Diary Entry - 07/20/1983
Key Facts
President Reagan meets with the National Security and Planning Group to discuss the situation in Lebanon and how to get Syria to leave the country.
President Reagan meets with the Presidents Economic Policy Advisory Board.
The Israeli Cabinet approves a proposal to withdraw its troops from the suburbs of Beirut and from the Shuf Mountains of Lebanon and redeploy them to the south along the Awali River.
A short but busy day that started with the tragic news that our friend Frank Reynolds died at 12:40 A.M. He was a very decent man and as a journalist a man of great fairness & integrity. I signed a waiver permitting his burial in Arlington. Back to the Exec. bldg. for a short speech & Q&A with the Central American Outreach group. Had a Q. about the Sandinista treatment of the Miskito Indians in Nicaragua. I gave a full account of their torture, confinement, persecution etc. Then someone said there was a Miskito in the audience. He stood up so I asked him if my account was accurate. He replied in Spanish. Two people interpreted. He had said I was completely accurate. Met with Ec. Advisors for about 11⁄2 hours. As usual there were divergent views. They did seem to agree on an idea of contingency tax to go into effect in ’86 if certain conditions prevailed at that time. A Rose Garden ceremony to present $800,000 to Mayor Barry for summer youth employment. This is on top of $8 mil. we’ve already supplied. It was 95° out there. A Nat. Security Planning Group meeting on the Lebanon situation. It is really a can of worms. How to get Syria out is the problem. Incidentally the other Pentacostal family—15 people has been allowed to leave the Soviet U. Quiet diplomacy is working.
