WASHINGTON -- Interior Secretary William P. Clark has told President Reagan his job is done and he will resign his post to return to his California ranch, The Washington Post reported in Wednesday editions.
'My task at Interior is substantially complete so it's time to go home to California,' Clark was quoted as saying.
Clark, a close Reagan adviser for 18 years, told only a few close friends of his plans to leave his government job, the Post said, telling Reagan over the weekend in Palm Springs, Calif., where Reagan is vacationing.
Clark's decision caught even top White House aides by surprise, but the names of possible successors surfaced quickly, including Energy Secretary Donald Hodel and Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev.
Clark, termed a 'God-fearing westerner' by Reagan when he chose him to head the Interior Department, has expressed a desire to return to his 888-acre barley and cattle ranch northeast of Paso Robles in central California.
In confirming that he would leave the administration, Clark said he has set no firm date for his departure but expects to be gone by early spring, probably late in March, the Post said.
Although Clark is said to have told Reagan that he would be available for specific assignments occasionally, he also has made it clear he has no desire to return to a post in Washington or to serve on the federal bench, the newspaper said.
There had been speculation that Clark might be Reagan's top choice for the Supreme Court in the event of an opening.
Clark, 53, a lawyer, has served as a key operative for Reagan since the early days of his California governorship.
Clark served as chief of staff in the California's governor's office, California Supreme Court justice, deputy secretary of state and White House national security adviser -- all as Reagan appointees.
But he was a surprise choice to take the controversial James Watt's place as interior secretary in late 1983, though he has made a career or taking top-level jobs for which he has had little experience.
The son of a California police chief who wears cowboy boots with his dark pin-striped suits, Clark prefers to be called 'Judge Clark,' from his days on the court. Like Reagan, Clark likes to go back to his California ranch, near Los Angeles, and ride horses.
In February 1981, Clark acknowledged to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he had little or no foreign policy experience and did not know the name of the prime minister of South Africa. His replies of 'I don't know' or 'I can't speak to that matter at this time' were widely criticized.
Visibly upset, Charles Percy, R-Ill., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that never again would the committee approve any nominee who appeared before it so seemingly ill-prepared for the job.
But Clark gained respect in the post for smoothing relations between the White House and the volatile secretary of state at the time, Alexander Haig. Clark also proved a quick study on foreign policy.
Reagan then made Clark his adviser on national security affairs and brought him from the State Department into the White House inner circle.
