not be completed until Nov. 3.

On another front, major international events encroaching on the library opening date may complicate President Bush’s schedule.

On Oct. 30, Bush will meet with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Madrid to talk about nuclear arms reductions and kick off a Middle East peace conference aimed at ending the long-running Arab-Israeli conflict.

From Nov. 6 to Nov. 9, Bush is scheduled to attend the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Rome to discuss such matters as the proposed 80% reduction of NATO nuclear arms and the French-German accord to create a joint military force independent of NATO.

For now, Bush is scheduled to return to the United States for a political fund-raising dinner and the Nov. 4 library celebration.

“The President is firmly committed to attending the library opening,” said Sean Walsh, an assistant White House press secretary. “We are definitely in.”

If all make it to Simi Valley, it will be the first meeting in history of five U.S. Presidents.

These five men met once before in 1981, but Bush was vice president at the time.

Carter and former Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Richard M. Nixon stopped at the White House for cocktails in the Blue Room with then-President Reagan and then Vice President Bush before flying to Egypt to attend the funeral of slain Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Four of them--Bush, Reagan, Ford and Nixon--attended the opening of the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda in July, 1990. Carter did not attend, citing a previous commitment.

All told, the dais is expected to hold about 60 distinguished visitors, including foreign leaders, ambassadors and other dignitaries.