The Clothes Have No Emperor Part 21

"You can draw your own conclusion."

--Charles Wick to a reporter's query whether Nancy Reagan is upset about the Iran-contra scandal 12/28/86.

Terry Dolan, 36, h.o.m.ophobic co-founder of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), dies of AIDS.

12/31/86.

The Wall Street Journal reports that when Oliver North, as a Naval Academy mids.h.i.+pman, suffered serious knee and back injuries in a 1964 car crash, he recuperated with a regimen of strengthening his body by repeatedly jumping off the roof of the family garage. reports that when Oliver North, as a Naval Academy mids.h.i.+pman, suffered serious knee and back injuries in a 1964 car crash, he recuperated with a regimen of strengthening his body by repeatedly jumping off the roof of the family garage.

12/31/86.

Gary Hart attends rock star Don Henley's New Year's party in Aspen, where he meets would-be Miami model Donna Rice.

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JANUARY 1987.

1/4/87.

Rev. Oral Roberts tells viewers "G.o.d will call me home" if they don't help him raise $4.5 million in three months. "I need some very quick money," says the preacher. "I mean, I need it now." He gets his money and does not die.

1/4/87.

President Reagan enters Bethesda Naval Hospital for minor prostate surgery and the removal of four more polyps from his colon. Larry Speakes who described the President as "champing at the bit" to go home during his last hospital stay reveals that Reagan is now "chomping at the bit."

1/8/87.

Former NASA Administrator James Beggs reveals that Michael Deaver became extremely upset when he learned that his client, c.o.ke, would be sharing "First Cola on a s.p.a.ce Shuttle" honors with Pepsi.

1/8/87.

NBC reports that John Poindexter told Donald Regan he'd condoned the diversion of funds because he "felt sorry for the contras."

1/9/87.

The White House releases the finding signed by President Reagan on January 17, 1986 authorizing the sale of arms to Iran and ordering the CIA not to tell Congress. Also released is the 2 -page memo justifying the policy, which the President had not bothered to read.

1/10/87.

"If the big spenders want a fight on the budget, they'd better strap on their helmets and shoulder pads. In this fourth and final quarter, I'm determined to go out there and win one for the American people and, yes and one for the Gipper."

--President Reagan, recovering from surgery and a.s.suring radio listeners that it won't be long before he's "suited up and back on the playing field"

1/12/87.

Agent Scott Meredith announces that Zebra Books will publish Michael Reagan's childhood memoir On the Outside Looking In On the Outside Looking In. Says Meredith, "You can tell from the t.i.tle that he isn't happy with the relations.h.i.+p."

1/13/87.

Rachel Abrams says she "would like to take a machine gun and mow [columnist] Anthony Lewis down" for attacking her husband Elliott's McCarthyite tactics as a.s.sistant Secretary of State. Says the perpetually scowling Elliott, "I wouldn't waste the bullets. I would rather have them go to the contras."

1/13/87.

"It wasn't a sustaining issue. It was the epitome of the fad issue, a cla.s.sic really. It came and went in three weeks, max."

--GOP consultant Lee At.w.a.ter on the Reagans' anti-drug campaign 1/14/87.

Larry Speakes scoffs at a New York Times New York Times account of President Reagan's recent stronger-than-usual detachment from reality, urging reporters to "bug off." And what about the Senate report that Reagan thought would exonerate him but that in fact reveals the howling depths of his ignorance? "Phooey," says Speakes. "P-H-O-O-E-Y." account of President Reagan's recent stronger-than-usual detachment from reality, urging reporters to "bug off." And what about the Senate report that Reagan thought would exonerate him but that in fact reveals the howling depths of his ignorance? "Phooey," says Speakes. "P-H-O-O-E-Y."

1/16/87.

One anonymous White House source says, "The President has absolutely convinced himself that what happened has absolutely nothing to do with hostages ... No one is going to talk him out of it, and it's not clear that anyone is even going to try." Says another source, "The President has crawled into his sh.e.l.l."

1/19/87.

Time reports that a White House aide defended President Reagan's work habits by revealing that he sent a secretary a hand-written thank-you note for a get-well poem. "It shows he's up there doing things," said the aide. "It shows that he's extremely responsive and willing to get down into the details." reports that a White House aide defended President Reagan's work habits by revealing that he sent a secretary a hand-written thank-you note for a get-well poem. "It shows he's up there doing things," said the aide. "It shows that he's extremely responsive and willing to get down into the details."

1/20/87.

Vice President Bush says President Reagan "is certain to this very day that he did not authorize arms-for-hostages."

1/20/87.

Robert McFarlane goes on Nightline Nightline to separate himself from the decision to bring the Iranians a cake. "Simply put, there was a cake on the mission," he says. "I didn't buy it, bake it, cook it, eat it, present it or otherwise get involved with it ... The cake was the product of a spontaneous idea of Col. North ... I didn't get involved with it." to separate himself from the decision to bring the Iranians a cake. "Simply put, there was a cake on the mission," he says. "I didn't buy it, bake it, cook it, eat it, present it or otherwise get involved with it ... The cake was the product of a spontaneous idea of Col. North ... I didn't get involved with it."

1/22/87.

On the day before he is to be sentenced on a bribery conviction, Pennsylvania state treasurer R. Budd Dwyer calls a press conference where he pulls out a .357 Magnum, inserts it in his mouth and blows the back of his head off. The entire extremely b.l.o.o.d.y sequence is broadcast on two local stations.

1/24/87.

A spokesman for Liberace denies a report that the pianist has AIDS.

1/25/87.

Four university professors are kidnapped in Beirut, bringing to 14 the number of Americans taken hostage under President Reagan, who once promised "swift and effective retribution" for such incidents. In fact, though the media has seen no need to make a big thing of it, several hostages have languished in captivity far longer than did any under President Carter.

1/26/87.

The Tower Commission interviews President Reagan about the Iran-contra scandal. Though he is said by a source to lack a "highly detailed recollection," he acknowledges having authorized the arms sale to Iran in August 1985. This corroborates Robert McFarlane's testimony and directly contradicts Donald Regan's.

1/27/87.

Delivering his State of the Union address, President Reagan finds himself being openly mocked by Democrats who emboldened at last by his plunge in the polls applaud sarcastically at inappropriate times during his speech.

1/28/87.

"On the surface, selling arms to a country that sponsors terrorism, of course, clearly, you'd have to argue it's wrong, but it's the exception sometimes that proves the rule."

--Vice President Bush on Good Morning America Good Morning America 1/30/87.

Larry Speakes says that President Reagan was "pleased" by a Senate Intelligence Committee report that he knew nothing about the diversion of funds to the contras the only example on record of a President reveling in his ignorance of his own foreign policy initiatives. And did Reagan actually read that report? Of course not.

1/30/87.

Desperate to demonstrate that he is in charge, President Reagan vetoes of all things a clean water bill. "I just said no just said no," catch-phrases the President emphatically, putting on his stern face. The veto is overridden.

1/30/87.

In his last speech as press secretary, Larry Speakes without a scintilla of irony tells the National Press Club it's time to "decide policy on the basis of what's good for the people, not what's good for television ... Let's not write a TV script and then create an event designed for the evening news."

FEBRUARY 1987.

2/2/87.

Incapacitated CIA director William Casey resigns. He is replaced by FBI chief William Webster.

2/2/87.

James C. McKay is named independent counsel to investigate allegations of illegal lobbying on behalf of the Wedtech Corporation, a minority-owned Bronx defense contractor, by former White House aide Lyn Nofziger.

2/4/87.

Liberace, 67, dies in Palm Springs. Denials aside, he had AIDS.

2/4/87.

"If that student wants to say the world is flat, the teacher doesn't have the right to try to prove otherwise."

--Jim Cooper lobbyist for Arizona governor Evan Mecham telling Congress that "schools don't have any business telling people what to believe"

2/6/87.

Walking into a roomful of his aides who've been a.s.sembled for a surprise 76th birthday party, President Reagan seems startled until his wife whispers to him, "It's your staff." Says the President inaccurately, "Of all the 38 anniversaries of my 39th birthday, this is about the nicest."

2/6/87.

Failing to "antic.i.p.ate the perception of it," Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX), new head of the Senate Finance Committee, offers lobbyists the pleasure of his company at a monthly breakfast in exchange for a $10,000 contribution to his re-election campaign. Public outcry forces his quick abandonment of the plan.

2/7/87.

An aide to George Bush acknowledges that the Vice President was told last summer by Israeli official Amiram Nir that "we are dealing with the most radical elements" in Iran and not moderates at all because "we've learned they can deliver and the moderates can't."

2/9/87.

New White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater explains that the difference between "moderates" and "radicals" is a "semantic" one that would be difficult to sort out. So, will the Administration stop referring to its Iranian contacts as "moderates?" Says Fitzwater, "We'll probably use it and probably, maybe, not use it."

2/9/87.

"Even though there may be some misguided critics of what we're trying to do, I think we're on the wrong path."

--President Reagan, confusedly launching his welfare reform program 2/9/87.

Greeting the America's Cup winners at the White House, President Reagan puts on a Crocodile Dundee Crocodile Dundee hat and misquotes that movie's catch phrase. "I just know," he says, "that whenever I put that on I'm going to find myself turning to Nancy and saying, 'G'bye, mate.'" hat and misquotes that movie's catch phrase. "I just know," he says, "that whenever I put that on I'm going to find myself turning to Nancy and saying, 'G'bye, mate.'"

2/9/87.

On the eve of his testimony before the Tower Commission, Robert McFarlane takes upwards of 20 Valiums in a failed suicide attempt.

2/11/87.

President Reagan tells the Tower Commission that after discussing it with Don Regan, he now remembers that he did not not authorize the arms sale in advance. Commission members are disheartened when, while reciting his recollection from a staff-supplied memo, he mistakenly reads his stage instructions aloud. authorize the arms sale in advance. Commission members are disheartened when, while reciting his recollection from a staff-supplied memo, he mistakenly reads his stage instructions aloud.

2/12/87.

"I think the key players around there know I expressed certain reservations on certain aspects."

--Vice President Bush defending his Iran-contra inaction 2/12/87.

President Reagan tells a group of junior high students about how Rex barks in front of Lincoln's bedroom and won't go in, which makes the President think Lincoln's ghost is there. "Well," he says, "I guess that's enough of a history lesson here for today."

2/18/87.

Sources reveal that Nancy Reagan is no longer speaking to Donald Regan. Asked if his chief of staff will be staying on, the President says, "Well, this is up to him" as close to firing someone as he ever gets. "When I don't leave," Regan tells an aide, "they'll know I'm not leaving."

2/19/87.

It is reported that Nancy Reagan leaked the story about her feud with Donald Regan in an effort to force him out after he had the gall to hang up on her mid-harangue. Her phone manners turn out to be no better, as it is learned that, in another conversation, it was she furious at Regan for trying to subject her convalescing husband to reporters' questions who shouted, "Have your d.a.m.ned news conference!" and hung up on him.

2/19/87.

Was.h.i.+ngton Post: U.S. ISSUES RULES FOR DRUG TESTING / STEPS TO BAR CHEATING ALLOW URINATION TO BE OBSERVED IN SOME SITUATIONS 2/19/87.

Retrieved computer messages show that Oliver North shared secret information with the Iranians. Says a source, "Ollie was running his own covert operation within the authorized covert operation."

2/20/87.

"The simple truth is, 'I don't remember period.'"

-- President Reagan who, as a candidate, said he would resign at the slightest sign of senility writing to the Tower Commission to set the record straight about whether he authorized the arms s.h.i.+pment in advance 2/22/87.

"Nothing in his deplorable conduct of his office has been as contemptible as his clinging to it."

--George Will, frequent lunch partner of the First Lady, predicting the imminent departure of Donald Regan 2/22/87.

Artist/voyeur Andy Warhol, 58, dies of a heart attack following gall bladder surgery.