The Nation - News from Nov. 21, 1988

The chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is resigning to become vice president and treasurer of the Heritage Foundation next January, the conservative think tank announced. Terrence M. Scanlon, one of the highest-ranking Democrats in the Reagan Administration, has run his agency with a philosophy close to President Reagan’s emphasis on voluntary safety programs and cooperation with industry. A former aide to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, Scanlon served in the Small Business Administration and Commerce Department before he was appointed to the safety agency. He was the agency’s chairman from December, 1985, to December, 1986, but relinquished the post when Congress failed to confirm his appointment within a year. The delay coincided with an investigation of charges that Scanlon had used members of the commission’s staff for personal projects. He was exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing and was confirmed as commission chairman in July, 1986.