the edge of collapse. The strategy was opposed by Secretary of State George Shultz, among others, leading to rancor in the White House. Morris writes in his admitted semi-fictionalized narrative biography that Clark resigned in late 1983 when he tired of the "unceasing hostility of [Michael] Deaver, George Shultz, and Nancy Reagan." Morris described Clark as "the only man who ever got within a furlong of intimacy" with the notoriously distant Reagan, and his ability to relate to Reagan inspired jealousy, at the same time that Clark's taciturn nature made him unlikely to build allies. A differing PBS account quotes Mike Deaver via his book "Nancy", pg. 48: "Staff might have resented my closeness with Nancy, but to my knowledge, it was never a problem. Bill Clark and Ed Meese, then the legal-affairs counsel, were happy to have me working closely with Nancy because that freed them up to concentrate on policy and appointments. Often, too they would use me as back door to the first lady, to get her input ..." The PBS "Role of a Lifetime" url also lists some support of a conflict with George Shultz: "I knew that I would have to insist on dealing directly with the president. I could not let the White House staff interpret me to him. That was especially true when it came to Clark, because his views and instincts were different from mine ..." Noted authority Lou Cannon concluded that "[Mrs. Reagan] was very much opposed to Bill Clark. She wanted him out of (the NSA position) because she felt that it was interfering with (President) Reagan's efforts to open up better relations with the Soviet Union." Fellow Reagan family biographer James Benze furthers in the commentary, "Nancy Reagan (then) enlists other moderates in the administration to make William Clark's life miserable as National Security Advisor." On September 21, 1983, Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt embarrassed the administration by making bigoted remarks to the media, causing him to resign on November 8, and Clark requested and received an appointment to replace Watt. Return to California Clark returned to California after his stint serving the administration and pursued a variety of law firm and other business interests. After the Iran-Contra hearings in Congress, Clark wrote privately to Reagan urging him to pardon his three aides who were threatened with indictments in the conspiracy: Oliver North, John Poindexter, and Robert