disease, projected an aura (气氛）of optimism so radiant that it seemed almost a
force of nature. Many people who disaGREed with his ideology still liked
him for his personality, and that was a source of frustration for his
political opponents who knew how much the ideology mattered. Looking back
now, we can trace some of the flaws of the current Washington mindset —
the tax-cut-driven deficits, the slogan-driven foreign policy — to Mr.
Reagan''s example. But after more than a decade of political
mean-spiritedness, we have to admit that collegiality （共同掌权）and good manners are
beginning to look pretty attractive.
President Reagan was, of course, far more than some kind of chief executive
turned national GREeter. He will almost certainly be ranked among the most
important presidents of the 20th century, forever linked with the triumph
over Communism abroad and the restoration of faith in free markets at home.
He profited from good timing and good luck, coming along when the country
was tired of the dour pedantry of the Carter administration, wounded by the
Iranian hostage crisis, frustrated by rising unemployment and unyielding
inflation. Mr. Reagan''s stubborn refusal to accept the permanence of
Communism helped end the cold war. He was fortunate to have as his
counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev, a Soviet leader ready to acknowledge his
society''s failings and interested in reducing international tensions.
Mr. Reagan''s decision to send marines to Lebanon was disastrous, however,
and his invasion of GREnada pure melodrama. His most reckless episode
involved the scheme to supply weapons to Iran as ransom （赎回）for Americans who
were being held hostage in Lebanon, and to use the proceeds to illegally
finance contra insurgents in Nicaragua.
Mr. Reagan showed little appetite for power, even less for the messy detail
of politics. He joked about his work habits. "It''s true hard work never
killed anybody," he said in 1987. "But I figure, why take the chance?" His
detachment from the day-to-day business of government was seductive for a
nation that had tired of watching Mr. Carter micromanage the White House.
The nation''s 40th president was absent from the public eye for a long time
before his death, but his complicated legacy endures. Although Mr. Reagan
did reverse course and approve some tax increases in the face of mounting
deficits — in stark contrast to President Bush nowadays — he was still
responsible for turning the Republican Party away from its fiscally
conservative roots. The flawed theory behind the Reagan tax cuts, that the
ensuing jolt to the economy would bring in enough money to balance the
budget, is still espoused by many of the Republican faithful, including
President Bush.
One of Mr. Reagan''s advisers, David Stockman, later wrote that the real aim
of fiscal policy was to create a "strategic deficit" that would slam the
door and reduce the size of the federal government. Such thinking is far
too prevalent in Washington to this day, and helps explain why plenty of
conservatives don''t seem all that bothered by the government''s inability to
balance its books.
When Ronald Reagan was elected, the institution of the presidency and the
nation itself seemed to be laboring under a large dark cloud. Into the
middle of this malaise came a most improbable chief executive — a former
baseball announcer, pitchman for General Electric, Hollywood bon vivant and
two-term California governor with one uncomplicated message: There was no
problem that could not be solved if Americans would only believe in
themselves. At the time, it was something the nation needed to hear. Today,
we live in an era defined by that particular kind of simplicity, which
expresses itself in semi-detached leadership and a black-and-white view of
the world. Gray is beginning to look a lot more attractive.
