White House Diaries

Tuesday, July 7, 1987

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Staff meeting was mostly discussion of obstacles in Cong. to getting a decent budget. They are determined to cut defense back to where we were in the Carter years. They would dump a quarter of a million young men out of uniform & onto the job mkt.

N.S.C.—was more of the same. We have to find a way to beat them.

Mel Laird & his commission came by with their report on the Embassy situation in Moscow. They say State dept. bureaucrats have no business trying to run the construction of an embassy. They suggest it would more properly belong in the Army Corps of engineers.

Then word came that at last Ollie North had declared he did not tell me about the extra money in the Iran arms deal. Found out later that when that was announced the mkt. went up 20 points.

After lunch—a photo with our new head of Home Loan Bank—Danny Wall. Then a meeting with Peter Grace & Jack Anderson. I was going to proposition Peter about setting up a nation wide pvt. group to campaign for our budget policy. They beat me to it. They have a force already in place & want me to help promote it & it will take over the job. We’re off and running.

Then an N.S.P.G. meeting about Korea. All in agreement we must continue to do what we can to keep the peace there.

Ed M. Howard & Ken D. came by re the F.B.I. Dir. It may turn out to be Strom Thurmonds choice Judge Wilkins—maybe.

Cap W. came by & of course we discussed the budget problem. We still dont have an answer. The Demos. want to cut defense spending to ribbons. Then a sneeze shot & a taping session & upstairs.