When Things Went Right: The Dawn of the Reagan-Bush Administration

Chapter 13 Shutdown!

Chapter 13 Shutdown! October 1981 marked the bicentennial of George Washington’s victory over Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown, winning the Revolutionary War and securing American independence. The victory was made possible by the bottling up of the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay by units of the French navy under the Comte de Grasse, thus preventing Cornwallis’s escape. To celebrate this early apogee of Franco-American relations, François Mitterrand came to Williamsburg, Virginia, near Yorktown. It was another opportunity for him to get to know the two men whose presidencies of the United States would be overlapped by his presidency of France. Saturday, 17 October 1981 The Bushes arrived, followed by President Mitterrand. A fife and drum corps in colonial garb announced the two men and gave tinny renditions of the national anthems. Toward :, refreshed and spruced up, Jennifer and I were driven to Providence Hall, the handsome wooden colonial building where the Bushes are staying, for their dinner in honor of President and Mrs. Mitterrand. It was elegant but relaxed in the Bush fashion. There was candlelight, a husky-voiced female singer and guitarist, waiters in knee britches, and a menu that featured pumpkin soup and baby pheasant. The singer was charming , the food ample, and the bonhomie real. To my right was Adm. Philippe de Gaulle, a hauntingly perfect copy of his late father. Also on hand was Jean-Bernard Manceron, an old man with a wild white beard, a polio victim in a wheelchair who is official historian of the Mitterrand government. GB read a graceful toast, to which Mitterrand responded ad lib and warmly. But, as GB noted, it was : a.m. in Paris, and the French were ready for bed. shutdown! 109 Sunday, 18 October 1981 USS Comte de Grasse was at anchor in Chesapeake Bay off Yorktown in a special squadron of US, French, and even British ships mustered for the battle commemoration. Visiting the ship was a marvelous excursion, the sort of thing that fits the fun-loving world of George Bush but which was a rare privilege, especially for us retired lieutenants (junior grade). Marine  lifted straight over the Williamsburg Inn golf course and crossed to Yorktown above a splendid multicolored canopy of tall trees. The helo circled “the Count” and landed on its flight deck with not much surface to spare. As soon as the vice presidential foot hit the deck, his white flag was “broken” on the forward mast. Sideboys and a bo’s’n piper awaited him inside the hangar. The VP was welcomed by the destroyer’s commanding officer, Cdr. Philip Dur, who had worked at the Pentagon with Admiral Murphy and Nancy Bearg Dyke. Already on board were SecNav John Lehman and Vice Adm. James (Ace) Lyons, commander of the Second Fleet. GB was presented with the standard plaque, flight jacket, and “baseballtype ” cap. Then we began a tour of the DD (destroyer). During the Vietnam War, a DD was something like [my ship] Benner, a World War II relic. Comte de Grasse (launched in ) has this designation, yet she also has missiles and an onboard manned helo. On the mess decks, the VP thanked the crew for their sacrifices and assured them that the Reagan Administration wants to strengthen US defenses. Secretary Lehman, clever lad, told the men that the VP, working behind the scenes, was responsible for their recent pay raise. We staffers boarded the helo ahead of the VP, who was boyishly excited and expansive as he climbed aboard and we lifted off. How lucky I am: Rio de Janeiro on Friday, dinner with the president of France on Saturday, and a drop-in on a destroyer on Sunday. I must enjoy these “ruffles and flourishes” while I may; when GB is either president of the United States or a private citizen, we (= I) won’t be doing so many grand things at such a pace. . Six years later, then-Captain Dur anchored his command, the cruiser Yorktown, off Kennebunkport , Maine, to the delight of the townsfolk and their most distinguished summer residents. 110 chapter 13 Monday, 19 October 1981 At : the VP was visited by Helmut Kohl, the probable CDU-CSU [Christian Democratic Union–Christian Social Union] candidate for chancellor in the next West German elections. Speaking in German, Kohl proved expansive but professorial, giving long answers to simple questions. When, for...