Bush Has ‘Missions’ for Reagan : Ex-President Offered Foreign Policy Role in New Administration

President Bush said today he wants former President Ronald Reagan to take on “various missions and assignments” in the foreign policy field.

Answering reporters’ questions as he and Reagan began a meeting at the former President’s office in Los Angeles, Bush said he wants to keep Reagan “fully informed” about world events.

Bush also said that in his talks with about 35 world leaders since taking office Jan. 20, he has found that “the respect for him (Reagan) around the world knows no bounds.”

“I hope I can talk him into various missions and assignments as time goes by,” Bush said as he sat next to the man he served as vice president for eight years.

Reagan said that he considers the White House “in good hands” as Bush nears the 100-day mark of his presidency and that his successor was “doing fine.”

Bush did not specify what assignments he was considering giving to Reagan, and the former President did not respond to Bush’s statement about his plan.

But Bush said, “I have a lot more to learn from President Reagan, and I learned a lot about principle and the world as it really is. I wanted to talk to him about change abroad . . . get his advice.”

The two men chatted for an hour and publicly gave no hint of any friction over Bush’s rolling back of some of Reagan’s policies such as a planned $10-billion cut in Reagan’s last proposal for military spending.

Bush’s three months as President have been marked by significant policy and stylistic differences with his popular predecessor--including a decision officially announced Tuesday of a proposal to slash spending on Reagan’s cherished Star Wars anti-missile defense system.

The new President has also abandoned his predecessor’s efforts to topple Nicaragua’s Sandinista government by providing military aid to the rebels.

And he has gone out of his way to forge a cooperative relationship with the Democratic-controlled Congress that Reagan battled at almost every turn.

But in response to a question, Reagan declined to criticize Bush on this or other issues, saying the new President was encountering many of the same problems Reagan had to face for eight years and was doing his best to defend national security.

From Los Angeles, Bush headed for his adopted home state of Texas where he was scheduled to address the state Legislature on energy policy--a key issue in the oil-rich state.

Bush, who has been seeking his own stamp on upcoming press reviews of his first 100-days in office, was slated to end the day in Florida where he will discuss drug abuse, anti-crime efforts and health care in a series of appearances Thursday.

The varied nature of his activities during the four-day trip has reinforced criticism that he has been unable to set priorities or lay out a coherent policy agenda.