White House Diaries

Thursday, November 22, 1984

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The whole week was wonderful as usual except that Nancy picked up a cold. The routine became morning rides & work on laying the pipes etc. in the afternoons. Thursday—Thanksgiving Patti & Paul, Ron & Doria, Maureen & Dennis & Moon & Bess came up for our annual Turkey. Patti & Paul stayed over & went back on Fri. We set off the annual brush pile on Fri.

Word came of the firefight in Korea. A Soviet tourist ducked across the line in the demilitarized zone seeking sanctuary. The N. Koreans opened fire & the Am. & S. Koreans returned fire. One of our men was wounded—not seriously, a S. Korean was killed & the N.K.’s lost 2. The Soviets must be serious about their decision to meet with us on Jan. 7 & 8. We feared they might get exercised about the defection & the shooting. They haven’t mentioned it. Sat. the 24th was our one bad day—cold, foggy & raining. Well it gave me a chance to catch up on some homework. Sunday was bright & beautiful & the flight back to Wash. was uneventful. One other sour note on Thanksgiving had to do with Mike R. He blew up at something on the T.V. news based on an interview Nancy had given. He called me & when I tried to straighten him out he screamed at me about having been adopted & hung up on me [. . .]

[* In the copy pasted in the diary, the 2:00 P.M. meeting is circled with a handwritten note from President Reagan stating, “This meeting was well worthwhile. It had to do with Pakistan’s nuclear energy program. They’ve been reluctant to allow inspection to confirm their claim they are not building a weapon. I think the matter is settled.”]