I can't speak to the specific reasoning used here, but I would imagine that a portion of this rank is affected by scandals throughout Reagan's administration. The most well known is Iran-Contra. Reagan's defense in this case was "I had no knowledge of any such activities, and neither did vice president Bush." This defense may have gotten him out of the legal trouble, but not knowing what your employees are doing is an indication of poor administrative skill. Reagan's HUD department was also mired in scandal when it was discovered that staff were handing contracts out to themselves and making substantial personal profit. His HUD secretary was not charged because the inspector general concluded that although the entire organization up to him was corrupt, the secretary himself played no role in operations. They pointed to his wide reputation for just watching soap operas in his office all day as evidence. Again an indication of poor administrative skill.