Clinton's Memoir Ushers In Different Wave of Nostalgia

"Clinton understood that the world was complicated and interdependent, and America was actually strengthened by creating strong alliances," said John D. Podesta, Clinton's final chief of staff and the president of the liberal Center for American Progress. Conservatives, he believes, stand for the idea that "because we are righteous, the strong independent projection of righteousness is what they value. Their whole conceptualization of this is that the rest of the world would follow the projection of that unilateral strength."

Clinton himself has drawn a similar contrast. In a recent speech at the University of Kansas, he said the country needs "a strategy to make a world with more partners and fewer terrorists."

"If you believe the world is interdependent and you cannot kill, occupy or imprison all your actual or potential adversaries, sooner or later you have to make a deal," he said.

Kerry likewise has promoted the importance of nurturing alliances and fighting terrorism in a more multilateral fashion. The clearest sign that he accepts Clinton's worldview is the roster of advisers he has recruited. Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, Clinton's second-term national security adviser, and Richard C. Holbrooke, his final ambassador to the United Nations, are both important informal Kerry advisers. On the domestic side, in addition to Reed, former Clinton National Economic Council chief Gene Sperling consults with the Kerry campaign on budget and economic matters.

While Clinton is happy to join the argument about his legacy or the Democrats' future, he decided years ago to stop arguing the Reagan years.

When Republicans passed an appropriations bill that would rename Washington National Airport for Reagan, White House political adviser Paul Begala stood by Clinton's side in the Oval Office holding a sign emblazoned with the word, "Veto!"

Clinton smiled and signed the bill, which contained other spending items he wanted. The episode captured the style of the Clinton years, in which he put an emphasis on practicality over ideological debate.

Even so, aides say neither Clinton nor his wife have fundamentally changed their essential view of the Reagan era. As he was launching his first presidential run in the fall of 1991, Clinton declared in a speech at Georgetown University that the administrations of Reagan and George H.W. Bush "exalted private gain over public obligation, special interests over the common good, wealth and fame over work and family," and he called the 1980s a "gilded age of greed and selfishness."

Once elected, though, Clinton came to admire the way Reagan excelled at the theater of the presidency. Gergen, now teaching at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, said he believes Clinton recruited him to the White House in 1993 in part because "he wanted to know about the 'Reagan magic.' He would ask, 'How would Reagan have done this?' "

Only in retrospect do at least some surface similarities between the Clinton and Reagan biographies and styles seem more apparent. Both were products of small towns and families shadowed by alcoholism. Both emerged from these backgrounds with cheerful public demeanors and a fundamentally optimistic view of life.

One major difference in the debate over their respective historical legacies is that the 57-year-old Clinton, if he remains in good health, will be a participant in the debate for decades. He left the presidency at the same age that Reagan was just beginning his political career. If Clinton lives to the same age as Reagan, the nation will hold his funeral in the year 2039.