The Presidency: Using Hope Against Adversity

Ronald Reagan even takes his optimism to bed with him. Last Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. his phone routed him from sleep with the news that Lieut. Robert Goodman had been released by the Syrians into the eager arms of Presidential Contender Jesse Jackson. Reagan huskily brushed aside the option that he play down Jackson's triumph. Reagan never met a piece of good news he didn't like, even at dawn. His instincts told him Goodman, Jackson, the U.S. and Reagan could all be winners.

By 9 a.m. he had elevated Goodman's release to a...