Choosing for the Chairman

Old friends and old ways are helping Reagan select his Cabinet

At a meeting to discuss Cabinet appointments, one of Ronald Reagan's trusted friends turned to him and said how worried he was about the complexity of the task confronting them. A relaxed Reagan replied, "We were scared 14 years ago, but it turned out all right."

Indeed, Reagan's choices for the Cabinet, which will probably be announced next week, were being made by resorting to much the same system and many of the same people he had relied on to pick his top assistants when he was elected Governor of California in 1966. Says William French Smith, Reagan's personal attorney and head of the team that is considering the appointments: "Being involved in the 1966 appointment task force is a big asset to us this time."

The process by which Reagan is choosing his Cabinet is revealing of the man and his methods. He has entrusted the talent hunt to old friends with whom he feels comfortable and has given them a great deal of leeway. In Reagan's eyes, Smith is the ideal man to head such a committee. A successful Los Angeles lawyer--he could become Attorney General--Smith is respected by his peers for his intelligence and integrity, and for his ability to stand up to Reagan, when need be. A man who has served on dozens of corporate, educational and cultural boards, Smith is such an Establishment figure in California that Franklin Murphy, former chancellor of U.C.L.A. and now chairman of the Times Mirror Corp., jokes, "He has a subconscious desire to tithe."

Working under Smith is a group of 18 that includes Alfred Bloomingdale, the Diners' Club founder; Joseph Coors, the Colorado brewer; W. Glenn Campbell, director of Stanford's conservative Hoover Institution; Holmes Tuttle, one of the biggest Ford dealers in California and long a close associate of the President-elect; Anne Armstrong, Gerald Ford's Ambassador to the Court of St. James's; Justin Dart of Dart & Kraft, Inc., a multinational food and housewares corporation; Nevada's Senator Paul Laxalt, Reagan's key man in Washington; and Edwin Meese, Reagan's closest assistant, who will coordinate the shaping of domestic and foreign policy in the new White House.

Each participant at the sessions was given a top-secret notebook containing summaries of resumes gathered over the past six months by Pendleton James, a Los Angeles executive talent hunter and personnel director for the Reagan transition team. James had gathered about 70 candidates for Cabinet posts, listing their strengths and weaknesses. Explains Smith: "James' finished product was our raw material."

The first meeting was held in Smith's 47th-floor offices in downtown Los Angeles. In general, the group looked for the same qualities that might be found in the chief executive officer of a major corporation: proven competence, team work, experience and toughness. Since the participants had been dealing with one another for so many years, there were no personality clashes. Said one member of the panel: "It was like an after-lunch conversation at a private club. Everyone pretty much respected what the other guy was trying to say."

Reagan mainly listened. Occasionally, he would wonder why a name had been left out and ask that it be put back on the list. Or he would add names himself. Afterward he remarked, "We have a wealth of talent out there. We're just narrowing it down."

The winnowing continued two days later at Reagan's house overlooking the ocean at Pacific Palisades. When there was disagreement, the President-elect would glance at Laxalt with his eyebrow raised, and the Senator would express his opinion. Yet this time Reagan dominated the session. He confidently guided the evaluations and made the decisions.

The group thoroughly discussed possible jobs for George Shultz, Richard Nixon's Secretary of the Treasury, and Caspar Weinberger, Nixon's Secretary of HEW. But a problem arose. Both are top officers of the Bechtel Corp., which among other foreign investments has a $9 billion development project in Saudi Arabia. Even one Cabinet official with such strong Arab connections would be controversial enough. So the Reagan advisers agreed that only one--probably Weinberger --could be tapped for the Cabinet. At week's end Reagan said he understood that Shultz did not want a post.

Two possibilities for Treasury Secretary were discussed at length: William Simon, who held the same post under Ford, and Alan Greenspan, Ford's chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. The New Right supports Simon, whose book A Time for Truth is considered to be free-market gospel. Moderates back Greenspan. Last week Ford phoned Reagan to warn him against Simon's periodic outspokenness and abrasiveness.

Simon, whose first choice was Secretary of State, said he would take Treasury only if he could have enhanced control over the Administration's economic policy. Reagan's group was apparently unwilling to go along, and Simon finally told Reagan to take him out of consideration.

From all accounts, the Cabinet choices will not be made to appease the nation's various interest groups. Says Meese: "Reagan is looking at people's qualifications. If there is a Democrat in the Cabinet, it will be by accident, not by design. If the most qualified person turns out to be a woman, she will be in the Cabinet." Right-wing conservatives are afraid many of Reagan's choices may be too moderate. Shrugs Smith: "I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people who supported Reagan will be unhappy with our choices."

In the end, the only man to please is Ronald Reagan. He is considering a plan suggested by Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker that would allow the hearings on his nominees to be held in the two weeks prior to the Inauguration. The confirmations presumably could be whipped through in a day or two, and Reagan and his team would be able to launch their Administration together.

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