A View Without Hills or Valleys

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Hunches, gut feelings and a broad-brush understanding of issues and public opinion: a convincing case can be made that Reagan is thus a true leader and not simply a Government supermanager, that he has a political vision and not just an agenda of piecemeal programs. A President should be able to fine tune domestic policy and negotiate intricate treaties, and Reagan is not very good at either. There are also times when a President needs to paint with bold strokes, and Reagan, an intuitive master of that art, seems content to do what he does best. —By Kurt Andersen. Reported by Douglas Brew/Washington