Reagan: 'I Am Not Appeased'

If the old movie star was acting again, it was a persuasive performance. Ronald Reagan sounded angry and dismayed by last week's events, and yet he could only feel helped by President Ford's clumsy handling of the Cabinet shake-ups and his diminished credibility. A Gallup poll of 339 Republicans taken two weeks before last week's firing showed Ford ahead of Reagan, 58% to 36%, but an NBC poll of 245 Republicans taken just after the shifts put Reagan out front, 44% to 43%.

Reagan is expected to announce his candidacy in Washington on Nov. 20. Without Nelson Rockefeller to kick around any more, Reagan has lost a major selling point. But he scarcely seemed deterred, saying of Rocky's dropping out: "I am not appeased." Though Ford is in command of most of the Republican Party apparatus, Reagan has undeniable grass-roots appeal. Admits one of the President's campaign chiefs: "Jerry doesn't excite Republican conservatives, and they're the ones who will work day and night. Reagan can excite them."

The early primaries in New Hampshire and Florida, where G.O.P. conservatives are heavily concentrated, are promising terrain for Reagan. If he wins or does well, he will have a shot at the nomination, or at least the No. 2 spot on the ticket.

In an interview last week with TIME'S national political correspondent Robert Ajemian, Reagan gave his views on the White House shifts and how he thinks they will affect his future:

Q. Has Henry Kissinger lost some of his authority in the President's shuffles?

A. No, I don't believe there's been any change at all. His former deputy [Brent Scowcroft] has moved over to the National Security Council, and to me that means Kissinger is still in charge of both jobs. With Nixon gone, I worry about Kissinger. He needed someone like Nixon to keep him on that tough track. He has to have someone around who can keep him from giving away the store.

Q. What is your reaction to the President's removal of Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger?

A. He was a firm voice in maintaining a proper defense. We had a good man and suddenly he's out. No warning, no explanation, just plain dismissed. If the reason is that the President wants a different approach to defense, I don't like it. It disturbs me.

Q. Where do these changes leave you on the issue of detente?

A. I'm against detente as a one-way street. It annoys me the way we tiptoe around. We're so self-conscious about our own strength. I'm for decreasing confrontation but not with us doing all the leaning over backward.

Q. How do you assess Donald Rumsfeld as the new Defense Secretary?

A. Let's see where Rumsfeld stands. I still don't know enough about his philosophy. If he's put there to get us melting down our swords, then it's bad. We'll get a quick reading from Rumsfeld's position on the new defense budget.

Q. How do you judge the investigations of the CIA and Ford's appointment of George Bush, a former party chairman, as head of the agency?

A. I'm against the investigations' being made so public. The CIA has made mistakes over 28 years, but we shouldn't be tearing the agency apart. On George Bush, I'm not convinced you have to have a spy in that job, a master of espionage. Common sense is what's needed. I've got a good opinion of Bush.

Q. How do you interpret the withdrawal of Vice President Rockefeller?

A. I think he was treated shabbily by the President's campaign committee. To me his withdrawal cuts two ways. It removes a problem for the President in certain areas. But at the same time Rockefeller had been able to keep the liberal Republicans happy while Ford moved to the right.

Q. With the withdrawal of Rockefeller, Barry Goldwater has said that you should reassess your position. Are you?

A. No, and Barry has never suggested to me in any way that I shouldn't run. He knows I wouldn't campaign in a divisive way.

Q. How do you rate President Ford's leadership and ability to advance his programs?

A. I don't think he's been very successful. You have to go past the Congress and sell the public. Maybe the President was a Congressman too long.

Q. Will Rockefeller's withdrawal help Ford get nominated?

A. It's going to help Ford line up certain party leaders who've used Rockefeller as an excuse to stay neutral. But I don't think party leadership is so important this year. Look at all these primaries. What's going to happen if someone beats an incumbent President in these primaries? What are the voters going to think? The President has all the machinery, but I'd be happy with the grass roots. If I decide to run, maybe there's a little David and Goliath to this thing.

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