White House Diaries

Tuesday, September 29, 1987

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Meeting began with Bill Brock coming in to tell me he wanted to resign as Sec. of Labor around the end of the year. Then it was Bork & our concern that the Sen. might do us in. I’m starting to meet with some of those Sen’s. tomorrow. I told Howard & Ken if the Sen. didn’t confirm him I’d favor letting the court stay at 8 judges til I’m gone. Some talk about Woodwards vicious attack on Bill Casey & his lies about having a death bed interview. Ed Meese who with Don Regan did visit Bill confirm that he was incapable of understanding or communicating.

N.S.C.—Word that after 6 weeks of Gorbachevs silence & rumors that he might be ill—he has appeared in Moscow. We have a letter from 64 Sen’s. opposing our sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia. This is disgraceful & a blow to our diplomacy. Then some talk about Canada & the free trade negotiations. They are back in the meeting again.

Then it was time to go to the Sheraton Hotel with Jim B. & Howard where I addressed the Joint Meeting of the World Bank & the I.M.F. Well received.

After lunch an N.S.C. meeting—rcv’d. a report on our need for nuclear plants to make things like Tritium etc. we are down to one partially crippled plant. The Soviets have a dozen. Our nuclear missiles gradually suffer a decay of such things & it must be replaced.

Then into the Rose Garden for the unhappy bill signing. This was the bill to extend the debt ceiling or we would be in default. The unhappy part is the amendments that are designed to blackmail into accepting cuts in the defense budget & new taxes. I’m going to fight that part. Dir. Webster reported on his trip to the Middle East. Then a long taping session & upstairs to wait for Nancy who arrived about 5:30. So a happy evening at home.