Diary Entry - 02/16/1982
Key Facts
President Reagan meets with the new Israeli Ambassador.
In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin, President Reagan denies charges that the US is drifting from its policy of full support from Israel.
More than thirty seamen are lost when the Soviet freighter Mekhanik Tarasov sinks in a storm off Newfoundland.
Received Ambassadors (4) including new Israeli Ambas. He brought a harshly worded letter from P.M. Begin re the news stories about Cap W. & his supposed line (which he never said) about changing our policy toward Israel. But I’d sent a letter to “Dear Menachem” before his arrival telling him it was all newspaper talk & that our policy remained the same. Best part of day was of course Mommie coming home. Next to that was having an eye exam & finding out that my contact lenses need changing. They’ve been getting more & more uncomfortable & I thought maybe it was the air conditioning or me etc. Geo. Bush went to Fla. AFL-CIO top leaders meeting. He defended our Ec. policy in the face of the worst attack possible by Lane Kirkland. Funny—I’m the 1st Pres. never invited to the AFL-CIO conventions & I’m the only Pres. who is a lifetime member of an AFL-CIO union.
