Few married couples enjoyed a relationship as close as the one that Nancy and Ronald Reagan shared, and their devotion seemed to grow stronger as he faded into the more advanced stages of Alzheimer's. He was aware of his wife's extraordinary care giving and the burden it imposed upon her, and he once suggested that, if their positions were reversed and he were able, he would do the same for her.

Alzheimer's is often hereditary. Ronald Reagan's brother, Neil, also suffered from the disease. And in one of our last interviews, Ronald Reagan wondered aloud whether he had inherited it from his mother.

When Gov. Reagan came to the White House (Jan l98l), as the 40th president of the U.S., I had already been a correspondent there for l8 years, specializing in Middle Eastern affairs.

The president was soon confronted by a crisis in the Middle East, and in our first Oval Office interview, he articulated his policies in that part of the world. The Middle East is a powderkeg, he said, and the U.S. would be essential to any solution to its problems, as well as a source of political and economic stability.

Some of his remarks then, in l98l, remain applicable to that trouble-plagued region. For example, Ronald Reagan observed that the Saudis were Òkey to spreading peace in the MideastÓ, an idea which now has come back into play in the continuing debate about the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

As I now reflect on Ronald Reagan's 1996 responses to me as well as his comments in our numerous discussions prior to and during his presidency, I am struck by how similar today's problems are to those of yesterday.

The saddest day of his 8 year tenure in office, he told me in his final hours as president, was Oct 23, l983, the day when 24l American servicemen died in a terrorist bombing in Beirut. ÒWe sent a multinational force from France, Italy and Great Britain to maintain order so that the government of Lebanon could send its forces against those individuals with private armies that were causing the trouble, the murder and assassinations, and all the rest,Ó he said. ÒWell, we were succeeding and, because we were, the sniping began.

ÒIt was decided that, to save our men from being killed by snipers, when off duty and at night, they would go into a concrete-reinforced building as the safest place. But no one foresaw that the suicide driver with a truckload of explosives would drive into the building and blow it up.Ó

Ronald Reagan's candor in acknowledging this failure, and his obvious pain at the tragic loss of so many servicemen, helped him survive the tragedy without political damage. It was one of many examples of his ability to speak to people, and through his delivery of such phrases as 'the evil empire' and 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall' he was able to explain difficult issues in simple terms. That simplicity, together with his unusual generosity of spirit, had made him 'The Great Communicator.Ó

Ronald Reagan's communication skills, however, were less effective in dealing with his staff members, some of whom took his hands-off managerial style as a license to improvise policy on their own. One of his regrets, he told me, was that he had not demanded greater accountability from those around him Òparticularly those who abused their position and power with arrogance.Ó

Mr. Reagan admitted that he found it ÒdifficultÓ to fire anyone, and his reluctance to do so had serious ramifications when the Iran Contra scandal erupted in his second term. Oliver North, John Poindexter and others in the White House were implicated in a scheme to funnel the money from secret arms-for-hostages deals to support the Nicaraguan Contras, in defiance of congressional resolutions forbidding such support. A commission, chaired by Sen. John Tower (R Texas), investigated the affair, and in its l987 report, implied that the President himself was guilty, at least of negligence in overseeing his staff.

ÒAny errors in our dialogues with Iran resulted because some of my subordinates exceeded their instructions without reporting back to me, President Reagan had said, ÒAnd when I read the Tower Commission Report, it looked as if some staff people had taken off on their own.Ó

He also told me that he did not sleep the night before the Report was to be released, because of his concern about its damage to his credibility. The next morning, with a resigned smile, he mused. Ò. . . I guess I have a case of the Iranian flu.Ó

It was rare for him to let political pressures affect him. In March, l98l, after he was shot by John Hinckley in an assassination attempt, a new focus was brought to his spiritual life. He tried to keep his eyes on the bigger picture. Weeks after the shooting, he told me that he felt that God might have spared him for some particular reasonÑperhaps his genial bond with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, which helped ease tensions with Moscow and shorten the Cold War.

The traumatic experience also gave him a greater appreciation for a life that previously, he said, he had taken for granted. ÒMy survival was a miracle,Ó he told me. ÒThe ordeal strengthened my belief in God and made me realize anew that His hand was always on my shoulderÑthat He has the say so over my life. I often feel as though I am living on the extra time God has given me.Ó

Dr Daniel Ruge, President Reagan's White House physician, who was with him during his l2 day recovery at George Washington University Hospital, told me that the president was always a very healthy man, and until he was shot, needed little care. ÒHis secret was that he was a man who always knew how to take care of himself,Ó Dr Ruge said. ÒAnd his attitude has always been a healthful one. He aged gracefully because he was aware of what he was able to do and what he was not, and he filled his time accordingly.Ó

Dr. Ruge added: ÒPresident Reagan never learned how to hate. As my patient, I watched him up close and admired him as a man and as a great president. I'm now 87 years old, and I still remember his thoughtfulness and kindness. He always looked for the good in people Ò.

Critics accused Ronald Reagan of using his spirituality for political purposes, but ø as the daughter and sister of four clergymen Ñ I sensed, in my conversations with him, a man of genuine faith who believed that there is innate goodness in every human being. Those who act immorally, he believed, do so because they have allowed greed and ambition to overwhelm their basic goodness.

In his most reflective moments, Ronald Reagan's thoughts often turned to religious matters. He would wonder aloud about Armageddon, quoting the Bible's predictions of the final days of the earth. He would liken the atomic bomb to the 'great light' that was to appear as a harbinger of the end of the world. And he would recall comments from his mother, relating them to New Testament parables as well as to what was then happening in the world.

Faced with personal challenges, he relied on his mother's faith that everything happens for a reason, and for the best. ÒShe would tell me that if you accept an apparent disappointmentÓ, he noted, Òthe day will come when you look back and see that, without that setback, some good things probably would not have followed.Ó

In facing life's greatest trials, Ronald Reagan drew on the lessons learned from his mother. She doted on him and remained the primary influence in his life. From her, he acquired the stability and confidence which later enabled him to weather personal and political storms with equanimity. And it was she who fostered in him a commitment to work hard, to live by the Golden Rule and to adhere to the Ten Commandments. A woman of exemplary devotion, generosity and compassion, she inspired him to live a life permeated by prayer and an abiding belief in God's love. That spiritual foundation underlay the positive, balanced and resilient attitude that helped him shrug off disappointments and always count his blessings.

He recalled an episode from when he was five years old. He had recently heard his first 'swear words' and, like many children, begun to parrot them. His mother put him over her knee and gave him a sound spanking. ÒAside from the physical discomfortÓ, he recalled, ÒI felt ashamed. With each whack, Mother was telling me not to ever use that language. It was an impressive lesson Ñ I never made use of those words.Ó

In July, l980 when Ronald Reagan was the Republican nominee for president, he recounted an experience his father had in Illinois during the Great Depression. ÒIn those days,Ó he told me at the close of our interview on religion in politics and on the Middle East, Òthere was prejudice against Catholics as well as people of the Jewish faith.

ÒMy father was a traveling salesman. One night, in an old Ford automobile, he drove up to a small hotel. After he signed the register, the clerk Ñ assuming REAGAN was an Irish name ø said, 'You will like it here, Mr. Reagan, because in this hotel we don't allow Jews.'

ÒAstonished by the clerk's remarks, my father picked up his suitcase and said, 'Oh, then you don't want me here either. I am Catholic, and if you don't allow Jews, maybe some day you won't allow people of other faiths. '

ÒThen my father walked out, and that night, slept in his car.Ó

Ten years ago, before the ravaging Alzheimer's disease overwhelmed him, President Reagan closed his poignant farewell letter by thanking the American people for giving him Òthe great honor of allowing me to serve as your president
. . . . I know that for America, there will always be a bright dawn ahead.Ó

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