White House Diaries

Tuesday, December 13, 1988

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10 A.M. & Arafat still speaking in Geneva to the U.N. The 5 A.M. was postponed to 9. He’s been going for an hour & a half. Colin was listening to him on CNN. I dont think Arafat has met our demand. Our 4th plane is on it’s way to Armenia. Our W.H. staff exceeded it’s quota on the Fed. govt. charity drive. Carlucci is proposing a new idea in Defense long term ordering of weapons that would eliminate the every year squabble over budget. A. B. came in & clarified some of the issues over the North trial and classified info. that can't be used.

N.S.C.—Angola, Cuba & S.A. have signed an agreement calling for Cuba to get it’s troops out of Angola. We’re trying to contact Savimbi to make sure he is involved. Out near Indian Ocean one of our ships testing a harpoon missile. An Indian ship came into target area in spite of our warnings & was hit by missile—1 man killed. We discussed the Higgens matter. We’re still not sure he isn’t already dead. In Armenia 18,000 bodies have been retrieved from the rubble.

Some short desk time then I was off to Constitution Hall to address about 3000 of our people & some business execs. My speech was a recap of our Ec. Policy for those 8 yrs. & the present situation. It was exceptionally well received. Back to the W.H. for lunch & some more desk time. Art Van Court, his wife & 2 friends dropped by. He’s still a Fed. Marshal in Sacramento. At 1:30 an Ec. Brief Alan Greenspan, Beryl Sprinkel, Sec. of treasury etc. Our growth continues & the predictions of a possible recession dont ring true.

At 2 P.M. over to E.O.B. to speak to & receive a plaque from Business, Govt. Relations Council. A meeting with Bill Webster who reported mainly on our new Satellite the La Cross which the Shuttle had taken aloft. Then my sneeze shot & to the dentist for cleaning & check up. Upstairs, exercise, shower & dinner. Dennis & Merme on hand.