The Presidency: Using Hope Against Adversity

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Reagan is the first President in 20 years to work only in the Oval Office, not in the hideaways down the hall or in the Executive Office Building. That is a measure of his unabashed, boyish pride at holding the top job. That pride is undimmed, despite the mudslinging over the likes of Watt and Wick. "Part of the game," shrugs Reagan. He has never removed his coat in the Oval Office, nor will he, so strong is his sense of tradition. The Oval Office now reflects the subtle colors of Reagan's West and displays his bronze cowboy figures, but it remains, with its oil paintings of events and leaders, a polished museum of American purpose, from Lexington and Concord to the present. That purpose was shaped by a faith, much like Reagan's own, in the power of hope over adversity.