Sending in the Marines

Reagan tentatively offers troops to help evacuate Beirut

The conditions were far from ideal for making a foreign policy decision so fraught with risk. Alexander Haig, who had tried and failed to take charge of Administration policy, was vacationing at a mountain resort in West Virginia after his removal as Secretary of State. His designated successor, George Shultz, was in San Francisco, packing for his move to Washington and awaiting his Senate confirmation hearings this week. President Reagan was on an extended Fourth of July holiday at his five-room adobe ranch house in California's Santa Ynez Mountains. With most of his top...

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