Reagan’s Double Shuffle

REAGAN’S DOUBLE SHUFFLE

The sudden exit of William French Smith from the post of Attorney General took Washington totally by surprise. The stated reasons for Attorney General Smith’s resignation are accurate enough: Both he and his wife, Jean, have little taste for Washington, the weather here being unfriendly, the socializing stilted, and the power plays uncivil. Also, Smith had felt unnecessarily abused for his tenuous Sinatra connection, his severance purse (upon leaving the private sector to join the government), and his tax-shelter arrangements—none of which were either illegal or sinful, but all of which gave an exercised Washington press corps the opportunity to create some erroneous impressions. The three legislative items that might have kept Smith in Washington—immigration-law reform, criminal-code statutes, and new bankruptcy legislation—are unlikely to reach fruition in ’84.

JM

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John McLaughlin

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REAGAN’S DOUBLE SHUFFLE

The sudden exit of William French Smith from the post of Attorney General took Washington totally by surprise. The stated reasons for Attorney General Smith’s resignation are accurate enough: Both he and his wife, Jean, have little taste for Washington, the weather here being unfriendly, the socializing stilted, and the power plays uncivil. Also, Smith had felt unnecessarily abused for his tenuous Sinatra connection, his severance purse (upon leaving the private sector to join the government), and his tax-shelter arrangements—none of which were either illegal or sinful, but all of which gave an exercised Washington press corps the opportunity to create some erroneous impressions. The three legislative items that might have kept Smith in Washington—immigration-law reform, criminal-code statutes, and new bankruptcy legislation—are unlikely to reach fruition in ’84.