Word: lisbon
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...January, Ronald Reagan called the idea "very risky." Three weeks ago, in a TV speech to the nation, he said it "would jeopardize our security." Early this month, he added the adjective "irresponsible." Even last week, when allies in Washington phoned White House aides in Lisbon, the last stop on Reagan's European tour, the President, in the doubtlessly understated words of one adviser, "wasn't thrilled about...
...even so, the vote scheduled on Thursday was going to be breathtakingly close. The President finally said yes, and Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole quickly spread the word. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, who had turned Reagan against accepting deep cuts in military spending many times before, phoned Lisbon to protest. Stories differed as to whether he got through to Reagan directly; in any case, he was too late. The President got on the transatlantic phone, according to some accounts, to call wavering Senators and urge them to accept the deal he had so long resisted...
Majority Leader Dole uncorked some champagne bottles in his office at 4 a.m. to celebrate, and took a call from Reagan in Lisbon, where it was 10 a.m. "We know you're a little disappointed on defense," Dole told the President, "but we may have some adjustment later on." Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici took the phone to promise Reagan that the final figure on military spending, after all congressional budget action is completed, would be "no lower than this number or we just won't have a budget...
...which otherwise would go up 4% within the next year as an adjustment for inflation. That exposed him to bitter charges that he was violating a 1984 campaign pledge never to approve any cut in benefits. The President rather lamely replied at his farewell-to-Europe press conference in Lisbon that he had never intended to guarantee increases, but merely to protect the aged against reductions...
Reagan will receive a warm reception in Lisbon, his last stop. Prime Minis ter Mario Soares, a passionate anti-Communist, considers himself a "very good friend" and has resolutely defended U.S. policy in Central America. Aside from talks with Soares, Reagan is scheduled to address the Portuguese parliament. While the White House is comfortable with Portugal's politics, it is uneasy about security arrangements; some 400 U.S. agents are reportedly being brought in to help with the largest security operation ever attempted by Portugal. On May 10, after viewing a horse show at the Queluz palace, an undoubtedly weary traveler...