Diary Entry - 10/21/1983

A Budget overview meeting. We’ve actually achieved more savings in domestic spending than we’re given credit for. We’ve only been given about 50% of the spending cuts though that we’ve asked for. Met with business leaders re the natural gas price deregulation. They’re with us. Did an interview with David Hartman for good morning Am. He said it was mainly about ed. but it ended up with more talk about Lebanon. Henry K. & the Commission on Central Am. came by. It’s amazing how much consensus there is now that they’ve been there, that what we’re doing is right & Nicaragua is the real villain. I taped my Sat. radio bit & we left for Augusta Ga. We all stayed in the Eisenhower cottage at Augusta Country Club—home of the Masters golf tourney. There were the Shultzs, the Don Regans & the Nick Bradys. We turned out to be a fun group. Dinner at the Club then home to bed. About 4 A.M. or so I was awakened by Bud McFarlane. I joined him & George S. in the living room. We were on the phone with Wash. about the Grenada situation. I’ve OK’d an outright invasion in response to a request by 6 other Caribbean nations including Jamaica & Barbados. They will all supply some forces so it will be a multi national invasion. Finally back to bed for a short while & then up for golf. I was better than at Andrews but still not good. I guess you have to play more than 4 times in almost 3 yrs. We reached the 16th hole and suddenly were stopped. A man with a gun was holding hostages in the golf shop demanding to talk to me. I got on the car phone & tried 5 times to talk to him but he always hung up on me. Dave F. was a hostage but talked his way out on the grounds that he could get the message to me. Lanny Wiles remained a hostage for almost 2 hours before he made a break & got away. One by one the hostages got away one way or another. The gun man was taken into custody. Meanwhile we had taken a back road & reached Eisenhower cottage. And so to bed—after a pleasant dinner.