Ronald Reagan 罗纳德·里根

Ronald Reagan, who died on Saturday after his long battle with Alzheimer''s

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.