After Ronald Reagan died over the weekend, children who were too young to remember his presidency were seen placing flowers at makeshift memorials for him. Perhaps it is callous to wonder how people can become so saddened over a man they never knew personally. Certainly, the images we’re seeing (Nancy with her head on the flag-draped coffin, Reagan as a young actor in a bathing suit looking toned and tan) have their own emotional effect. But I’m a bit more interested in the words and the ideas.

Put aside for a moment the discomfort of speaking ill of the dead, and read two of the most anti-Reagan postings. These two pieces, from two authors and investigative journalists, Greg Palast and Christopher Hitchens, break from the tone of admiration many have felt they needed to use in writing about our former president. (Reagan-lovers, beware, these are not your usual eulogies.)

Policy wonks have turned to one of the most puzzling aspects of Reagan’s presidency: what has come to be called Reaganomics. Whether this ill-defined term actually translated into sound economic policy is being put aside to instead praise Reagan’s ability to inspire confidence. The importance of the policy’s end result should not be underestimated, for it is credited with introducing to the world the idea of a freer market. But, even now, the actual merits of the policy remain murky. Here’s the routine: Put aside the details. Let us consider the legacy.

The Economist writes that, again and again, Reagan wrote in his diaries, “I have a gut feeling.” The quote speaks to his appeal, to his ability to transmit a feeling of assurance without explaining the intricacies. Perhaps this is why so many praise him as a leader. Perhaps this is why people who only saw him on television will make a pilgrimage this week to his closed-casket services at both ends of the country. Skip the details, add some lovely photos, and you’re surprisingly close to the formula for a leader who will inspire confidence and admiration.

Vinnee Tong