The last time I checked,
George Shultz and Jim Baker were both Reagan Republicans. And they certainly
were not shy about their views at the White House meetings I attended in those
days. For his part, Henry Kissinger led a special commission for Reagan, working
closely with my former boss, the "Reaganaut" Fred Ikle. George Shultz was also
an early, and strong, supporter of George W. Bush. And both Henry Kissinger and
Brent Scowcroft advised the Governor of Texas as he was on the road to winning
the Presidency (I write as an eyewitness on that score). Moreover, many of the
people about whom Jacob
Heilbrunn waxes nostalgic, the Joe Alsop crowd, would have had little time
for Kissinger in particular -- something about his background perhaps, or, just
maybe, the accent.
And, what, exactly, was wrong with Reagan's muscular approach to foreign
policy? Did it not convince Gorbachev that the Cold War was futile? Did it not
deter Muammar Qaddafi after the Gulf of
Sidra operation? Did it not convince the Ayatollahs to remain quiescent? Reagan
was no neo-con; he may have had Richard Perle on his team, but Baker, and
Shultz were both far more senior. And on certain key issues -- including
relations with the Soviets, Reagan sided consistently with the pragmatists.
As it happens, quite a few moderate Republicans have problems with the START
Treaty -- in particular, its not-too-muffled hints about a potential end to the
American missile defense program. The Russians, notably Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov, have unilaterally stated that this is the case, and while the administration
refutes their assertion -- the Treaty would not otherwise have a hope of
winning Senate approval -- it only does so sotto voce.
Oh, and one more item for Mr. Heilbrunn to consider: if he were to bother to look
around on Capitol Hill in particular, he would find many young Republicans,
twenty- and thirty- somethings, who are not at all committed to the kind of
international noblesse oblige that Woodrow Wilson shared with Rudyard Kipling,
and instead simply feel strongly about what they perceive as the erosion
of our national security posture. Were I their age, I would certainly
count myself among them.
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