ALLEN'S JOB EXPECTED TO GO TO CLARK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450041-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 4, 2012
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: January 1, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450041-6
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE 14.1
;Allen's Job
Expected to
Go to Clark
President Plans
To Upgrade Post
Of Security Adviser -
By John M. Goshko
and Martin Schram
Wasaingian Pali Batt Writsgs
President Reagan plans to in.
crease greatly the power of his na-
tional security affairs adviser and is
expected to move Deputy Secretary
of State William P. Clark into that
job as replacement for ; Richard V.
Allen.
' This shift, which would put Clark
at the top levels of Whits House de-
cision-making, still is technically de-
pendent on a decision by Reagan
about whether to retain Allen, who is
on administrative leave. He was
cleared last week by the Justice De-
pertinent of allegations of illegalities
in his past business dealings, but is
still awaiting it final White House
review of the propriety of his con-
However, senior 14hite House
sources said yesterday that now that
Reagan has decided to upgrade the
national security adviser's post, it is' I
very unlikely that-Allen will be re-
tained.?
Clark, rill old 'friend and *political
associate of Peagan,--vias in Palin
Springs, Calif, with r, the president
yesterday and could? not be reached
for cent ACCOrding to the
sources, though, a decision OA the.
change could be-made by the time
the president returns here Sunday
and is likely to be announced early
next week. :
THE WASHINGTON POST
1 January 1982
:The sources said the move was
motivated not only by the notoriety
surroimding Allen's legal difficulties
but also by a consensus in the White
House top echelon that the national
seeurity apparatus had not worked
effectively' during the first year of
Reagan's presidency. Allen, who rt.'
ported to -Reagan through- White
House counselor Edwin Meese III,
was far. more circumscribed in his
authority than previous occupants of
his poet.
Meese,' who earlier rid Originally
resisted suggestions that the national
'Security position be elevated, recom-
mended the upgrading of, the advie.
er's -job in a conversation with the
president this past week, according
to a senior White Homo Oficial, and
,Reagan is ;Said. to have agreed. The
president was also said to have
agreed with Meese's recommenda-
tion that, if Allen is to be replaced,
. his successor should be Clark.
.White House chief of staff James ,
A. Baker III and deputy chief Mi-
chael K Deaver, who with Meese
run the White House staff, report-
edly had come to the same conclu-
sions. ? .
Meese made his recommendation
to the president after conducting a
study of the National Security Cowl--
ell staff's operations:
The official said Meese concluded
that national security policy-making
had been plagued by "confusion" and
lack of coordination because there
was "no single focal point" in the
White House for contact with top
officials of the State Department,.
the Defense' Department-- and
Central Intelligence Agency.
"The person who is the national-
security adviser must have direct
.access to the president,". said the
senior official. And just as impor-
tant, he must have the perception' of
direct access in the eyes of State,
Defense -end the CIA." ?
This position represents an about-
face from the administration's orig-
inal publicly stated desire to avoid
the concentration of power in the
national security adviser's job *by
subordinating him to Meese.',
In previous adininistrations,' this
concentration of powerchad caused
frequent embarrassing conflicts be-
tween such occupants of' the job
Henry A. Kissinger and Zbignie
Brzezinski and Cabinet officials.
Under the new system, the na
tional security adviser will have "di
rect day-to-day operational respon
sibility," according to the senio
presidential' official. He will mee
daily with the president, and
deal directly with Secretary of Ste
Alexander M: Haig Jr., Defense Sec
_
retary Caspar W. Weinberger and
CIA Director William J. Casey.
Although Meese will retain overall
responsibility for . policy, coordina-
tion, the practical effect of the new'
division-of responsibilities will put,
the national security adviser more or
less on a par with the White House's-,
controlling staff' triumvirate of i
Meese, Baker and Deaver.
Meese. is known to have main-
tained within the White House staff .1
that he never wanted to supervise
'day-to-day national security coordi-
nation but was forced into that role
because "personality conflicts"- devel?
oped from the outset between var-
ious officials, notably Haig and Al-,
len.-- - ? 1
"It got to the point where we had 1
Al Haig talking with Jim Baker or
Mike Deaver or Ed Meese, but there
was no single focal point at the
White House," the senior official
-noted. = ? ?
The hope of improved futon co--,
ordination apparently was a: major
factor in turning to Clark. v- 7 -
Although the former California-
, Supreme Court justice had no expe-
rience in foreign -policy' when he
came to Washington, he has carved
out an important niche during his
months at the State Department
. through his ability to mediate effec-
tively between the often mercurial'
Haig and the White House. ?
Clark, 50, did-'? this by winning
Haig's trust and confidence, while
retaining his credentials as- a mem-,
'ber in good standing of the group
that has been Reagan's political
inner circle since his days as govern-
,or of
cogo\?9
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450041-6
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450041-6
In fact, it was Clark, while serving
as Reagan's first chief of staff in
Sacramento, who recruited Meese
and Deaver for the governor's team,
and he also is a long-time close
friend of Weinberger.
Over the past year, these attri-
butes have gone a long way toward
overcoming the embarrassing lack of
expertise in international affairs that 1
Clark displayed during his Senate '1
confirmation hearings last February.
At the White House, his ability to
get along with Haig was regarded. as
so important that many administra-
tion officials assumed Reagan would
be reluctant to take him away from.
gate.
Since there still are a lot of gaps
in his knowledge of foreign policy
issues,- Some officials are known to
believe it will be a mistake to put
him in a job whose main functions
involve keeping the president and
his top national security aides up to
_date on the analysis and implications
of international events.
However, the president's top ad-
visers believe Clark .will be able to
expand the mediating role he played
at State into an even wider sphere
from the White House.
Staff writer Charles Fenyuesi
contributed to this article.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450041-6