Gary Sick

For the outside world it was one of the great mysteries of the 1980s why Americans held Ronald Reagan in such esteem for so long. To many of the rest of us, the man seemed to be a willing tool of others--his advisers, his wife, her astrologer--and to be largely incapable of understanding what was done in his name. Most countries can usually survive perfectly well with a roi faineant on the throne, as long as their political culture remains intact.

For the outside world it was one of the great mysteries of the 1980s why Americans held Ronald Reagan in such esteem for so long. To many of the rest of us, the man seemed to be a willing tool of others--his advisers, his wife, her astrologer--and to be largely incapable of understanding what was done in his name. Most countries can usually survive perfectly well with a roi faineant on the throne, as long as their political culture remains intact.

Peters Gets 'October': Producer Jon Peters will turn the controversial book "October Surprise" into a film for Columbia Pictures as the first project of his new production company. "October Surprise: America's Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan" was written by Gary Sick, the former National Security Council specialist who served Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan.

Peters Gets 'October': Producer Jon Peters will turn the controversial book "October Surprise" into a film for Columbia Pictures as the first project of his new production company. "October Surprise: America's Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan" was written by Gary Sick, the former National Security Council specialist who served Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan.

A former Jimmy Carter Administration aide renewed charges today that Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign made a secret deal with Iran to hold 52 American hostages until after that year's presidential election. Gary Sick, who worked on the 1980 hostage negotiations at the National Security Council, wrote in a new book that after a two-year investigation, he is more convinced than ever that Reagan campaign chairman William J. Casey struck a secret deal with the Iranian regime.

Former President Ronald Reagan on Saturday labeled as "absolute fiction" charges that he or his campaign staff conducted talks with Iran to prevent the freeing of American hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran before the 1980 election.

Eight Americans who were held hostage in Iran demanded Thursday that Congress investigate allegations that the Reagan-Bush campaign delayed their release in 1980. "The question of whether there is evidence of wrongdoing must be answered by an unbiased, bipartisan congressional investigation with full subpoena power," the former hostages said in a letter to lawmakers. "Unless this happens, speculation and unanswered questions will erode public confidence in our electoral system," they said.

Senior Democrats said after meeting with a former White House aide Thursday that they will look more closely into allegations that officials from Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign secretly negotiated with Iran to delay the release of hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran until after the presidential election.

An angry President Bush moved Friday for the first time to put to rest speculation that he and other members of the 1980 Ronald Reagan campaign team had agreed secretly with Iranian officials to delay the release of 52 American hostages being held in Tehran until after that year's election. At the heart of a series of unconfirmed allegations is the assertion that Bush met secretly in Paris in October, 1980, with Iranian representatives.

Boskin failed to include some very pertinent factors in forming his analysis. First, two elements that contributed to the recession under the Carter Administration were the energy crisis and the influx of the baby boomers into the job market. Carter's economy did well under these circumstances, even though he was blamed for the inevitable recession. When the economy began to bounce back, Reagan stepped into office and claimed the credit.

A former Jimmy Carter Administration aide renewed charges today that Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign made a secret deal with Iran to hold 52 American hostages until after that year's presidential election. Gary Sick, who worked on the 1980 hostage negotiations at the National Security Council, wrote in a new book that after a two-year investigation, he is more convinced than ever that Reagan campaign chairman William J. Casey struck a secret deal with the Iranian regime.

Former President Ronald Reagan on Saturday labeled as "absolute fiction" charges that he or his campaign staff conducted talks with Iran to prevent the freeing of American hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran before the 1980 election.

Eight Americans who were held hostage in Iran demanded Thursday that Congress investigate allegations that the Reagan-Bush campaign delayed their release in 1980. "The question of whether there is evidence of wrongdoing must be answered by an unbiased, bipartisan congressional investigation with full subpoena power," the former hostages said in a letter to lawmakers. "Unless this happens, speculation and unanswered questions will erode public confidence in our electoral system," they said.

An angry President Bush moved Friday for the first time to put to rest speculation that he and other members of the 1980 Ronald Reagan campaign team had agreed secretly with Iranian officials to delay the release of 52 American hostages being held in Tehran until after that year's election. At the heart of a series of unconfirmed allegations is the assertion that Bush met secretly in Paris in October, 1980, with Iranian representatives.

Senior Democrats said after meeting with a former White House aide Thursday that they will look more closely into allegations that officials from Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign secretly negotiated with Iran to delay the release of hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran until after the presidential election.

Boskin failed to include some very pertinent factors in forming his analysis. First, two elements that contributed to the recession under the Carter Administration were the energy crisis and the influx of the baby boomers into the job market. Carter's economy did well under these circumstances, even though he was blamed for the inevitable recession. When the economy began to bounce back, Reagan stepped into office and claimed the credit.

INSIDE THE CIA: Revealing the Secrets of the World's Most Powerful Spy Agency by Ronald Kessler (Pocket Books: $23; 274 pp.). Disturbed by the threadbare way writers have used the CIA as a symbol both of Good (the fount of knowledge in Washington, a town built on knowing) and of Evil (the epitome of corruption in works by '60s writers), Ronald Kessler aims in these pages to offer the first realistic, evenhanded overview of the agency.

I wholeheartedly support Lou Cannon's conclusion that allegations about secret deals between U.S. politicos and Iran prior to the elections of 1980 be thoroughly and impartially investigated by the Congress ("Carter Should Check His Own Campaign Record," Commentary, May 13). The evidence in the case has been building for several years and reached a certain "critical mass" in the investigation by former National Security Council official Gary Sick and the evidence of the recent public TV documentary on "Frontline."