The Presidency

By Hugh Sidey

Endit -- 30 -- put it on the spike. A journalistic tradition probably played its last Thursday night, the world allowing. The East Room presidential phantasmagoric press performance, sometimes called a press conference, went out soft-shoe and sotto voce with Ronald Reagan's retreat up the red carpet in the White House foyer. The U.P.I.'s Helen Thomas thanked him for No. 48, a miserly indulgence over eight years. Then she wished him a Merry Christmas and he was gone, muttering, "I heard Sarah ((McClendon)) over there, and I should have called on her." It is safe to say that Reagan probably heard and thought the same thing after most of his press conferences. So will George Bush. Sarah started with Franklin Roosevelt in 1944, and shows no sign of fatigue.

Reagan has rarely been more genial, confident of what he was saying and uninformative than in this half-hour, which nudged aside 30 minutes of Bill Cosby on NBC, an intrusion safe only for a retiring politician. Reagan never liked the press conference, but he learned to use it. Bush most likely will go to smaller groups, more frequent encounters on subjects of the day -- precisely what panels of journalists have recommended in order to get away from Gong Show news.

Reagan spent two full hours getting ready for the finale. Up in his private quarters, he sipped warm ginger ale to clear his throat, calm a stomach upset from the night before. "Remember," cautioned Nancy, "this is your last one." Reagan got an impish look. "Oh, I don't know about that." Most other people think they do.

Because the White House Christmas tree was in the Blue Room, the President was put in the Red Room to await his cue to stride to the podium. That meant 30 more feet to walk, five seconds longer on the approach, more time for the cameras to pick up the stunning seasonal decorations. "We've got to stop meeting like this," quipped Reagan. With his pink cheeks and flawless navy suit, he looked considerably better than his 100 questioners. Still clinging to the theory that Nancy's favorite color would attract his eye, five wore red dresses and 31 wore red neckties.

Except for a couple of hitches on the deficit and Nicaragua, the world that Reagan described is going like gangbusters his way, particularly the Soviet Union. After the New York City spectacle the day before with Mikhail Gorbachev, reporters did not argue. "I just wasn't up for it," grumped ABC's Sam Donaldson.

"Even after eight years I have to start every answer by correcting their questions," said Reagan, watching the commentary after the conference. "I was going to threaten to come back next week," he chuckled, then added, "I guess I'd better get back upstairs with my roommate." Aide Ken Duberstein suggested he tell Nancy he might have a return engagement. Said the President: "I'd have to room with one of you tonight if I did that." Endit -- 30 -- put it on the spike.