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Ten days later, on Thursday, June 24, Clark told me that the President wanted to see me. The lack of warmth that had characterized Reagan's behavior during our last meeting had vanished. In its place, as we greeted each other in the Oval Office, was a mixture of apprehension and what seemed to me to be almost fatherly concern. I asked the President if he had thought over what I had said to him on June 14.
"Yes, I have," he said. "You know, Al, it's awfully hard for me to give you what you're asking for."
In preparation for this meeting, a member of my staff had drawn up a bill of particulars, listing the occasions on which the cacophony of voices from the Administration and the seeming incoherence of American foreign policy had created dangerous uncertainties. To this I had added a second memorandum, detailing mixed signals during the Falklands crisis. These documents, though more forthright hi tone than communications to Presidents usually are, had the virtue of being an accurate reflection of the frustrations produced by these events. Reagan glanced at the papers. "I'm going to keep this, Al," he said. "This situation is very disturbing."
"It has been very disturbing from the first, Mr. President," I replied. "If it can't be straightened out, then surely you would be better served by another Secretary of State." The President made no reply. It may have been that he was still struggling with his decision.
Next day, after a working NSC lunch, I was asked to step into the Oval Office to see the President. He was standing at his desk. "On that matter we discussed yesterday, Al," he said, "I have reached a conclusion."
He then handed me an unsealed envelope. I opened it and read the single typed page it contained. "Dear Al," it began, "It is with the most profound regret that I accept your letter of resignation." The President was accepting a letter of resignation that I had not submitted.
"May Frankness May Startle"
On July 2, after my resignation, a breakthrough finally came in the crisis over Lebanon. After intensive negotiations, the Syrians, the P.L.O. and the Israelis were prepared to leave Lebanon at the same time. Lebanon's security would have been internationalized. The Lebanese government was ready to function on behalf of all the factions in Lebanon.
I had gone to the Greenbrier, an isolated resort in West Virginia, to escape the postresignation curiosity of Washington, but continued, minute by minute, to manage the Middle East crisis. The President had decided that I should remain Secretary of State until my successor was sworn in, or until the President wanted me to do otherwise.
To all parties I spoke of a total withdrawal of the P.L.O. The linchpin of the arrangement was the international