Reagan Hears Bipartisan Call to Take Action

WASHINGTON â€”  Elder statesmen from both parties have conferred privately with President Reagan in recent days as part of an effort by longtime associates to persuade him that he must take additional strong action to rescue himself from the damage caused by the Iran arms crisis.

Informed sources said Thursday that Reagan has talked at the White House with former Democratic National Chairman Robert S. Strauss and former Secretary of State William P. Rogers about the Iran crisis and that former Senate Majority Leader Howard H. Baker Jr. (R-Tenn.), has met with Vice President George Bush.

The three reportedly offered differing advice on how Reagan should cope with the crisis but agreed that he cannot remain passive while investigations into the Iran affair accelerate. They also suggested that more is at stake for the President than public relations and that the success of his presidency and his ability to govern effectively in the final two years of his term are at risk, the sources said.

The meetings with Reagan were arranged by former deputy White House Chief of Staff Michael K. Deaver, who has discussed the effort frequently with First Lady Nancy Reagan, the sources said. They said that Deaver’s immediate goal is to arrange the departure of White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan, although privately and publicly the President has strongly resisted that step.

Perceive Broader Problem

“Deaver and his friends believe that Don Regan should resign so that the President can make a fresh start,� said a Republican supporting the effort. “But their effort is broader than getting rid of Regan. They think the President has to realize that his Administration faces an unprecedented crisis and that he has to get on top of it. A new chief of staff would be the most important signal he could send but not the only one.�

Several sources said there is also “considerable sentiment� for replacing CIA Director William J. Casey but that it is not unanimous. Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.) has said that Casey should stay. “The only unanimity is that Regan needs to go,� said one source.

Despite official White House denials, Mrs. Reagan is centrally involved in the push for a new chief of staff, sources said. She was the only other person in the family quarters’ drawing room when the President met with Rogers and Strauss for more than two hours last Thursday evening, informants said, adding that she reinforced Strauss’ urgings that Regan be replaced.

Strauss reportedly argued that replacement of Regan and Casey is essential to demonstrate the President’s control of the situation. Sources said he came away discouraged about the prospects of that happening. Strauss also found the President to be firm in his belief that the policy behind the Iran initiative was not wrong, the sources said.