Diary Entry - 09/30/1985
Key Facts
President Reagan meets with King Hussein I of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
President Reagan attends the retirement ceremony for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Vessey at Andrews Air Force Base.
Our friend King Hussein arrived—we had a good visit. There are still a few glitches in trying to put an international meeting together that would lead to direct negotiations between Jordan & Israel but I dont think they are insurmountable.
Then I went out to Andrews A.F.B. for the farewell ceremony for Gen. Vessey—Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is retiring after 46 yrs. in the service. It was a splendid ceremony and those young men of ours in uniform make me very proud. Just learned our latest recruiting has resulted in the Army having 91% high school graduates.
Back to the W.H. and a meeting with Margaret Heckler. A back biting campaign has her very upset & justifiably so. The gossip is that we’re railroading her out of H.H.S. & shipping her off to be Ambas. to Ireland. Well that last part is true but it’s because I truly want her to be Ambas. She has agreed to think about it & I’ve told her I’m going to go to the press to blast the gossip as entirely false.
A pvt. dinner upstairs here—32 people—for the Prince & Princess of Lichtenstein & the Crown Prince & Princess. It was a very nice evening—Burt Bacharach & his wife entertained.
