Reagan Confidants Pressuring Chief of Staff to Quit : President Reportedly Standing by Regan

WASHINGTON — Although President Reagan is being urged privately by his most trusted outside advisers to fire Donald T. Regan as White House chief of staff, the President has dug in his heels and is standing by his top aide, knowledgeable sources said Thursday.

Consequently, efforts to remove Regan seemed to be shifting from trying to persuade the President to fire him to appealing personally to the chief of staff to voluntarily step down.

“There are people who hope to persuade Regan that it would be the thing to do for the good of the country,” one insider said. “It seems to be aimed at appealing to the conscience and character of the man.”

Resisting Pressure

Several people familiar with the President’s thinking told The Times, on condition that they not be identified, that Reagan is strongly resisting pressure from longtime confidants and his wife, Nancy, to remove Regan and shake up the White House staff to try to gain control of the Iran- contras scandal.

“He’s even less disposed to make changes now than he was 10 days ago,” one veteran adviser said.

Michael K. Deaver and Stuart K. Spencer, two of Reagan’s most loyal confidants dating to his years as California’s governor, met with the President in the White House family quarters Wednesday and again urged him to take bold steps to bolster his presidency, sources said. They argued, among other things, that the President needed a chief of staff with more political savvy and a better relationship with Congress. Regan has been widely criticized for his handling of the Iran scandal.

But these and several other outside advisers, including Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.) and former Secretary of the Interior William P. Clark, two longtime friends of Reagan, were reported Thursday to have concluded that they had argued their best cases with the President and now are resigned to letting nature take its course.

“The President’s been getting plenty of advice. Now the man’s got to make his own decision,” said one. “And I’d hate to put a time frame on it.”

Among those urging Regan to leave voluntarily is Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the President’s assistant for political affairs, said a source who asked not to be identified. “Mitch feels very strongly that the chief of staff ought to resign because the President needs to have a clean slate,” the source said.

But Regan, supported by his boss, was standing firm against his critics. When Daniels, who reports directly to Regan, advised his boss that he should resign, according to a knowledgeable source, Regan flared up and shot back: “You resign.”

When Regan was asked by reporters as he prepared to testify before the House Intelligence Committee Thursday whether he was giving any thought to resigning, he snapped: “No, absolutely not.”

Later, Regan told reporters:

“If I were ineffective or if I were not helping the President, obviously I would resign. But I don’t feel in this particular (Iran-contras) case that I have any culpability. I participated in the decision (to sell arms to Iran), and I’ll let history decide if we made the right or the wrong decision. If at any time the President thinks I’m not serving him well, I’ll be more than willing to go.”

One source said that, if Regan “feels he did a good job in front of the committees, and I think he does, it will bolster him to ride it out.”

Finds Firings Difficult

The President, according to insiders, once again was exhibiting his career-long reluctance to fire people--traits he earlier demonstrated during his presidency with such controversial figures as former Interior Secretary James G. Watt.

“The President has never done things like that easily,” said one source close to the White House staff, pointing out that, when Reagan did seek resignations, he did so only under pressure from his advisers.

“Now, those advisers are the targets. You can hardly expect them to advise their dismissal,” he said.

“The President believes Regan, on the whole, has been serving him very, very well--not only in terms of Iran, but on other issues as well,” said one adviser. “The two have a good working relationship and the President is very hesitant to cut anyone loose.”

Another major obstacle for Regan critics, some acknowledged, is that there is no obvious candidate to replace him as chief of staff.

Former Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis, now a business executive, is high on a list of potential replacements. But one Administration official, who asked not to be identified, said Lewis has placed several strong conditions on accepting the post, such as having “authority” over arms control and budget deficit issues.

Laxalt, who is Reagan’s best friend in Congress and who is retiring, is another potential chief of staff. But some advisers believe the President needs a stronger administrator. And Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III, the chief of staff in Reagan’s first term, reportedly would be reluctant to take the job again.

One compromise being talked about, according to some sources, is for Regan to retain his title but be relegated solely to running the staff and for Laxalt to be brought in as a “counselor,” to act as the chief adviser on political and congressional affairs.