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Anderson leaves White House

As the New Right started to fight for its social agenda on Capitol Hill, it was disturbed by word that the Administration's chief ideologue, Martin Anderson, was resigning as director of the White House office of policy development. Anderson, 45, who will leave March 1 to resume an academic career, formulated the conservative platform used by Ronald Reagan during his campaign for the presidency. At the White House, though, his role diminished. The job of putting policies into effect and developing fresh proposals shifted to David Stockman, the energetic head of the Office of Management and Budget, and to White House Chief of Staff James Baker. Says one associate: "Marty is more of a scholar than a manager." Anderson himself says his departure is consistent with his philosophy: "This was a good Government job, but it is still a Government job."

Conservatives share his antipathy to federal posts but are not comforted by his decision. The President appointed Edwin Harper, 40, currently Stockman's deputy, to fill the post. In contrast to Anderson, Harper is both a pragmatist and a latecomer to Reagan ranks. Coupled with the recent resignations of longtime Reagan Associates Richard Allen and Lyn Nofziger, the New Right sees Anderson's leaving as another example of the de-Reaganizing of the Reagan Government. Says Ed Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation: "It's beginning to look like a Nixon or a Ford Administration."

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