Ronald Reagan: A President of Wit and Humor

Ronald Reagan: A President of Wit and Humor

Reagan: The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things; he is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.

It is a rare politician, blessed with the gift of 1)gab that Ronald Reagan had. He was able to turn a situation to his advantage with remarkable 1 2)agility, by mixing 3)satire and humor with politics and affairs of state.

Reagan: You’ve heard, I’m sure, that I like to tell an anecdote 2 or two. Well, life not only begins at forty, so does lumbago and the tendency to tell the same stories over and over again. 

Reagan: I, Ronald Reagan, do 4)solemnly swear, …

Reagan: Howard Baker 3 told me, on the steps of the Capitol, at the time of the 5)inaugural, he said, “Mr. President, I want you to know I will be with you 6)through thick”. And I said, “What about thin?” He said, “Welcome to Washington.”

Washington had never seen anything quite like him; a one-time 7)liberal Democrat 4 turned Republican 8)conservative, who could 9)disarm critics, even the press, with a sly 10)comeback. 

Press reporter: Mr. President, talking about the continuing 11)recession tonight, you have blamed mistakes of the past and you’ve blamed the congress. Does any of the blame belong to you?

Reagan: Yes, because for many years I was a Democrat. 

His wit 12)rivaled that of his two13)idols, Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

Reagan: He liked to laugh—President Lincoln. As a matter of fact, he was criticized for it once, and he said, “If I couldn’t laugh, I couldn’t stand this job for 15 minutes.”

Reagan clearly 14)relished the job, missing no opportunity to joke about his favorite targets: big government, high taxes. 

Reagan: If the big spenders get their way, they’ll charge everything on your taxpayer’s express card and, believe me, they never leave home without it.

His 15)adversaries learned a hard lesson. Reagan’s way with words could be devastating 5. 

Reagan: … also, I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience. 

Reagan exploited his own age to a 16)fare-thee-well. He was nearly seventy, when he became President, seventy-eight when he left office.

Reagan: One of my favorite quotations 6 about age comes from Thomas Jefferson.  He said that we should never judge a president by his age, only by his work.  And ever since he told me that, I’ve stopped worrying.

In the Reagan joke book, the nation’s capital was always good for a laugh. 

Reagan: You know, you don’t have to spend much time in Washington to appreciate the 17)prophetic vision of the man who designed all the streets there. They go in circles.

Reagan: What is needed is a 18)sweeping, 19)comprehensive reform, but certainly not like the proposed new tax form that was sent to me the other day. It had two lines on it. The first one line said, “What did you make last year?”  And the second line says, “Send it in.”

He succeeded in slowing the growth of government, driving home the point with an 20)arsenal of jokes that pictured Washington as a place short on 21)common sense and long on 22)double talk. 

Reagan: You know, a fellow comes in, stands in front of your desk, hands you a 23)memorandum, and he stays and waits there while you read it.  And so you read. “Action-oriented 24)orchestration innovation inputs 7 generated by 25)escalation of meaningful 26)indigenous decision-making dialogue, focusing on multi-linked problem complexes can maximize the vital thrust toward non-alienated and 27)viable urban 28)infrastructure.”  I take a chance and say, let’s try bussing.  If he walks away, I guessed right. 

It was almost six years from his last day at the White House to the announcement, in late 1994, that Ronald Reagan’s long goodbye had begun, his world and his wit 29)shrouded by the darkening shadow of Alzheimer’s disease. The literal-minded were forever troubled by his tendency to sometimes confuse life with the movies. But he understood, like very few leaders before or since, the power of wit and storytelling. In his films and his political life, Ronald Reagan stood at the 30)intersection where dreams and reality meet, and with a wink 8 and a 31)one-liner, always held out hope for a happy ending.

注释：
1)gab [^Ab] n. 唠叨，爱说话
2)agility [E5dViliti] n. 敏捷，活泼
3)satire [5sAtaiE] n. 讽刺，挖苦
4)solemnly [5sClEmli] ad. 严肃地, 庄严地
5)inaugural [i5nC:^jurEl] n.  就职演说
6)through thick 取自“through thick and thin（不顾艰难险阻，同甘共苦）”
7)liberal [5libErEl] a. 自由主义的
8)conservative [kEn5sE:vEtiv] n. 保守派
9)disarm [dis5B:m] v. 缓和，消除（敌意，疑虑）
10)comeback [5kQmbAk] n. 恢复，复原
11)recession [ri5seFEn] n. 工商业之衰退，不景气
12)ival [5raivEl] v. 竞争，相匹敌
13)idol [5aidl] n. 偶像，崇拜物
14)relish [5reliF] v. 从……得到乐趣，喜爱
15)adversary [5AdvEsEri] n. 敌手，对手
16)fare-thee-well [7fZETi:5wel] n. <口>完美，完善
17)prophetic [prE5fetik] a. 预言的
18)sweeping [5swi:piN] a. 彻底的，广泛的，规模大的
19)comprehensive [7kCmpri5hensiv] a. 全面的，广泛的
20)arsenal [5B:sinl] n. 兵工厂，军械库
21)common sense 常识（尤指判断力）
22)double talk 含糊其词的言谈，不知所云的话
23)memorandum [7memE5rAndEm] n. 备忘录，便函
24)orchestration [7R:ki5streiFEn] n. 协调的结合
25)escalation [7eskE5leiFEn] n. 扩大，增加
26)indigenous [in5didVinEs] a. 本土的
27)viable [5vaiEbl] a.可行的
28)infrastructure [5infrE5strQktFE] n.下部构造，基础下部组织
29)shroud [Fraud] v. 遮蔽，隐藏
30)intersection [7intE5sekFEn] n. 十字路口，交叉点
31)one-liner [wQn5lainE] n.（单句的）打趣话，俏皮话

一位总统的幽默与机智

里根：最伟大的领袖不一定是成就最伟大事业的人，他是领导人民成就最伟大事业的人。
极少有政治家如罗纳德·里根那样天生就有了得的口才。他能将讽刺和幽默运用到政治与国家事务中，极为机智地将形势导向自己有利的方面。
里根：我相信大家都听说我喜欢讲点趣闻轶事。噢，四十岁不但人生才开始，腰痛也如此，而且人还开始翻来覆去讲同样的故事。

里根：我， 罗纳德·里根，庄严宣誓……

里根：举行就职典礼那天，霍华德·贝克在国会大厦的台阶上跟我说：“总统先生，我想你知道我愿与你共享甘甜。”那我说：“那么艰苦呢？”他说：“欢迎到华盛顿来！”
那时华盛顿还没有过像他这样的人物——曾经是自由派的民主党人，而后来却成了保守派的共和党人，但是面对批评，甚至是来自新闻媒体的抨击，他都能巧妙应对。

新闻记者：总统先生，今晚谈到的持续不景气，你归咎于过往所犯的错误，归咎于国会。那么你有错的地方吗？

里根：有，就是我当了多年的民主党人。
他的睿智可媲美他的两位偶像——富兰克林·罗斯福和阿伯拉罕·林肯。

里根：林肯总统很爱笑。事实上，他曾因此遭过别人批评，但他回答说：“如果我不笑，这份工作，我十五分钟也受不了。”
里根很明显热衷于这份工作，他也从来不会错过任何机会来挖苦自己最看不过眼的事情：臃肿的政府和高额税收。

里根：要是挥霍无度的人得势，他们便会什么都用你们纳税人的信用卡来买，而且，相信我，他们出门必带上你的卡。
他的政敌都吃过大亏，而他的用词遣字是极具摧毁性的。

里根：我不会让年龄成为此次竞选的议题。我不想出于政治目的，揭露竞争对手的稚嫩和经验不足。
里根将自己年龄“优势”用到了极致。当上总统时他已近70岁， 而离任时他已78了。

里根：关于年龄我最爱引述托马斯·杰弗逊的话，他说过，评价一个总统，我们决不能以年龄来论断，而要看他的政绩。听过他那么说，我就不再焦虑了。
在里根的笑话簿里，首都华盛顿总有很好的笑话素材。

里根：你知道，你无需在华盛顿花上很长的时间来体会这些街道的设计者的先见之明，因为它们都是打转的。

里根：我们需要的是一种彻底而全面的改革，但当然不能像几天前交给我的新税表样版那样。上面只有两行字，首行写着：“去年你赚了多少？”第二行就是：“都交上来吧！”
他成功地减慢了政府的膨胀速度——以大量的笑话入木三分地将华盛顿政府描述成了一个常识不足却空谈泛滥、不知所云的地方。

里根: 你知道，一个家伙进入我的办公室，站在办公桌前面，提交备忘录，然后站在一旁等我读。那就读吧：“由大量专注于多层连接综合问题的有意义本土政策，推出以行动导向的安排革新，才能提高一个最大效能不疏离而可行的市区基础设施”我碰运气猜想这些话的意思，然后说了一句：“试试高压线与汇流排连接吧！”如果他走开了，我就知道，我猜对了。
1994年末，那就是里根离开白宫6年之后，他通过电视宣告他漫长的告别已经开始了——他的世界，他的智慧因老人痴呆症的降临而蒙上阴影。这位思想踏实的人曾一直为自己时而混淆戏剧与人生的习惯所困。然而，如同在其之前和之后的极少数领袖一样，他了解机智和叙事的力量。在其电影和政治生涯里，罗纳德·里根站在梦想和现实的交汇点，而他的一个眼神、一句俏皮话，都总是为美满的结局带来希望。