PARIS — Abdurrahman Wahid, known to all as Gus Dur, likes to compare himself to Harry Truman. Like President Truman in his showdown with General Douglas MacArthur, President Wahid fired a powerful and popular general, Wiranto. Like Truman's, Mr. Wahid's presidency at times appears to be unraveling — never more so than now.

Mr. Wahid undoubtedly hopes that, also like Truman's, his legacy will grow once he leaves office. But Indonesia cannot afford to wait for history's judgment. Thousands of anti- and pro-Wahid protestors are in the streets. A parliamentary no-confidence vote is expected in a few months. Rumors abound that there will be a military coup, or that Muslim extremists will take over and impose Islamic law.

And the economy is paying the price. The value of the currency keeps dropping, about 40 percent of the government's operating expenditures are used to service its debt, and the stock market is in free fall.

If Mr. Wahid is looking for a U.S. president to emulate, he should think of Ronald Reagan. The log-splitting ex-president may seem like an odd role model for the ailing Muslim scholar. Other than a congenial manner and a healthy sense of humor, the two appear to have little in common. But Gus Dur would do well to copy at least some of the ways in which Mr. Reagan ran the White House.

First, master media relations. Mr. Wahid is getting killed in the Indonesian press. The media have gone from cheerleader to lead critic, with a seemingly concerted effort to discredit the president and provide an excuse to make him resign.

To date, Mr. Wahid has either ignored the press or made unhelpful comments, such as suggesting that he tends to fall asleep when criticized. Instead he should take a page out of Mr. Reagan's playbook and go over the heads of the media directly to the public.

Mr. Wahid should make a nationwide TV-radio address, apologize for his past mistakes and lay out his optimistic vision for the future. Regaining public support may be the only way to salvage Indonesia's first freely elected presidency.

Second, delegate. President Wahid has been autocratic, erratic and prone to micromanaging. He trusts only a few aides, most notably his 26-year-old daughter, Yenny, and too often makes big decisions without consulting cabinet members and other senior advisers. The key to resurrecting his presidency is turning over the day-to-day running of the country's affairs to subordinates, including Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, and making his U.S.-trained coordinating minister for political, social and security affairs, General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his chief of staff. If nothing else, delegating authority, as Mr. Reagan was famous for doing, would help convince Indonesians (and the world) that Mr. Wahid was serious about changing.

Third, stay above the fray. Mr. Reagan had to deal with Irangate and the contras, yet he survived. Mr. Wahid, in contrast, could be undone by two relatively minor financial scandals. The difference, in part, is that Mr. Reagan tried and mostly succeeded in avoiding direct confrontation with his political opponents. Mr. Wahid has been wrestling in the mud with his enemies — such as Amien Rais, chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, a self-promoting, unprincipled politician with a significant following among urban professionals and intellectuals who espouses a less tolerant, more doctrinaire Islam, and House Speaker Akbar Tanjung, head of former dictator Suharto's old political party. Mr. Wahid may be hesitant about following this advice without some outside help, and that is where America comes in. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a popular U.S. ambassador to Indonesia under President Reagan, should call Gus Dur. He should remind him that as the former head of a 40-million-strong accommodating Muslim organization he has moral leadership that was widely respected at home and abroad.

Mr. Wolfowitz should encourage him to become once again the conciliator, dealing from the high ground with the ethnic, religious and regional strife tearing the country apart. The American should urge Mr. Wahid to move now to try to salvage his presidency, acting less like Harry Truman and more like Ronald Reagan, the "great communicator."

Stanley A. Weiss is founder and chairman of Business Executives for National Security. The views he expresses are his own.