European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday november 22,1990 columns David s. Brode record of Reagan s life not in his Book a significant moment in the history of american popular culture is upon us. Between now and Christmas the bestseller list is going to witness an epic struggle Between a a Millie a Book Quot the memoirs of the White House dog As Quot dictated to Quot Barbara Bush and Quot an american life Quot the autobiography of Ronald Reagan. Both these books Are regarded As nonfiction which is As it should be. One has As Good a claim to being based on fact As the other. There is a dog in the White House Kennel who answers to the name of Millie and there was for eight years a president who was called Ronald Reagan. Or More accurately there was a Ronald Reagan in the White House who was called the president. What will fascinate the historians of this period is that Reagan like Millie and her mistress the first lady understands that his standing As a figure in popular culture depends mainly on the myth he created of himself. His Book is a self sculptured statue of Ronald Reagan As Tom Sawyer Tom mix and Tom terrific. It deals with Reagan As Folk hero far More than it focuses on his acts and deeds As chief executive commander in chief first legislator or even great communicator. The autobiography just published by Simon amp schuster is of minimal help in understanding the private Reagan it is endlessly frustrating As a source of information or insights into eight years of a quite important presidency. For that we will have to await the work of Lou Cannon Edmund Morris and other serious students of the Reagan presidency. Reagan s Book mainly demonstrates in valedictory form How Well he mastered the creation of the Public figure called Ronald Reagan. From the Bookish near sighted insecure son of an alcoholic father who refashioned himself As a regular fellow Jock and movie Star to the new Deal Liberal who talked himself into being the icon of the conservative revolution Reagan has devoted most of his eight decades to remaking not the nation or the world but himself. It is a fact that he also had enormous plated ambition and the Small store of n0 Lotical ideas you have found everything that Reagan has to Tell you. But that is not the Case at All. Reagan represents so Many now Erful and continuing forces and elements in american society and politics that he is eminently worthy of study a even if he refuses entirely As he does again in this Book to contribute to the process. Among other things he embodies the late 20th-Century revolt against 50 years of Domestic policy aimed at reducing economic and racial inequality. He also represents the culmination of almost 50 years of foreign policy dominated by fear of communist totalitarianism a the evil Empire Quot and the dramatic reversal of that policy when Mikhail Gorbachev donned the emperors new clothes. Beyond that Reagan also embodies the relocation of National political Power to the Sunbelt and the replacement of political machines by Public relations and mar Quot if i i Impact on California the United states and the world. But that a not his Story and he is too successful a storyteller to change the script just for the Sake of helping history understand How he did play his very Large role in the final third of this Century. He is Content to let others sort that out for themselves. What he wants to do himself is the self portrait of his favorite creation Ronald Reagan. In that respect Reagan has treated the Collaborator on his Memoir Robert Lind Scy and the team of editors exactly As he treated every interviewer or journalist who tried to probe behind the figure he had created for himself. Interviews invariably produced either anecdotes or regurgitated chunks of Reagan speech rhetoric. And that Sall Lindsey and the Simon amp schuster team were Able to coax from him As Well. Its tempting to say that Sall there is to be found. That once you get past the Charm the smoothness the Well mod keying specialists. In one sense he represents the Triumph of the political Amateur Over the political professional. In another sense not acknowledged even remotely in this Memoir he and his administration embody the new form of financial political corruption characteristic of this age. None of this sadly is in Reagan a Book on Reagan. As a Memoir of the Man it has the built in limitations of its print format. The real record of Reagan a life is not in this Book. It exists in the Miles of tape of his films his campaigns and his presidency. There in the medium of which he was the True master he is preserved As he should be a the wonderful half whispered voice the Wink the perfect posture the glance exchanged with Nancy the moisture in the Comer of his Eye As he repeats one of his favorite sentimental or patriotic stories. Those tapes a not this challenger to a a Millie a Book Quot a Are his True memorial. And the history of his presidency will have to be written by others. Washington Post writers group James j. Kilpatrick or. -. .�?�?�?.�?. A a a a a a a Quot a corporate giving at times defies explanation one has to wonder now and then about americans greatest corporations. Are their top people nuts Are they subject to a kind of death wish Are the managers intellectual eunuchs lacking any sort of coherent political and economic philosophy the questions Are prompted by a massive study due out this week from the capital research Center in Washington. For the fourth year in a Row Thomas j. Dilorenzo professor of economics at the University of Tennessee has examined corporate giving to organizations whose purpose is to influence Public policy. We Are not talking about gifts to the boy scouts the Community Chest or the National gallery. Dilorenzo sought information from companies on the Forbes 250 list. Of these 146 companies responded. The other 104, for whatever reason declined. Such big outfits As Disney Apple computers Boise Cascade and general dynamics replied stiffly that they a did not wish to participate in the  other big names a food lion a amp a Houston industries a refused even to return i Lorenzo a Telephone Calls. Nevertheless his data on the 146 major companies served to confirm patterns that he has seen before. Some of the nations Foremost business enterprises regularly contribute to organizations whose purpose is to inhibit business. In a foreword to the study Pete Dupont former governor of Delaware speculates on this suicidal phenomenon. Conservative industries continue to support Liberal foundations he suggests partly because the old line Liberal outfits Are  the beneficiaries May not have produced a really creative idea in 20 years let alone a Good one but giving to a risk free foundation will raise no stockholders eyebrows. Other corporate giving Dupont believes is giving in self defense. Jesse Jackson is not Likely to Call a Boycott against a company that has just Given his Rainbow coalition half a million dollars. Some of the giving a or misgiving a May be a result of pure ignorance corporate managers have Little idea of where their largess is going or what it is accomplishing. Whatever the reasons corporate giving is big Bucks. Dilorenzo estimates that the 146 responding companies contributed $28 million last year to Public policy groups. In terms of total philanthropy the amount is Small but a it is not unimportant for the Money Given to such groups is highly  the puzzling fact is that for every $1 Given to groups that Are generally pro business big business gives $2 to groups with a Bias against business. These were the figures Fot 1988 to Liberal groups $17.5 million to conservative groups $8.6 million to non partisan organizations $1.9 million. Dilorenzo classified the receiving organizations on a scale of 1 to 10, on the Radical left with a score of 1 was the Institute for policy studies it won a Grant of $20,000 from Archer Daniels Midland and a Grant of $5,000 from general Mills. On the other Side with a score of 8, were such groups As the Cato Institute the foundation for economic education and the Manhattan Institute for policy research. In Between were such generally Liberal groups with a score of 3, As the leadership conference on civil rights which led the fight against the nomination of judge Robert Bork for the supreme court. Also included the league of women voters and the environmental defense fund. On to the right were the Hudson Institute 6american Enterprise Institute 6 and the heritage foun the Liberal ones did better. Dayton Hudson the Minneapolis based retailer gave generously to every Liberal outfit that held out a tin cup. Such giants As at amp to general Mills american express and coca cola were Angels to dozens of Liberal think tanks and pressure groups whose Aims were regularly opposed to business interests. Conservative groups fared Only so so. Yes Ford motor co. Supported Cato Procter amp Gamble gave $50,000 to the Hoover institution and Lilly contributed $150,000 to the Hudson Institute. But the Overall pattern was both Clear and unclear. Fords gifts were All Over the philosophical lot. The company supported a Little bit of everything. Dilorenzo a findings boggle the mind. Why should a company whose future depends upon preservation of the Enterprise system make Large donations to organizations out to undermine the Enterprise system hand me a shovel say these corporate executives and let me dig my own grave. Universal press Syndicate the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to of considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government