‘Promotion’ of Margaret Heckler

It never seems that President Reagan can do anything quite well enough to suit either your editorial writers and cartoonist Paul Conrad. No rational person would disagree that firing an employee is an onerous act for the employer, and being fired is a disgrace and an embarrassment for the employee. Whereas it is certainly true that for an adviser to the President to be “asked to resign” is tantamount to a dismissal, it at least offers a semantic safety net that precludes loss of face for that adviser. “Promoting” Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler to ambassadorial status is several shades of gray lighter than being “asked to resign,” and allows her to retain a position of prestige and dignity.

If an employee fails to cooperate with either his or her employer or fellow employees, then that person becomes a liability to the organization. Regardless of the symbolic virtues of that person being male or female or of any particular ethnic stripe, that person simply does not fit. If this is what we must assume in Heckler’s case, then the President’s action is appropriate, and indeed, magnanimous.

The President was reelected by an overwhelming majority of the people of this nation because we approved of the job that he was doing. It is to his credit that he chose to deal with an otherwise unpleasant situation fairly and expeditiously. It is to Heckler’s credit that she had made the best of the situation, and she should acquit herself honorably in her new role. It is to The Times’ (and Conrad’s) discredit that you have failed to apply the same logic in your editorial (Oct. 2) that you certainly apply in practice, within your own corporate structure.

President Reagan should and will continue to appoint women to high-level government positions. Whether he chooses to appoint another woman or a minority person to replace Margaret Heckler is entirely irrelevant, and he should not feel pressured by the media nor any interest groups to do anything other than whatsoever he will.

S. KENNETH KAWANO

Redondo Beach