Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 7, 1994                   TAG: 9410070035
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NORTH GETS BLESSING, ATTACK FROM 2 SECRETARIES OF STATE

James Baker gave North a tepid endorsement at a $500-per-couple reception for the candidate Tuesday night in Mount Vernon.

Baker's successor, Lawrence Eagleburger, on Thursday called North a man of "no moral character whatsoever" who "wouldn't recognize the truth if it hit him over the head with a baseball bat."

Eagleburger appeared at a news conference with former GOP Gov. Linwood Holton to support independent Senate candidate Marshall Coleman.

Eagleburger likened North to the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who went on Communist witch-hunts during the 1950s. "Not because of what he [North] says, but because of his total contempt for honesty. His total contempt for telling the truth. His total contempt for the people of America because he thinks he can get away with it," Eagleburger said.

He claimed North has overstated his role in planning the liberation of Grenada during the Reagan administration, and said he doubted "some pipsqueak lieutenant colonel" could have been as prominent in White House affairs as North has claimed to be.

Baker hardly mentioned North in his remarks. He couched the election as potentially crucial to Republican hopes for taking control of the Senate, but said nothing about North's positions on issues and offered no criticism of incumbent Sen. Charles Robb, a Democrat.

``I was around here from 1981 to '86 when [Republicans] had the Senate. ... It makes all the difference in the world, and every vote and every seat is important,'' he said.

Later, speaking with reporters, Baker said he disagreed ``with some of the things [North] did and said'' when both of them worked in the Reagan administration.

Baker, Reagan's chief of staff during his first term, had become treasury secretary by the time North and other staffers engineered a plan to sell arms to Iran and illegally use the proceeds of those sales to aid Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

North's involvement in the plan and attempts to conceal it from Congress led to his conviction on three felony counts. An appeals court overturned the verdict.

``The party has nominated its candidate,'' Baker told reporters. ``I have worked for 20 years to build the Republican Party nationally. I support its candidates. I support them sometimes when I don't agree with them.''

While some other veterans of the Reagan years have branded North a chronic liar, Baker said, ``I don't remember an instance where I was personally involved where I had a reason to question what was said.''

Baker's appearance at the event sponsored by Northern Virginia builder Bob Fitton was one of dozens he's making across the country this fall as he weighs a possible 1996 presidential campaign.

Keywords:
POLITICS