Lifeguard, sportscaster, movie star, governor, president — there wasn’t much Ronald Reagan didn’t do in life.
"The world was a vast opportunity for him," Lou Cannon wrote in his biography of the former US president, who died on June 5, aged 93.
Reagan’s final years saw him fight a losing battle against Alzheimer’s disease. But his positive attitude toward life has given hope to many people.
Born in 1911 to a poor family in a small town in Illinois, his father was a failed salesman who drank too much. It was in these difficult times, though, that Reagan developed the powerful optimism that would serve him so well. He always believed better times laying ahead, and this was reflected in his high school yearbook entry. "Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music," he wrote.
As a teenager, Reagan spent summers working as a lifeguard at a local beach, saving 77 lives in seven years. He graduated from college in 1932 with a degree in economics and sociology. But America was still in the middle of the Great Depression and jobs were hard to find. Reagan finally found work as a radio sports announcer and this road led him to Hollywood in 1937.
During the 20 year film career, he never became a leading star. As in his lifeguard days, Reagan loved to play the hero and only took the role of a bad guy once in more than 50 films.
A talented speaker who was always able to connect with his audience, Reagan became involved in politics in the 1950s. This popular touch led to him being elected the governor of California in 1967.
All the while Reagan was in California, he had his eye on the White House. In 1980, aged 69, he became the oldest man ever elected president.
He held office from 1981 to 1989, the first president to serve two complete terms after World War Ⅱ. When he left, aged 77, he held the highest popularity rate of any retiring president in US history.
He remained positive even when he discovered he had an illness that would destroy him. "I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future," he wrote.
译文:
伟人——里根
救生员,体育比赛实况解说员,电影明星,州长及总统——罗纳德.里根在他的一生中竟扮演了这么多的角色。
“这个世界赋予他太多的机遇.”卢.坎农在他关于美国前总统的传记里这样写到。里根于6月5日逝世，享年93岁。
尽管我们目睹了里根在生命的最后几年与阿尔采默(译者注:即老年性痴呆症)病魔的斗争中败下阵来，但他对生命抱有的积极态度依然带给许多人以希望。
1911年，里根出生于伊利诺斯州一个小镇上的贫困家庭，父亲是个酗酒的失败生意人。然而就是在这样的艰难岁月里，里根形成了对他颇有助益的异常乐观的精神境界。他总是相信明天会更好，这点在他高中入学年鉴中有所体现。“生命是一段华美的乐章，就让这乐曲奏响吧。”里根写到。
在里根青少年时期，他数次利用暑假在一家当地的海滩打短工，做一名救生员，七年时间里先后挽救了多达77条生命。1932年，里根大学毕业，取得了经济学与社会学的学士学位。但其时，美国依然处于经济大萧条的中期，因此很难找到工作。里根最终找到了一份电台体育节目解说员的工作，正是这份工作于1937年将他引入了好莱坞。
在里根20年从影生涯中，他从未成为一名一线明星。那是因为在当救生员的岁月里，里根就热爱着自己的英雄形象，所以在好莱坞50多部的电影中，他只出演过一次负面形象。
一位天才演说家总是能够与观众形成共鸣，里根在20世纪50年代开始涉足政坛。里根这广受欢迎的本领令他在1967年成功竞选加州州长。
在里根加州任期内，他始终瞄准了白宫。1980年，年逾69岁的里根成为了美国历史上最年长的当选总统。
里根的任期为1981-1989年，他是自二战后连任两期的首位总统。当他于1989年，77岁高龄离任时，他拥有了美国历史上最受欢迎的卸任总统的头衔。
甚至当里根被查出有致命疾病时，他依然保持乐观。“我将带着对祖国无比的热爱及对它美好未来的永恒憧憬离开这个世界。”他写到。