(19 of 19)
There is nothing lacking in President Reagan's vision. Where Ronald Reagan's instincts have been thwarted, where his policies have not succeeded, the problem has lain elsewhere. The problem, almost unspeakably complicated in its consequences, is very simple in its essential nature. It lies in an absence of discipline on the part of some of his advisers; there is no adequate structure to enforce discipline upon the system.
In the absence of such a structure, the Chief Executive must exercise a lonely and nearly superhuman monitorship of the whole system—an undertaking that is beyond the limits of individual knowledge and energy. Vision without discipline is a daydream.
The result has sometimes been that the President has accepted flawed results in the conduct of foreign policy. The impulse to view the presidency as a public relations opportunity and to regard Government as a campaign for re-election (which, of course, it is, but within limits) distorts balance, frustrates consistency and destroys credibility. This very mischievous force need never have been let loose.
I have looked back into my experiences in an attempt to illustrate the lessons they contained while those lessons are still relevant to the current situation. My frankness may startle, and, at moments, it has been painful to write the truth as I saw it. But in my regard for President Reagan and in my duty to my country I could not do otherwise, and those who read what I have written will make their own judgments according to their own lights.