In 1983, President Ronald Reagan decried the totalitarian repression of the Soviet Union by calling it the “focus of evil in the modern world.” Yet in 1988 while visiting with Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia, Mr. Reagan felt the need to soft-pedal his rhetoric when asked by a reporter if he still considered the Soviet Union to be an “evil empire.” The president said he was referring to a “different era” when he used that term. Our elected leaders must sometimes walk diplomatic tightropes while traveling around the world.