What the Chinese want to know today

Those of you who know me personally already know that there are a few countries on earth I am particularly fond of. I return to these countries as often as I can. I study their languages and cultures. These countries are The Netherlands, Denmark, Peru and the People's Republic of China. I correspond (MSN Messenger) with locals in these countries who I consider friends. This morning I got a question thrown at me by my friend Ben who teaches English at Big Bridge School in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, Zhongguo (The Middle Kingdom). What was keeping Ben awake at night in Wuxi these days. Ben's question was "Why do people call the late ex-President Reagan "Dutch?" Was he Dutch?" I had no immediate answer for Ben other than that I didn't think he was of Dutch ancestry. So I googled and found that:

February 6, 1911
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois to Nelle Wilson and Jack Reagan. The Reagans had one previous son, Neil "Moon" Reagan, born in 1908. Reagan earned the nickname "Dutch" from his father, who remarked that "he looked like a fat little Dutchman."

To those Dutch reading this blog, defend thyself: are little Dutchman usually fat?

Ben also wanted to know if I was sad to hear the news of Reagan's passing. The flag in front of my house will fly at half staff all this week until I am told to hoist it back to the top. Peggy Noonan, Reagan's speechwriter, suggested that on Firday we hoist the flag back to the top before we bury our first President in thirty-one years. "The Gipper" would have wanted it that way.

This morning at 4:00 a.m. I was listening to Radio Australia. It was a call-in program and the lines were jammed with callers all wanting to give their opinion about "Dutch" or as I more often heard him called "The Gipper." All had varying opinions. Some were incensed by the Australian Prime Minister's (What's his name again?)recent statement that Reagan would go down in history as one of the best U.S. Presidents of the Century. One caller said Reagan was a good actor with a bad script.

Over to you in Wuxi Ben.......what's the Chinese translation for "The Gipper?" Did Mao or Deng have nicknames and what were they?