THE NEW MAN HITS TOWN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420042-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: December 1, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/17: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420042-1
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A. : - ' . APP:! '-l i)
When Washington and the
President-elect came eye to
eye, each liked what was seen.
The watchword, at least for
now: Mutual respect.
Ronald Reagan's five-day, whirlwind
visit to Washington in late November ;
served notice that he is determined to
avoid the same mistakes that dogged
Jimmy Carter's administration.
Leaders of all three branches of gov-
ernment were left with that impres-
sion as Reagan flew back to California
on November 21 to begin the next
phase of preparations for his Presiden-;
cy: Selecting a cabinet.
As the next President explored the
city that will be his home for four
years, sizing up its power brokers and
letting them take his measure, the
names of his possible cabinet choices
kept leaking out.
Front-runners for key jobs included
Reagan's lawyer, William French
Smith, for Attorney General and Wil-
liam E. Simon for Secretary of the
Treasury, a post the Wall Streeter held
in the Nixon and Ford administrations.
In meetings with Congress, the Su-
preme Court, the executive branch!
and local society leaders, Reagan alsoi
made headway toward the major ob-I
jectives of his Presidency-a balanced
budget, tax cuts and a stronger de- I
fense. He let it be known that as soon
as he takes the oath of of-
fice on January 20 he will
begin implementing the
plans now being drawn
up by his advisers. As the
President-elect put it:
"We're going to start
grabbing night away.' . J
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
1 December 1980
Reagan made it clear
that he was not ignoring
world events. He sat
down with Central nTtef[i
geHey o icia s or
ne ngs an sent word to
ITi-e-S5@tTi Korean regime
that he, like Carter, op-
pose7t itplans o execute
opposition leader Kim
ae Jung. He met With
Helmut Schmidt during
the West German Chan-
cellor's November 20 stop
in Washington.
On the same day, for
the first time since the
election, Reagan met with Carter,
spending 80 minutes with him in the
Oval Office. Carter called the. meeting
"a delightful experience," during
which he talked to his successor about
the problems he will inherit. .
Although the list of potential cabinet
appointees was not made public, it was
known to include the names of Smith,
Simon and a number of others with
close ties to Reagan. Smith, 63, a prom-
inent Los Angeles lawyer, was himself I
a member of the screening committee.
Simon was reported to be a unanimous
first choice of committee members.
Other names on the list included:
Director of Central Intelligence:
Wil iam Casey, a New York lawyer sv ii
ran Reagan's campaign committee and
previousiv headed y the Securities and
xc nge Commission.
Bq SARA FRIT!-
EXCE tPTED
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/17: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420042-1