4-13-88 . . . Former presidential press secretary Larry Speakes, now in private life, admits in a new book that he “manufactured quotations” for President [Ronald] Reagan during the superpower summit in Iceland a few years ago. Speakes says that Reagan didn’t say anything earthshaking, and he wanted to put the summit in the best possible light, so he made up some statements and read them to the press, attributing them to Reagan. Reagan says he wasn’t aware of this until now. But either way, it reflects badly on him. If he knew and didn’t do anything about it, then he’s lying now and was derelict in his duties then. If he didn’t know, he should have, since the statements were widely reported. This implies lack of awareness. In short, Reagan is a dolt.