William Greider, the celebrated political essayist and writer for The Nation, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post, died on Christmas Day at the age of 83. The Nation’s Editorial Director Katrina van den Heuvel tweeted Thursday that Greider understood that, “The process of reimagining democracy requires not only real respect for the people, deep reporting, historical insight, but also patience.” One of Greider’s best-known articles in The Atlantic, in 1981, profiled David Stockman, President Ronald Reagan’s budget director. Stockman’s quote that “None of us really understands what’s going on with all these numbers” resulted in Stockman saying he was “taken to the woodshed” by Reagan after the article was published.