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For the first time, a minute-by-minute account of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan walked out of a hotel in Washington, D.C., and was shot by a would-be assassin. For years, few people knew the truth about how close the president came to dying, and no one has ever written a detailed narrative of that harrowing day. Now, drawing on exclusive new interviews, Del Quentin Wilber tells the electrifying story of a moment when the nation faced a terrifying crisis. With cinematic clarity, we see the Secret Service agent whose fast reflexes saved the president's life; the brilliant surgeons who operated on Reagan as he was losing half his blood; and the small group of White House officials frantically trying to determine whether the country was under attack. Most especially, we encounter the man code-named Rawhide, a leader of uncommon grace who inspired affection and awe in everyone who worked with him.

Ronald Reagan was the only serving U.S. president to survive being shot in an assassination attempt. In Rawhide Down, the story of that perilous day—a day of chaos, crisis, prayer, heroism, and hope—is brought to life as never before.

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Ronald Reagan may have been the most prolific correspondent of any American president since Thomas Jefferson. The total number of letters written over his lifetime probably exceeds 10,000. Their breadth is equally astonishing -- with friends and family, with politicians, children, and other private citizens, Reagan was as dazzling a communicator in letters as he was in person. Collectively, his letters reveal his character and thinking like no other source. He made candid, considerate, and tough statements that he rarely made in a public speech or open forum. He enjoyed responding to citizens, and comforting or giving advice or encouragement to friends. Now, the most astonishing of his writings, culled in Reagan: A Portrait in Letters, finally and fully reveal the true Ronald Reagan.

Many of Reagan's handwritten letters are among the most thoughtful, charming, and moving documents he produced. Long letters to his daughter Patti, applauding her honesty, and son Ron Jr., urging him to be the best student he can be, reveal Reagan as a caring parent. Long-running correspondence with old friends, carried on for many decades, reveals the importance of his hometown and college networks. Heartfelt advice on love and marriage, fond memories of famous friends from Hollywood, and rare letters about his early career allow Reagan to tell his own full biography as never before. Running correspondence with young African-American student Ruddy Hines reveals a little-known presidential pen pal. The editors also reveal that another long-running pen-pal relationship, with fan club leader Lorraine Wagner, was initially ghostwritten by his mother, until Reagan began to write to Wagner himself some years later.

Reagan's letters are a political and historical treasure trove. Revealed here for the first time is a running correspondence with Richard Nixon, begun in 1959 and continuing until shortly before Nixon's death. Letters to key supporters reveal that Reagan was thinking of the presidency from the mid-1960s; that missile defense was of interest to him as early as the 1970s; and that few details of his campaigns or policies escaped his notice. Dozens of letters to constituents reveal Reagan to have been most comfortable and natural with pen in hand, a man who reached out to friend and foe alike throughout his life. Reagan: A Life in Letters is as important as it is astonishing and moving.Amazon.com Review
Many books have been written about Ronald Reagan, but this collection of his letters must certainly be among the most varied and revealing about every aspect of the man. Organized by themes such as "Old Friends," "Running for Office," "Core Beliefs," "The Critics," and "Foreign Leaders," the book contains over 1,000 letters stretching from 1922 to 1994. Whether discussing economic policy with a political foe, dispensing marital advice, or sharing a joke with a pen pal, Reagan comes across as gracious, caring, and inquisitive. Even when responding to blistering criticism, he remained fair and thoughtful. As one would expect, many of the letters are addressed to world leaders, well-known American politicians, pundits, and journalists, and these are certainly interesting for their historical relevance and insights into Reagan's diplomatic style. Among the more fascinating notes, however, are those sent to private citizens, some of which are quite long and detailed. That Reagan would spend the time, as both governor of California and President, to respond to the concerns and inquiries of constituents reveals that he never forgot how he got to his positions of leadership in the first place. He even went so far on occasions to help make business connections for people he had never met in person. He also sent many letters to children. In one, he encouraged a young student to turn off the TV and grab a book instead: "Reading is a magic carpet and you can never be lonely if you learn to enjoy a good book."Taken as a whole, these revealing, well-written, and entertaining letters trace the story of Reagan's life and times as well as any standard biography. They also offer further proof of why he was dubbed "The Great Communicator." --Shawn Carkonen ... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

Interesting look into Reagan's life and thoughts
Interesting look into Reagan's life and thoughts.It's arranged in such a way that you can skip around as you like.

A Waste of Time and Money
Published in 1990, this autobiography was a catastrophe. Simon and Shuster had paid this former ham $7 million in advance for the manuscript including a collection of his stale speeches. Of the 500,000 copies produced, nearly 300,000 were returned to the publisher, forcing them to revise their advance payment policy.

Letters from an Inspirational and Optimistic President Reagan
I am a huge fan of President Ronald Reagan, and became an even stronger fan as a result of reading his letters.President Reagan was a man of substance, who believed in America, capitalism, and the capability of the individual, and this will continue to be an enduring legacy of his.He distrusted government, and he knew, just like our Founders, that a government that was not constrained would attack the freedoms and liberties of the people.That is precisely why this book is so important.When you read Reagan's letters, you can see that he is articulate and clear in his views of government.This book is even more important today.I suggest reading it.Even those who consider themselves Democrats have a lot to learn -- especially since Reagan voted Democrat most of his life (including for FDR).

Prepare to be Surprised
For those who admire the late President Reagan, this book will be confirmation of his greatness - but it is particularly recommended to any fair-minded readers of the opposite persuasion who are open to having their prejudices challenged.

A man's true character will always come out in his personal correspondence. There he cannot hide behind speech-writers and image-makers. So those whose only ideas about the man come from the mainstream media - dominated by people who opposed his policies - may be surprised by this encounter with the real Ronald Reagan.

The man revealed in these letters is thoughtful, witty, genuinely interested in other people, and firm in his Christian faith and his political beliefs. Although distinctively American in all things, he is curiously reminiscent of an English gentleman of the old school, especially in his consideration for others. At times, he seems quaintly old fashioned in his manners. Many of the later letters are obviously the work of a very busy man, but, when he had the opportunity, he clearly enjoyed taking the time and trouble to compose a letter properly - a lost art today.

This was given to me as a birthday present, and I value it as one of the best gifts I have ever had. I often dip into it, just to read a letter or two, especially when I am depressed by what I see around me or in public life at all levels, because it reminds me that decency is still possible in both, even in this modern world.

A Pleasure to Read - Again and Again
The book takes the form of the correspondence of Reagan over a period of seven decades.These letters begin during Reagan's childhood and continue to his life as a Hollywood actor, then as Governor of the largest State in the Union, next as President, and finally as a private citizen.

In our age of the Internet, the old-fashioned personal correspondence seems something outdated and quaint; it has become a relic of the past.It is clear that men and women of Reagan's generation learned the importance of the English language.They were taught the importance of the written word and its proper use.Ronald Reagan did not abandon this skill even when he was rightfully declaring the Soviet Union to be an evil empire.Even as the President, Reagan corresponded with world leaders and with young schoolchildren alike.He would often apologize for responding late to an individual whether he or she was an intimate of decades or a complete stranger.

Some of his letters in the White House give journalists an insight into his life before Hollywood and politics.Before he became an actor, Ronald Reagan was a radio sportscaster near Des Moines, Iowa.One of Reagan's responsibilities was to give accounts of the Chicago Cubs baseball games over the telegraph.During one game between the Chicago Cubs and their arch rivals the Saint Louis Cardinals that was tied 0-0 in the 9th inning, the telegraph went dead:

"There were several other stations broadcasting that game and I knew I'd lose my audience if I told them we'd lost our telegraph connections so I took a chance.I had (Billy) Jurges hit another foul.Then I had him foul one that only missed being a homerun by a foot. I had him foul one back in the stands and took up some time describing the two lads that got in a fight over the ball.

"I kept on having him foul balls until I was setting a record for a ballplayer hitting successive foul balls and I was getting more than a little scared. Just then my operator started typing. When he passed me the paper I started to giggle - it said: "'Jurges popped out on the first ball pitched.'"

At over 900 pages, one of the most pleasant things about this book is that it does not have to be read in a sequential manner to be enjoyed, and it does not need be read in one sitting.Many of these letters are as enjoyable the tenth time as the first.We miss you, Gipper.

... Read more

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Ronald Reagan's presidency, and his role in history, as told by this definitive biographer and illustrated with the documents, photographs, artifacts, and audio recordings from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The Presidential Portfolio combines the unparalleled perspective of reporter and historian Lou Cannon with the vast holdings of the Reagan Library to create the second volume in the PublicAffairs Presidential Library Series. Lavishly illustrated with photos-many in full color-from the president's youth to his last days in office, hand-annotated documents, and everyday notes and doodles, and packaged with a 60minute CD containing the original recordings of some of Reagan's most memorable speeches, the book serves as a remarkable illustrated journey back in time. The journey starts with Reagan's childhood in Dixon, Illinois and includes his years in Hollywood; his marriage to Nancy Davis; his years as governor of California; the presidential campaigns; the assassination attempt; Reaganomics; his foreign policy; the Strategic Defense Initiative; the INF treaty; and Iran-Contra, and ends with Reagan's retirement and battle with Alzheimer's disease. A Gallup survey recently designated Reagan as the greatest president of all time, and Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio is a timely reference work and a beautiful gift. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unusually Beautiful
With wonderful photographs, facsimiles of documents Reagan wrote, text by the top Reagan chronicler (Lou Cannon) and commentary by historian Michael Bechloss, this is a beautiful visual history of critical years in this century. ... Read more

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A screen display featuring Ronald Reagan. ... Read more

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New details of the remarkable relationship between two leaders who teamed up to change history.

It’s well known that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were close allies and kindred political spirits. During their eight overlapping years as U.S. president and UK prime minister, they stood united for free markets, low taxes, and a strong defense against communism. But just how close they really were will surprise you.

Nicholas Wapshott finds that the Reagan-Thatcher relationship was much deeper than an alliance of mutual interests. Drawing on extensive interviews and hundreds of recently declassified private letters and telephone calls, he depicts a more complex, intimate, and occasionally combative relationship than has previously been revealed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great book
Im a college student and I wanted to read up on some of the conservative leaders in America. I decided to start out with Reagan, but then I was completely enamored by the dual relationship of both Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. This book gives one of the most definitive, intimate, and readable! accounts of there relationship during both their times in office. This book kept my interest the whole way through. It made me laugh out loud at some points(Debate with Bush,"I paid for this mic Mr. Green) and made tear up at other times(Reagan's' death). Its not so long that you'll be reading it for a month and it also does not leave any details out.....GREAT BOOK!

They stood side-by-side even in the worst of times
Having read upwards of fifty books by and about Ronald Reagan, his family and his administration, before reading this one, I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about America's 40th President.I was wrong.I failed to realize that all of the previous books which I had read addressed Reagan, his policies, his actions, and his achievements from the perspective of America as a sovereign nation.This book takes a somewhat different approach and thereby lets the reader see Reagan from a slightly different personal and political perspective.Most importantly, the reader gets to see some of Reagan's major policies as they were viewed by England's Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and by Europe's other political leaders.

This tells an interesting tale and gives the reader much food for thought, particularly in regard to Reagan's quest to rid the world of nuclear weapons.In Reagan's mind this would make the world a safer place in which to live.Margaret Thatcher and Europe's leaders, however, saw this somewhat differently.In their view, the nuclear threat which had been hanging over Europe since the 1950s had thus far prevented another World War.Without those weapons, and in the face of the Soviet threat, they feared that Europe would be at the mercy of the Soviet Union's far superior ground forces.

As a result, Thatcher did everything in her power to convince Reagan not to negotiate away the free world's nuclear weapons - but Reagan would not be deterred.Strangely enough, in view of the situation in the world today, one can only wonder if perhaps she was right.

This book also tells us a lot about Margaret Thatcher, Reagan's most important and trusted ally and a lady who in her own right must be considered, along with Winston Churchill, as one of modern England's greatest Prime Ministers.Interestingly enough, although Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher come across as having been cut from entirely different bolts of cloth, they appear to have been almost perfectly matched - close friends and ideological soul mates who stood side-by-side even in the most trying of times.

Does an excellent job
If there was anyone who truly bestrode the 1980s like colossi, it was Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. While they acted upon the world stage, the other nations were forced to deal with them - were forced to react, while they acted. Together they reinvigorated their nations, challenged and defeated the Soviet Empire, and reshaped the modern world in ways that are still being felt some twenty years after their passing from power.

In this fascinating book, author and journalist Nicholas Wapshott, draws on interviews and hundreds of personal correspondences to give a full view of their relationship. Theirs was not the simple, distant relationship enjoyed by most national leaders, instead their relationship was more like a marriage. They shared deeply-held values, they talked out and often fought over policies, and proved impervious to any attempts to set them against each other.

I must admit that I really loved this book. I came of age (politically) during the Carter malaise, and remember the Reagan era with great affection. Plus, what Conservative does not fondly remember Britain's Iron Lady? This book does an excellent job of giving the reader an inside view of the relationship between Reagan and Thatcher, and really explaining what happened between them and what it meant for the rest of the world.

I think that this book does a great job of giving the reader an insider's view of the 1980s, informing and explaining. This is one of the best books I have read in a while - and I read many good books - and I do not hesitate to give it my highest recommendations! Buy this book!

A dual biography of two great leaders on the world stage during the 1980s
Nicholas Wapshott gives us a dual biography of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and what he calls their `political marriage' during the 1980s when they were the hugely popular leaders of the United States and Great Britain.He shows us their childhood and the unlikely careers that finally lead to the White House and #10 Downing Street.It is interesting to remember that Thatcher's period as Prime Minister began before and ended after Reagan's Presidency.However, Reagan seemed to leave office with greater comfort than Thatcher did.Of course, Reagan was term limited while Thatcher ended up being undermined by her party as well as the accumulation of political missteps.

Wapshott presents their careers and lives in a largely positive light, but does not shy away from criticism.Nor does he favor either Reagan or Thatcher.He shows the strengths of each as well as their blind spots.What the book excels at is showing their friendship and its being stronger than their sometimes vehement disagreements.These periods of confrontation are fascinating.The book bills itself as featuring previously unpublished correspondence, and it delivers these very interesting letters, but there are not as many of them as I had expected.This doesn't detract from the book in any way, but I just thought you should know that this isn't primarily a book of correspondence between the two world leaders.

Were Thatcher and Reagan as important a global leadership team as Churchill and FDR?Maybe not quite, but their partnership during a critical period of the Cold War certainly helped it become a period LATE in the Cold War.Wapshott is not so sure that they caused the fall of the Soviet Union as much as they were in office when the USSR ran out of gas.While I am not a scholar of the period, I lived through most of the Cold War and followed it closely.I have no doubt that Reagan and Thatcher led the West and made things sufficiently more difficult for the Soviet leaders that they did contribute to its demise.And I am delighted each day that they did.You can't point to the way the West has muffed the post Cold War relationship with Russia to judge it any more than you can say that the Cold War makes our victory in WWII less victorious.

A solid, concise, and interesting telling of these two lives on the world stage.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Ideological Soulmates and Successful Partner
This dual biography details the remarkably parallel lives of two of the late 20th Century's most influential world leaders.Both were raised "above the store" as children of merchants, though Thatcher's father owned the store, whereas Reagan's hard-luck father never did.Both were insurgents and change-agents in traditional, staid political parties.Both were freedom-promoting anti-totalitarians deeply committed to breaking the legacy of Yalta and, in Reagan's words, "transcending" Communism.Both enhanced their reputations for firmness by staring down powerful unions -- PATCO in the U.S.; the National Union of Mineworkers in the U.K.Both furthered national restoration, in part, through controversial, but ultimately successful military expeditions.

Making use of newly released correspondence, diaries and phone transcripts, journalist Nicholas Wapshott mines the depths of the Thatcher-Reagan political partnership. Like any marriage, they did not always agree. And at times, the disagreements were quite contentious.For example, the iron-willed Thatcher is seen upbraiding Reagan in strong terms over U.S. resistance to her Falklands action; Reagan's decision not to consult Thatcher before launching the Grenada invasion, and U.S.-led restrictions on Western companies supporting the Soviet Siberian gas pipeline.Reagan's zero-option nuclear gambit at Reykjavik also drew a stern post-mortem rebuke from Thatcher.Reagan is seen parrying these hot critiques with charm and diplomacy.

Reagan and Thatcher, of course, came to dissimilar ends. Reagan quietly disappeared from public life (even before the onset of Alzheimer's), while Thatcher, felled in an intra-party coup, remained an outspoken, if somewhat embittered commentator on world events.

Wapshott's book is not an authoritative biography, but it does provide revealing insights into the most intimate and successful trans-Atlantic political partnership since Roosevelt and Churchill.
... Read more

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According to recent opinion polls, Ronald Reagan is the most popular of modern presidents, and yet to most biographers the man is still an enigma.  This is because, as Brown explains, no one has ever focused on this great man's faith.  This book explores the life and personality of Ronald Reagan by focusing on his deep-felt Christian beliefs and showing how faith guided him along his distinguished career and led him to his unprecedented success.  With the support of Ronald Reagan's own words and writings and first-hand interviews of Ronald Reagan's family, friends, and co-workers, Brown weaves a magnificent story of Reagan's strong devotion to God that will not only inspire Christians to enter public service and allow their faith to motivate all their actions but also help point others to the Cross of Jesus Christ--a cause that was near and dear to President Reagan's heart. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

An inspiration for our days
I just finished reading "Hand of Providence" by Mary Beth Brown. I simply couldn't put the book down. I was so inspired, motivated, and became so ready to face the "changes" the future is about to bring.

I lived in one of the "former Soviet slave state" mentioned on p.195 during Reagan's presidency. Reading this book made me wish I would have been part of the American society during his leadership years. I'm greatful for the things he did for this country and for the freedom his plan brought to the other side of the planet. I now live in U.S.A and became an american citizen in 2008.

The book is filled with Reagan's actions based on a deep faith in God. There are many encouraging words that will uplift us TODAY. Just to quote a few, "the cause goes on. It's just one battle in a long war, and it will go on as long as we live...You just stay in there, and you stay there with the same beliefs and the same faith that make you do what you're doing here....Don't give up your ideals." (p.161)"God has a plan and it isn't for us to understand, only to know that He has his reasons and because he is all merciful and all loving we can depend on it that there is purpose in whatever He does and it is for our own good." (p.196)

I pray that someday another Reagan will take the stand and lead this awsome country. Until then I will remember the encouraging words I found by reading this book.

Thank you Mary Beth for writing the book. And all blessings to the ones who encouraged her to finish this project.

Reagan revisited
I am a big Ronald Reagan fan.I am also a Christian and wanted an indepth study on the faith of Ronald Reagan.This audiobook does that.Was his Christian faith genuine?Was it vital to him? Was it instrumental in what he did and thought?This book answers those questions in a very compelling way.It is an audiobook one can listen to again and again because it not only informs, it inspires.

Sheds light on the spiritual life of President Reagan
A hagiographic biography of the spiritual life of Ronald Reagan written by a close friend of Reagan's son, Michael. While this book is from time to time excessively sectarian (evangelical, conservative Christian) and borders on preachy, it does provide helpful insight into the spiritual beliefs and hopes of President Reagan and their foundational (fundamental) role in shaping his private and public lives.

A Great Read on President Reagan's Faith In Jesus Christ
In my humble opinion, Mary Beth Brown has written a very readable account of the role of faith in Jesus Christ in President Ronald Reagan's long life.I have heard some things of President Reagan's faith but had never read anything intensive on the subject until this book.

The title is not a political treatise of conservatism but rather the faith of a truly humble president.Politics are covered mainly in the context of Reagan's faith and why he believed and acted as he did.

The book covers the following periods of Reagan's life:

1.Early childhood and great love for his mother and respect for his father despite his father's struggle with the bottle and making a living.
2.College years at Eureka College and early broadcasting days.
3.Years in Hollywood and his role as president of the Screen Actor's Guild and how he became acquainted with the influence of communism.
4.Failed marriage to Jane Wyman.
5.Second and extremely successful marriage to Nancy Davis.
6.Raising his children.
7.His various ranches and he thoroughly enjoyed being there.
8.Role faith played in combatting communism and how he worked closely with Pope John Paul in the 1980s to bring about communism's demise in Europe.
9.His years as governor of California.
10. Years as president of the United States.
11. Post-president years.

Apparently the book was written just before his death and perhaps would have included more information on his faith.

If you are not a Reagan fan or are a political junkie, then this book is not for you.If you like to read on the role of faith in famous people, then this book is for you.

Highly recommended.Read and enjoy!

A Rare Glimpse into History
We had a copy of Mary Beth Brown'sbook sitting on the coffee table when a cousin - who holds a master's degree in history - came for a visit. He took the book down to the guest room and spent all night reading it. I think this earns Hand of Providence the accolade of being a "page turner."It is also a spiritual experience and a most revelatory glimpse into the soul of a man who changed the world forever.Even the jaded will be moved.The cousin began to pray for the first time in decades. ... Read more

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The complete Inaugural Addresses of the US Presidents."With malice toward none, with charity for all.""The only thing we have to fear is -- fear itself.""Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". ... Read more

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Lionel Rolfe, the author of Presidents & Near Presidents I Have Known, has written seven books, but none is devoted directly to politics. His books, including such titles as Literary L.A. and The Uncommon Friendship of Yaltah Menuhin and Willa Cather, have been about classical music, history, religion, philosophy, literature and culture. But Rolfe has also been a working newsman for years, published in such newspapers as The Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. The Guardian of London described him “an LA-based raconteur and journalist” when heralding his book Literary L.A. Even though he has written widely on politics in newspapers and on websites, he has never penned a book about politics. Now he writes about person to person encounters with Hubert Humphrey, Ronald Reagan, Eugene McCarthy and Gerald Ford, as well as a huge array of other wild characters. He pegs the perplexing times we live in with deadly accuracy.

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Ronald Reagan was one of the most powerful and popular American presidents. The key to understanding his political success and the remarkable likability and effortless charisma that made it possible is hidden in his early years as a Hollywood movie star.

Other biographers and Reagan in his two memoirs have skimmed over the thirty years he spent as an actor, union activist, and ladies’ man. Now, for the first time, in this highly entertaining and provocative new work, acclaimed film critic and historian Marc Eliot reveals the truth of those formative years and presents a far different and infinitely more detailed portrait of Reagan than ever before.

Based on original research and never-before-published interviews, documents, and other materials, Eliot sheds new light on Reagan’s film and television work opposite some of the most talented women of the time, including Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and Ginger Rogers; his starlet-strewn bachelor days when his name was linked with Lana Turner and Susan Hayward; his first, rocky marriage to actress Jane Wyman and his career-making second marriage to Nancy Davis; his controversial eight years as the president of the Screen Actors Guild; his friendships with Jimmy Stewart and William Holden; his place in the “Irish Mafia” alongside Pat O’Brien, Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Errol Flynn; and the crucial role of super-agent Lew Wasserman, who was instrumental in developing the persona that would prove essential to Reagan’s future as a world leader.

Set against the glamorous and often combative background of Hollywood’s celebrated Golden Age, Eliot’s biography provides an exceptionally nuanced examination of the man and uncovers the startling origins of the legend.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Highly readable but rather casual with the facts
First, I should note that I am not an admirer of Ronald Reagan as a politician or president.He may have been one of the most beloved American presidents of all time, but his legendary status as the icon of modern "conservatism" is based largely on myths regarding his political principles, competence, and integrity.As a film actor, however, Ronald Reagan deserves more consideration and respect than he often gets from either film historians or popular culture generally. His political detractors have often deliberately and unfairly ignored or denigrated his movie work, based on his worst films (especially when his career was in decline in the 1950s).In 1941, however, Reagan was on his way to becoming a major film star at Warner Brothers studios.Had he not had to put his career on hold for Army service in World War II, Reagan might have become a star with the popular image and sustained box-office appeal of James Stewart, Joel McCrea, or William Holden.And, one wonders, if he had achieved that kind of success in films, would Reagan ever have entered politics?

I had looked forward to reading Marc Eliot's account of Reagan's Hollywood career, and I give him credit for creating a highly readable book.But as I read, I detected enough factual errors and questionable assessments, especially in regard to the film industry, to make me wonder whether Eliot and his editors had employed a fact-checker and perhaps a little outside critiquing before publication.

*Pg. 44 - "With each of the eight major studios producing on average seventy-five features and a hundred shorts each week ... ". That's 600 feature films a week, or 31,200 a year - a preposterous figure.Another, seemingly more accurate figure for Hollywood's annual production quantity is cited later in the book. .

*Pg. 66 - Hollywood gossip queen Louella Parsons "was being syndicated nationally in all six hundred Hearst newspapers ...". Her column may well have been distributed to that many newspapers via the Hearst syndicate, but William Randolph Hearst himself owned only 30 papers or so.

*Pg. 68 - There's a single paragraph about Reagan making "Sergeant Murphy" in 1938, but no mention that the film is about a contemporary Army cavalryman, reflecting Reagan's own service (at that time) in the horse cavalry as an Army reservist.

*Pg. 68 - Referring to Reagan's 1938 "B" movie,"Accidents Will Happen," "costarring fading A actress Gloria Blondell," Eliot is confusing Gloria -- in just her second film -- with her older sister Joan Blondell, a major Warner Brothers star in the early `30s.

*Pg. 115 - Referring to Reagan's breakthrough role as George Gipp, "the Gipper," in "Knute Rockne, All American," Eliot states that, in this film, "football served as an obvious and powerful metaphor for war" and that, at the time the film was released in the fall of 1940, "America's entry into [World War II was] all but inevitable, ...."Really?At the time "Rockne" was made, the United States was beginning to aid Britain in its war against Nazi Germany, but America's direct involvement was still being hotly debated and was hardly "inevitable," except in hindsight. Eliot also overlooks that the film, rather than celebrating football as combat, includes a scene in which Rockne proclaims football and other competitive sports played in the United States as a substitute for the militarism taught in other societies.

*Pg. 148 - "Movies that dealt with the harsh realities of [the Depression] years ... came only as those years ... were fading with America's inevitable entry into World War II. Forties 'noir' is, in reality, Hollywood's decade-late stylistic depiction of the country's mood during the Depression."Eliot ignores films like "Gabriel Over the White House," "Wild Boys of the Road," "Gold Diggers of 1933," "Stand Up and Cheer," "Our Daily Bread," "My Man Godfrey," "Dead End," and scores of other films made before 1939 that addressed or at least referred to the issues raised by the Great Depression that started in late 1929. Hollywood hardly ignored the Depression before the early 1940s, and the "noirish" films of the '40s were far more a reflection of post-war fears and uncertainties than they were reflections of the nation's mood a decade earlier.

*Pg. 344 - Referring to Will Hays, the former U.S. postmaster general who in 1922 became the first president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), Eliot states that "In 1934, Hays was replaced by Joseph Breen, ..." Hays actually served as president of the MPPDA until 1945; Breen became, in 1934, the first director of that group's Production Code Administration (PCA), responsible for enforcement of the production code. Although the PCA was often referred to as the "Hays Office," Breen did not replace Hays as MPPDA president but instead worked for twenty years as the industry's chief censor. (Eric Johnston took over from Hays as president of the renamed Motion Picture Association of America, the MPAA, in 1946.) This is pretty basic U.S. motion picture history; I'm surprised that Eliot was not more specific about the relationship between Hays and Breen.

The book contains a great deal about Reagan's role in Hollywood's labor-union issues in the 1930s and 1940s (mainly during his six years as president of the Screen Actors Guild), but much of the information about this important aspect of U.S. film history is attributed to Eliot's own book, "Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince," so to check on his sources you have to have that book available. There's also an unnecessary amount of padding - information about certain Reagan co-workers and other Hollywood personalities, as well as about the film industry itself, that often is simply a list of names and films, or other extraneous info.Eliot also goes into some glib psychological evaluation of Reagan, especially the man's relationship with his alcoholic father.

"The Hollywood Years" follows Reagan as far as 1964, the year he made his last feature film (some of his "Death Valley Days" TV episodes premiered as late as October 1965) and the year that he started to become a serious political player in the presidential campaign of Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater. A nationally televised speech by Reagan on Goldwater's behalf convinced several California Republicans that Reagan could successfully run for governor. As I said, this is a highly readable book, but the discrepancies I could detect make me wonder how many other errors there are in the book that I don't have the detailed knowledge to find. For someone who has written so many books about Hollywood history and American popular culture, Eliot seems remarkably cavalier about getting his facts right. Supplement this book with Stephen Vaughn's "Ronald Reagan in Hollywood" (1991) and Thomas W. Evans's "The Education of Ronald Reagan" (2006).

A "B" book for a "B" actor
Let's face it, Ronald Reagan was never one of Hollywood's prime actors.Laid side by side, his "B" movies far outpace those that might be on the "A" scale.The same might be said for this book.As with the movies, it's the plot and the format that weaken the tale.

Marc Eliot's book has its credibility short-comings (as amply attested to by other reviewers).It does, however, contain some interesting tidbits about RR and if nothing else, identifies him as a man of character--especially in explaining the "Red Scare" as it invaded movieland.On the other hand, Eliot uses so many acronyms and leads you thru such a maize of unknown characters that he leaves you with the impression he is trying to impress you about him, not Reagan.

My biggest disappointment about the book is that just as it seems to get into a flowing pattern, the author disrupts the information with new tidbits that has you shaking your head and asking the perverbial, "Is this really necessary?"As a result, the book become a ho-hum read.

As an insider who has written a number of interesting and readable books, I expected much more from Marc Eliot with this one. I was disappointed.The Hollywood of the 1940s and 50s, a great supporting cast, a US President-to-be...what more could you ask for? A better-written book.

Bad from the start
I will not repeat the findings of other reviewers and repeat all the erroneous statements in the book. Let me just say no matter if you love Reagan or loath him, you should not waste your time on this book. It goes out of its way to attack Reagan and it deals in half-truths and innuendo. There are better books out there, this is not worth the effort. Its obvious the author has a political agenda.

Reagan: the Hollywood Years
I wonder just how much research this author did.While I didn't read it, I did peruse it in a bookstore recently.In the pictures I found an error in identification.There was one of the 1946 Academy Awards with Reagan, Jane Wyman (his wife), Ray Milland (actor) and Billy Wilder the director.However, the author identified Mr. Wilder as Lew Ayers.Unbelievable!

A Shoddy Job
The author claims he "pursued my PhD in film history" at Columbia University, where a film with Ronald Reagan was never shown. First, instead of just pursuing the PhD he should have finished it, and secondly, just because Columbia never showed him a film with Ronald Reagan doesn't mean he never should have watched one on his own. After reading this poorly researched book on Reagan's Hollywood years I am convinced the author never watched anyof the classic films to which he refers. If I had paid for this book instead of receiving it as a gift, I would be furious for wasting my money. There are somany inaccuracies as to make all of the author's assertions suspect.

Previous reviewers have pointed outquite a few of the factual problems with the book, so I will just add a few observations.

The most elementary mistake for a film "scholar" to make is the graphic one wherehe not only misidentifies Billy Wilder as Lew Ayres in a photo from the Academy Awards party at which Wilder's classic "Lost Weekend" won Best Picture of 1946, but the also claims that Reagan looks "tense" becauseWyman(standing next to Wilder and co star Ray Milland) is having an affair with the misidentified Lew Ayres. Talk about embarrassing. The author is reading something into a picture which can't be further from the truth since Ayres is nowhere to be seen at the table. This creates tremendous doubt that any of the author's analyses of theevents of Reagan's star years can be valid.

We know Eliotnever saw Wyman in "The Yearling," because no one could forget Claude Jarman Jr's astounding performance as Jody a youngboy who becomes attached to a deer which creates further hardship in the lives ofhis hardscrabble family. Maybe Eliot thinks every character named Jody must be girl, so he didn't have to waste his time screening the film. We also know he never saw the "Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer, a classic farce written by Sidney Sheldon. Eliot argues that Cary Grant successfully romanced ShirleyTemple in "Bachelor," while the stiff, no-talent Reagan couldn't pull off this feat in "That Hagen Girl." Baloney! Teenaged Shirley Temple presented problems for older leading men, as she should have. No one wants to see the icon ofAmerican girlhood defiled by an older man. In "Bachelor," Grant is pursuing Myrna Loy, who Eliot states is Temple's mother in the film. Actually, Loyis Temple's older sister who happens to be a judge. Grant is sentenced to pretend he is dating Temple who has a highschool crush on Grant. At no time does Grant successfully romance Temple in the film, nor does he try to. Although Eliot implies "That Hagen Girl" helped ruin the careers of both Temple and Reagan, both went on to make more films with Temple growing bored in her adult career, and Reagan continuing frustrated as a B movie actor. An interesting point of comparison exists betwen Temple and Reagan as both went on to successful careers in diplomacy and politics respectively. Eliot doesn't even seem to notice. As for Eliot ridiculing Reagan's good taste in not wanting to marry Temple in the end of "That Hagen Girl," no other leading man took on that chore. Shirley's films in the forties cast her opposite her husband, John Agar, and other young actors while she appeared in those same films with Henry Fonda, John Wayne and other older leading men as their daughters, or nieces, or friends of her family.

Finally, Eliot concludes without even trying to analyze how Reagan's Hollywood career contributed to his success as the statesman who singlehandedly defeated the Soviet empire without firing a shot. Given his failings as an author maybe it is just as well. The sad thing is he has other books out on Grant, and James Stewart. One can only imagine the falsehoods in those books, but I am not going to waste my time to find them. ... Read more

Product Description
At 8:10 o'clock on the night of Oct. 14, 1912, a shot was fired the echo of which swept around the entire world in thirty minutes.

An insane man attempted to end the life of the only living ex-president of the United States and the best known American.

The bullet failed of its mission.


... Read more

Product Description
Until Alzheimer's disease wreaked its gradual destruction, Ronald Reagan was an inveterate writer. He wrote not only letters, short fiction, poetry, and sports stories, but speeches, newspaper articles, and radio commentary on public policy issues, both foreign and domestic.

Most of Reagan's original writings are pre-presidential. From 1975 to 1979 he gave more than 1,000 daily radio broadcasts, two-thirds of which he wrote himself. They cover every topic imaginable: from labor policy to the nature of communism, from World War II to the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, from the future of Africa and East Asia to that of the United States and the world. They range from highly specific arguments to grand philosophy to personal stories.

Even those who knew him best were largely unaware of Reagan's output. George Shultz, as he explains in the Foreword, was surprised when he first saw the manuscripts, but on reflection he really was not surprised at all. Here is definitive proof that Ronald Reagan was far more than a Great Communicator of other people's ideas. He was very much the author of his own ideas, with a single vision that he pursued relentlessly at home and abroad.

Reagan, In His Own Hand presents this vision through Reagan's radio writings as well as other writings selected from throughout his life: short stories written in high school and college, a poem from his high school yearbook, newspaper articles, letters, and speeches both before and during the presidency. It offers many surprises, beginning with the fact that Reagan's writings exist in such size and breadth at all. While he was writing batches and batches of radio addresses, Reagan was also traveling the country, collaborating on a newspaper column, giving hundreds of speeches, and planning his 1980 campaign. Yet the wide reading and deep research self-evident here suggest a mind constantly at work. The selections are reproduced with Reagan's own edits, offering a unique window into his thought processes.

These writings show that Reagan had carefully considered nearly every issue he would face as president. When he fired the striking air-traffic controllers, many thought that he was simply seizing an unexpected opportunity to strike a blow at organized labor. In fact, as he wrote in the '70s, he was opposed to public-sector unions using strikes. There has been much debate as to whether he deserves credit for the end of the cold war; here, in a 1980 campaign speech draft, he lays out a detailed vision of the grand strategy that he would pursue in order to encourage the Soviet system to collapse of its own weight, completely consistent with the policies of his presidency. Furthermore, in 1984, Reagan drafted comments he would make to Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko at a critical meeting that would eventually lead to history's greatest reductions in armaments.

Ronald Reagan's writings will change his reputation even among some of his closest allies and friends. Here, in his own hand, Reagan the thinker is finally fully revealed.Amazon.com Review
A top advisor to Ronald Reagan once remarked of his boss: "He knows so little and accomplishes so much." Reagan, in His Own Hand will show that the 40th president knew far more than some people have given him credit for. It collects Reagan's recently discovered writings from the late 1970s, when he delivered more than a thousand radio addresses. He wrote about two-thirds of these himself, in longhand on yellow legal paper. "In writing these daily essays on almost every national policy issue during the 1970s, Reagan was acting as a one-man think tank," suggest the editors. This edition reproduces everything faithfully, right down to the spelling mistakes and crossed-out words. And it offers a compelling look at the ideas and principles that animated one of the most important Americans of the 20th century. In one address, Reagan describes his contribution to a time capsule:

I wrote of the problems we face here in 1976--The choice we face between continuing the policies of the last 40 yrs. that have led to bigger & bigger govt, less & less liberty, redistribution of earnings through confiscatory taxation or trying to get back on the original course set for us by the Founding Fathers.... On the international scene two great superpowers face each other with nuclear missiles at the ready--poised to bring Armageddon to the world.

The bulk of the book comprises these radio addresses, but a concluding section includes everything from a short story Reagan wrote as a school assignment when he was 14 (it earned him a B+) to his memorable letter in 1994 revealing his Alzheimer's disease. This book will enthrall Reagan's devotees, and even his toughest critics will concede he had a way with words. No wonder they called him "The Great Communicator." --John J. Miller ... Read more

Customer Reviews (63)

Reagan- very important read
This is a very important read for anyone who desires to understand American history. Easy read. Quick shipping.

Reagan's speeches and writings
I was 10 yrs old when Reagan was elected President.At the time I was aware only that my Grandparents liked him because he was the "Gipper".As I grew up I only vaguely followed politics so my knowledge of Reagan and his beliefs was only cursory.I really enjoyed reading this book.Reading the speeches and radio broadcasts that Reagan wrote himself was a fantastic way of learning what the man was truly about.I wonder how many presidential speeches since were actually written or even edited by the president.I came away with tremendous respect for the man in addition to his accomplishments as the leader of our country.

The Real Reagan
This is history in first person which is always the best way to learn about the past or a person's true heart.
Read it to find out about the real Reagan.

There was so much more to the man than most of us knew.
While the authors put a great deal of emphasis on this being a book of writings in Reagan's own handwriting and explaining how he wrote his speeches and talks, it is far more than that. Each essay gives us a keen insight into the mind of Reagan as he really was. And his mind was a fine and ordered mind --- not the small mind so many accused him of having. He was underestimated by many to their own peril.

Anyone who can write with the simplicity and elegance that he wrote with is brilliant. No one can argue that he couldn't communicate the most difficult idea or thought to anyone in a simple, understandable manner. I found the writing in this book superb. Indeed, it made me appreciate Reagan even more than before. In retrospect, I find him to be perhaps our greatest president --- the one who brought us back to greatness in our darkest hour; a time when we felt low and small about ourselves and our country. We can see this greatness in his pre-presidential writing in this book.

He gave us our "city on a hill." And, as he said in such gracious brilliance in his farewell address to the nation, "We meant to change a nation, and instead, we changed a world." Who but Ronald Reagan could put such truth and emotion and power in one short sentence?

What struck me was that Reagan's basic, core belief system, his philosophy, never wavered. He always believed in less government and more freedom for the individual. He was perhaps more of a libertarian than republican in that respect. He rightly felt that government is a leach and needed to be reined in and kept out of the business of the people. This came through in all of his writing in this book.

The topics are many in the book. He talks about many things that interested and concerned him. But what came through in each document was his constant love and regard for this country. This is truly a book that every American should read.

Highly recommended.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

Very interesting--proves he was intelligent (but also often mistaken in his vision--and facts)
There have been revisionary views of Reagan in the last decades swinging this way and that. Often, there are sharp words thrown back and forth as whether the man was really at all intelligent, or did he just memorize the lines of others, believe in Hollywood fantasy, and let himself get manipulated by advisers.No one book can answer all those questions of course, including this one compiled rather well by professional Reagan book producers.But we can all certainly agree that the man was definitely not stupid by any means.His own original writings here are often clear and crisp, and are easily grasped, showing his ability to shape complicated ideas into a form that many found sensible and appealing.To my mind, however, if I have changed my mind and now think Reagan was indeed a pretty smart fellow, he was not profoundly wise, and quite often simply wrong about the issues.He was extremely conservative and his policies, very well enunciated and told in a style aimed straight for the middle-brow average American is not insultingly dumbed down by any means.But nor is it profound, truly compassionate or in touch with the humanistic undercurrents flowing deeply within western history.This book may not change minds, but at least liberals should admit the man could think, even if he was so terribly wrong, in his affable and seemingly reasonable way, about the Viet Nam war, environmental protection, fair progressive taxation, public defenders, Social Security, and other matters of community well-being that rise above and beyond miniature parables of right-wing beliefs which Reagan so intelligently and cannily wrote in his own hand, albeit after years of exposure to corporate culture and other influences.(General Electric made him a very wealthy man, and he aimed to please his generous paymasters, no doubt---at a moment his career was essentially over and his also intelligent and even more conservative wealthy-family wife was expecting abundant upper class living around her.)But at least read these and give the man some credit for being an often bright and engaging thinker of at least modest talents, and shrewd political skill. ... Read more

Product Description
This book contains the full text of the following inaugural address of these Presidents of the United States of America:

George Washington, First Inaugural Address, Thursday, April 30, 1789
George Washington, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1793
John Adams, Inaugural Address, Saturday, March 4, 1797
Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, Wednesday, March 4, 1801
Thomas Jefferson, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1805
James Madison, First Inaugural Address, Saturday, March 4, 1809
James Madison, Second Inaugural Address, Thursday, March 4, 1813
James Monroe, First Inaugural Address, Tuesday, March 4, 1817
James Monroe, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, March 5, 1821
John Quincy Adams, Inaugural Address, Friday, March 4, 1825
Andrew Jackson, First Inaugural Address, Wednesday, March 4, 1829
Andrew Jackson, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1833
Martin Van Buren, Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1837
William Henry Harrison, Inaugural Address, Thursday, March 4, 1841
James Knox Polk, Inaugural Address, Tuesday, March 4, 1845
Zachary Taylor, Inaugural Address, Monday, March 5, 1849
Franklin Pierce, Inaugural Address, Friday, March 4, 1853
James Buchanan, Inaugural Address, Wednesday, March 4, 1857
Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1861
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, Saturday, March 4, 1865
Ulysses S. Grant, First Inaugural Address, Thursday, March 4, 1869
Ulysses S. Grant, Second Inaugural Address, Tuesday, March 4, 1873
Rutherford B. Hayes, Inaugural Address, Monday, March 5, 1877
James A. Garfield, Inaugural Address, Friday, March 4, 1881
Grover Cleveland, First Inaugural Address, Wednesday, March 4, 1885
Benjamin Harrison, Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1889
Grover Cleveland, Second Inaugural Address, Saturday, March 4, 1893
William McKinley, First Inaugural Address, Thursday, March 4, 1897
William McKinley, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1901
Theodore Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, Saturday, March 4, 1905
William Howard Taft, Inaugural Address, Thursday, March 4, 1909
Woodrow Wilson, First Inaugural Address, Tuesday, March 4, 1913
Woodrow Wilson, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, March 5, 1917
Warren G. Harding, Inaugural Address, Friday, March 4, 1921
Calvin Coolidge, Inaugural Address, Wednesday, March 4, 1925
Herbert Hoover, Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1929
Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, Saturday, March 4, 1933
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Second Inaugural Address, Wednesday, January 20, 1937
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Third Inaugural Address, Monday, January 20, 1941
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fourth Inaugural Address, Saturday, January 20, 1945
Harry S. Truman, Inaugural Address, Thursday, January 20, 1949
Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address, Tuesday, January 20, 1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, January 21, 1957
John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Friday, January 20, 1961
Lyndon Baines Johnson, Inaugural Address, Wednesday, January 20, 1965
Richard Milhous Nixon, First Inaugural Address, Monday, January 20, 1969
Richard Milhous Nixon, Second Inaugural Address, Saturday, January 20, 1973
Jimmy Carter, Inaugural Address, Thursday, January 20, 1977
Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, Tuesday, January 20, 1981
Ronald Reagan, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, January 21, 1985
George Bush, Inaugural Address, Friday, January 20, 1989
Bill Clinton, First Inaugural Address, Wednesday, January 21, 1993
Bill Clinton, Second Inaugural Address, Monday, January 20, 1997
George W. Bush, First Inaugural Address, Saturday, January 20, 2001
George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address, Thursday, January 20, 2005
Barack Hussein Obama, Inaugural Address, Tuesday, January 20, 2009
... Read more

Product Description
Organized around the office of the president, this study focuses on American behavior at home and abroad from the Great Depression to the onset of the end of the Cold War, two key points during which America sought a re-definition of its proper relationship to the world. Domestically, American society continued the process of industrialization and urbanization that had begun in the 19th century. Urban growth accompanied industrialism, and more and more Americans lived in cities. Because of industrial growth and the consequent interest in foreign markets, the United States became a major world power. American actions as a nation, whether as positive attempts to mold events abroad or as negative efforts to enjoy material abundance in relative political isolation, could not help but affect the course of world history. ... Read more

Product Description
In the last years of Ronald Reagan's life, his voluminous writings on politics, policy, and people finally emerged and offered a Rosetta stone by which to understand him. From 1975 to 1979, in particular, he delivered more than 1,000 radio addresses, of which he wrote at least 680 himself. When drafts of his addresses were first discovered, and a selection was published in 2001 as Reagan, In His Own Hand by the editors of this book, they caused a sensation by revealing Reagan as a prolific and thoughtful writer, who covered a wide variety of topics and worked out the agenda that would drive his presidency. What was missed in that thematic collection, however, was the development of his ideas over time. Now, in Reagan's Path to Victory, a chronological selection of more than 300 addresses with historical context supplied by the editors, readers can see how Reagan reacted to the events that defined the Carter years and how he honed his message in the crucial years before his campaign officially began.

The late 1970s were tumultuous times. In the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, America's foreign and domestic policies were up for grabs. Reagan argued against the Panama Canal treaties, in vain; against the prevailing view that the Vietnam War was an ignoble enterprise from the start; against détente with the Soviet Union; against the growth of regulation; and against the tax burden. Yet he was fundamentally an optimist, who presented positive, values-based prescriptions for the economy and for Soviet relations. He told many inspiring stories; he applauded charities and small businesses that worked to overcome challenges.

As Reagan's Path to Victory unfolds, Reagan's essays reveal a presidential candidate who knew himself and knew his positions, who presented a stark alternative to an incumbent administration, and who knew how to reach out and touch voters directly. Reagan's Path to Victory is nothing less than a president's campaign playbook, in his own words. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

His own writings prove he was certainly NOT a "dunce"---but often wrong anyway
There have been revisionary views of Reagan in the last decades swinging this way and that. Often, there are sharp words thrown back and forth as to whether the man was really at all intelligent, or did he just memorize the lines of others, believe in Hollywood fantasy, and let himself get manipulated by advisers?No one book can answer all those questions of course, including this one compiled rather well by professional Reagan book producers.But we can all certainly agree that the man was definitely not stupid by any means.His own original writings here are often clear and crisp, and are easily grasped, showing his ability to shape complicated ideas into a form that many found sensible and appealing.To my mind, however, if I have changed my mind and now think Reagan was indeed a pretty smart fellow, he was not profoundly wise, and quite often simply wrong about the issues.He was extremely conservative and his policies, very well enunciated and told in a style aimed straight for the middle-brow average American is not insultingly dumbed down by any means.But nor is it profound, truly compassionate or in touch with the humanistic undercurrents flowing deeply within western history.This book may not change minds, but at least liberals should admit the man could think, even if he was so terribly wrong, in his affable and seemingly reasonable way, about the Viet Nam war, environmental protection, fair progressive taxation, public defenders, Social Security, and other matters of community well-being that rise above and beyond miniature parables of right-wing beliefs which Reagan so intelligently and cannily wrote in his own hand, albeit after years of exposure to corporate culture and other influences.(General Electric made him a very wealthy man, and he aimed to please his generous paymasters, no doubt---at a moment his career was essentially over and his also intelligent and even more conservative wealthy-family wife was expecting abundant upper class living around her.)But at least read these and give the man some credit for being an often bright and engaging thinker of at least modest talents, and shrewd political skill.

helps overturn unfair misperceptions
News Flash:Reagan had a brain and used it.Over the past few years, with all the material coming out in 'Reagan's own hand' and accompanying scholarship, it's hard to believe that anyone could still think that Reagan was no more than an actor, an 'amiable dunce' in Clark Clifford's words.(Clark who?)But, there are still folks out there who believe in Marxism, the tooth fairy, and Obama's achievements, so some misperceptions die hard.For the antidote, one could well start with this volume of collected essays Reagan wrote and broadcast as radio commentaries in the 1970s.One finds an amazing array of subjects--domestic and foreign policy issues, economics, national security, social issues--each one commented on cogently and occasionally brilliantly.An accompanying CD with many of the broadcasts is much appreciated.Highly recommended.

The Great Communicator outdoes himself again
This book might best be described as a companion to an earlier volume entitled "Reagan, In His Own Hand: The Writings of Ronald Reagan that Reveal His Revolutionary Vision for America,"The format is identical to the earlier book and the content is similar, but, in my view, this is a much superior work.I say that because a larger percentage of the commentaries included in this volume focus on Reagan's thoughts and ideas concerning the national and international affairs of his time, the thoughts and ideas which shaped his presidency and which made him one of America's greatest, most successful, and most revered presidents.

Like the earlier volume, this is the kind of book which can be read a bit and then set aside and returned to later with no loss of continuity, since each brief essay is a stand-alone item.And best of all, since these commentaries were written by Reagan for broadcast on the radio they reflect the soft easy-going literary style of America's "great communicator."The book also includes a CD containing twenty of Reagan's broadcasts.

But if you are not inclined to read the entire book, at least read a few of his brief essays.My suggestions would be: Medical Care (pg. 181); Inflation (pg. 186); Farm Day (pg. 268); Bakke (pg. 274); Budget (pg. 276); Local Control I (pg. 279); Local Control II (pg. 280); Government Security (pg. 291); Health Care (pg. 302); Oil (pg. 309); Drugs (pg. 313); Money (pg. 314); Salaries (pg. 315); Stamps (pg. 320); Inflation (pg. 328); District of Columbia (pg. 363); Pensions (pg. 371); Business Tax (pg. 385); Textbooks (pg. 388); Birthday Party (pg. 393); Patent Medicine II (pg. 406); Inflation (pg. 425); Jonestown (pg. 435); Three Mile Island I (pg. 438); Three Mile Island II (pg. 440); Oil (pg. 442); and Vietnam War (pg. 453).

If you read these, you will learn a lot about how our government really works; about centralized government, the federal bureaucracy and the problems they cause; and about how some of our nation's current problems came about and, most enlightening, Reagan's views as to what must be done to fix them.Of course, if you read them you may also decide that you really do want to read the rest of the book.

Having already read almost fifty books by and about Ronald Reagan, his family, and his administration, I must admit that I was suffering severe Reagan burnout when I encountered this one.But, despite some mixed feelings, I read it and once again marveled at the depth of Reagan's insight, his patriotism, and his humanity, as well as the broad scope of his reasoning.Many professional politicians seem to crave the power of America's presidency but do nothing to earn it.Through these essays, Ronald Reagan actually prepared himself for the job.I wonder if anyone else has ever done that.

Preparation for a Presidential Run
Never the lightweight portrayed by the media, this collection of 300 addresses shows how Ronald Reagan honed his message in the crucial years leading up to his presidential run.

The late 1970s were times of tumult.Following Vietnam and Watergate, the country was adrift, unsure of its foreign and domestic mandate.Between 1975 and 1979 Reagan delivered more than 1,000 radio addresses, of which he himself wrote 680.

Reagan argued in vain against the Panama Canal treaties.He was against the prevailing view that the Vietnam War was wrong.He counseled against détente with the Soviet Union; against the growth of regulation; and against the tax burden.

Yet he was fundamentally an optimist.His positive positive, values-based prescriptions for the economy and for Soviet relations were welcome prescriptions during this period of what President Jimmy Carter termed "malaise."Reagan told inspiring stories; he applauded charities and small businesses that worked to overcome challenges.

In short, he touched voters.This history of Reason's pre-presidential thoughts provides unique insights not just into Reagan's policy thinking, but also into his status as a master communicator. ... Read more

Product Description
“Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.”
–President Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981

Hero. It was a word most Americans weren’t using much in 1980. As they waited on gas and unemployment lines, as their enemies abroad grew ever more aggressive, and as one after another their leaders failed them, Americans began to believe the country’s greatness was fading.

Yet within two years the recession and gas shortage were over. Before the decade was out, the Cold War was won, the Berlin Wall came crashing down, and America was once more at the height of prosperity. And the nation had a new hero: Ronald Wilson Reagan.

Reagan’s greatness is today widely acknowledged, but his legacy is still misunderstood. Democrats accept the effectiveness of his foreign policy but ignore the success of his domestic programs; Republicans cheer his victories over liberalism while ignoring his bitter battles with his own party’s establishment; historians speak of his eloquence and charisma but gloss over his brilliance in policy and clarity of vision.

From Steven F. Hayward, the critically acclaimed author of The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, comes the first complete, true story of this misunderstood, controversial, and deeply consequential presidency. Hayward pierces the myths and media narratives, masterfully documenting exactly what transpired behind the scenes during Reagan’s landmark presidency and revealing his real legacy.

What emerges is a compelling portrait of a man who arrived in office after thirty years of practical schooling in the ways of politics and power, possessing a clear vision of where he wanted to take the nation and a willingness to take firm charge of his own administration. His relentless drive to shrink government and lift the burdens of high taxation was born of a deep appreciation for the grander blessings of liberty. And it was this same outlook, extended to the world’s politically and economically enslaved nations, that shaped his foreign policy and lent his statecraft its great unifying power.

Over a decade in the making, and filled with fresh revelations, surprising insights, and an unerring eye for the telling detail, this provocative and authoritative book recalls a time when true leadership inspired a fallen nation to pick itself up, hold its head high, and take up the cause of freedom once again.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Impressive, but not definitive
Like RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY, Craig Shirley's recent book on Ronald Reagan's 1980 Presidential campaign -- which, interestingly enough, also took more time to be released than originally expected -- the second volume in Hayward's AGE OF REAGAN exacta is likely to stand for some time as the default pro-Reagan survey of its subject matter (in this case, Reagan's two terms as President). It also, like Shirley's volume, misses top-drawer status by just a hair. Hayward eschews the sophomoric language that Shirley occasionally used in favor of a straightforward narrative style, so the words aren't the problem. The real disappointment is how many important topics are either ignored entirely or skimmed over in passing, the victims of Hayward's relentless focus on the "twin peaks" of the Reagan era, the success/failure of "Reaganomics" and the events of the final decade of the Cold War. You'll find nothing here on the savings and loan crisis (which Hayward admits up front) but also nothing on South Africa, the great liberal foreign-policy obsession of the 1980s, and a surprisingly meager amount on the Religious Right, even in its somewhat fluid pre-Christian Coalition phase. The final chapter is also something of a letdown, primarily because Hayward spends so little time on linking Reagan's accomplishments to the triumphs and follies of the conservative movement today -- a linkage that he had explicitly promised to explore in some detail in the first volume.

Despite the holes in the narrative, Hayward does succeed in clearing the air of several misconceptions about the Reagan years. First and foremost, he dynamites any lingering impressions that "we all stood together behind the Gipper" as the Cold War wound down. The quotes from Vietnam-traumatized liberals and leftists about the Soviet Union, Nicaragua, Grenada, and similar would-be flash points are numerous, and damning. Oddly enough, Hayward makes no mention of Ted Kennedy's coziness with ex-KGB master Yuri Andropov, which would have fit right into his laundry list of defeatist declarations. A discussion of South Africa would also have been helpful here, as the huge amount of noise made about that country by the Left during the 80s would have provided a useful contrast to its deafening silence when it came to the USSR and Eastern Europe. Hayward gives Mikhail Gorbachev his proper due for helping to ease tensions and bring the Cold War to a virtually bloodless conclusion, but he also makes it clear that Reagan was anything but an amiable onlooker to these events; his resolve obliged the USSR to find a leader who would at least attempt to reverse the country's economic slide and compete with a newly confident America.

Hayward also nixes the notion of Reagan's second term as being a "failure" defined solely by the Iran-Contra scandal. 1985-89 saw the major breakthroughs with Gorbachev, the passage of a landmark tax-reform package that was thought to be impossible at the time, and the revocation of the Fairness Doctrine, which has since led to the creation of a conservative alternative media, a luxury that Reagan himself did not enjoy. If Reagan's second term was a letdown compared to the first, Hayward argues, it was partially his own fault. In "Realignment Manque," the most provocative part of the book, Hayward takes the Reagan reelection campaign in 1984 to task for not attempting to "de-legitimize" the intellectually sclerotic Democratic Party and fighting hard for Republican gains in the Congress. Instead, Reagan encouraged Democrats to support him without leaving their own party and used the cheerful but vacuous theme of "Morning in America." Hayward's argument is hard to answer, but he does not really discuss why Reagan chose to campaign in this manner. My own view is that this was another example of Reagan going over the heads of the elite media and establishing a personal bond of trust with voters. By so doing, he was able to counteract media bias (which was plenty bad, though nowhere near as raw and ugly as that seen during the "W" years), but he did so at the cost of blunting the edges of his rhetoric.

Finally, Hayward muddies the expected good guy/bad guy domestic debates of the era by pointing out how often Reagan was at odds with members of his own party. Bob Dole may have been a good senator and an effective spokesman for Viagra, but he does not come off at all well here. The waterier RINOs of the Lowell Weicker/Charles Mathias ilk are treated even more harshly (not least by quoting Reagan's disgusted diary entries about them). Hayward likewise details the worries of conservatives that a legacy-haunted Reagan might be snookered into signing a bad arms-control bill with Gorbachev late in his Presidency. Despite making these points, Hayward mystifyingly fails to tie them together with observations on the modern-day GOP in his final chapter, "The Reagan Revolution and its Discontents."

Though it will probably not convince a Reagan hater to "join the church," Hayward's book is an effective first stab at a complete assessment of the man's Presidency. I think it is safe to say that better books on the subject are in our future, however.

The Age of Reagan
Outstanding, even if you thought you knew just about everything there was to know about our 40th President.

Kindle edition too expensive.Kindle Swindle.
i buy lots of Kindle books but i don't pay more than $9.99 for a hardback or more than 80% of the discounted paperback price for a Kindle edition. Unfortunately therefore my copy of this book has to remain on the Amazon shelf.

Detailed beyond other books on Pres. Reagan
Hayward shows his passion and reverence for the greatest president of the post-war era in this, much more that Wilentz in his plodding work of last year. Even at the first chapter, I could imagine myself actually sitting into the office with Baker or Meese in the presidential transition office, watching aides scurry about trying to set up the White House to undo the damage of the previous four years.

Any reader, regardless of persuasion, will profit from reading this fair and even handed piece, if anything to have a better (and more accurate) understanding of the president who was a game changer.

Brings back many memories
I read the first volume of this two volume set last month. It was excellent and refreshed my memory of the situation that we faced when Ronald Reagan was elected. I was not a big fan of his when he was governor of California. I think it was the residual of my student liberalism that was fading as I grew up but which was finished off by the presidency of Jimmy Carter. By the time Reagan was elected, I was ready for a big change and, as this book relates so enjoyably, we got it. I do have a couple of differences with the author on details. In Chapter 5, "Stay the Course, Hayward writes about the vicious 1981-82 recession. He attributes it to Fed's pressure to eliminate inflation. On page 186, he writes that the Reagan response to critics of his tax cut was "the correct but weak-sounding explanation that his plan hadn't take effect yet." He doesn't explain that the delay in implementation of the tax cut had the wholly logical effect of causing everyone to delay economic activity until the tax cut had taken effect. This response was predicted at the time by the Wall Street Journal and I remember it well. All through the book we are reminded of the baleful influence of Senator Bob Dole who did what he could to derail the Reagan Revolution from Congress. Reagan's friends in the Republican Party were almost as obstructionist as the Democrats. They were still the old "Root Canal Republicans" and would be for some time.

The sections on the rise of Gorbachev and the end of the Cold War are excellent and I note that he includes several references to Reagan's private contact Susan Massie who plays a large role in the excellent book, The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War. Reagan was often depicted as remote and uninvolved in the details of governing. These books should dispel that myth. There is a good explanation of the farcical Iran-Contra scandal that seemed such a major matter at the time but which has faded from memory, as it should. Still, it reminds one that the Democratic Congress was frequently obstructionist in foreign policy matters during the Cold War. The efforts to keep the Contras alive led to some inexplicable lapses by people who should have known better. He does not mention the attempted suicide of Robert McFarlane that resulted from his role in that fiasco. McFarlane later said that the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" had an important role in his recovery from depression. At times we can forget that real people are involved in such circumstances; not everyone is a politician.

There is also an excellent discussion of the politics of the two presidential campaigns. I was disappointed that Reagan was unable to control spending during his time in office but the author points out that he at least reduced the slope of spending if not the general trend. He also had two excuses that the Bush presidencies did not have; he had the Cold War to win and he had a Democratic Congress. Both volumes of this history are excellent and fill a need that has been obvious since the failure of the Edmund Morris "biography", Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan, which I do not recommend. They are big books but read well. ... Read more

Product Description
We stood in a line that would take us to the Rotunda,the hallowed hall at the heart of the U.S. Capitol where the body of Ronald Wilson Reagan lay in state.

As we looked at our watches, ticking past 1 a.m. on June 10, 2004, we had no idea how long we would be standing in the still summer air. “It’s expected to be five and a half hours from this point,” one guard told us. With a sigh and shrug, we geared up for a long night.

We knew it would be worth it. We weren’t going to miss a chance to pay respects to our favorite American hero. And anyway, the occasion was bringing back personal memories of another shared experience – another all-nighter inspired by the Gipper.

A year a half earlier, when Dan was living in Phoenix and Brad was making a brief weekend visit, we drove through the night to visit the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. It was during that road trip that we developed the concept for this book.

Sure, already much has been written about our 40th President: memoirs from his close advisors, detailed biographies from historians, and tributes from others whose personal involvement with Reagan had taught them important life lessons. But these books focused on the past, and as we sped through the moonlit desert toward California, our thoughts were about the future. ... Read more

Product Description
An insightful examination of what remains of the Reagan agenda in the Bush era by a father/son reporting team that has covered six of the last seven presidencies.

George W. Bush ran for office promising to continue what conservative icon Ronald Reagan started, and two years into his first term, Bush was still being described as "Reagan's son." Today, with the Iraq War spinning out of control and the Democrats in charge of Congress, Republicans and the conservative movement have all but abandoned George W. Bush. What happened? Did Bush change, or did his party's perceptions? Has the war and Bush's performance on other issues derailed the larger goals of the Reagan Revolution--and even undermined its foundations? Or does the nation remain on a conservative path despite Bush's low standing with his fellow Americans?

In Reagan's Disciple, two widely respected reporter/historians provide an authoritative and concise investigation into these issues. They describe the essence of the 40th and the 43rd presidencies, and compare them to shed new light on the history of the past three decades. They show both how extraordinary a leader Reagan was, and how preposterous the expectations for Bush were from the beginning. As Americans look toward choosing a new leader in 2008, Reagan's Disciple will serve as an instructive tale for Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Talk About Dramatic Irony...
I haven't read this book and don't intend to.I'm only writing this because these two nitwits clearly haven't a clue what Regan thought of George W. Bush.There is quote from the Regan Library archives in which Ronald Regan mentions George Senior asking the then President to find a job for his son (George W.) and Regan's personal thoughts, written in his diary, was nothing short of George W. Bush as a "Ner' do well son" of Bush senior and in fact Regan considered the "boy" as not too bright and possibly being able to "work in the mailroom"!

Ronald Regan would have rolled in his grave had he seen what little Bush did to this country.To even allow that jackass' image to grace the cover of a book with a man that history is proving at the very least, to be one of the most couragious leader's of our modern time is a pure disgrace!Bush is a far cry from Regan's disciple and wasn't even allowed in the oval office when Regan was President!

What is it that makes these Yahoos an authority on Regan?These two bumbling idiots should put down their crayons and actually visit the Regan Library, it's quite remarkable, as it what Regan did for our country to end the Cold War and squash Communism.

George Bush's role of a lifetime
Lou Cannon, author of several books about Ronald Reagan, has co-written "Reagan's Disciple", with his son Carl. A highly insightful, yet somewhat uneven book, it nonetheless makes some great comparisons between our nation's fortieth and forty-third presidents. Guess which one fares less well?

The authors state in the preface that this is a book with "a fair and balanced point of view". In many respects it is, but it's hard not to notice (at least with the elder Cannon) a sense of awe regarding his subject. Granted, Reagan's star has been rising in past years and the Cannons take full measure of it. That legacy is still in dispute with many of us, but this offering certainly makes Bush look inadequate in contrast. If Reagan brought the Republican party into unanimity a generation ago, Bush has almost singlehandedly squandered it, as the authors point out.

Much of "Reagan's Disciple" deals with war, beginning with a look at Woodrow Wilson's idealism, and subsequently how Reagan and Bush looked at war differently. Reagan, ever cautious about foreign entanglements, would almost certainly not have invaded Iraq as Bush did, much to everyone's chagrin today. The narrative of the Cannons is crisp but the subject matter tends to bounce around leaving a less than unifying story line. Yet the contrasting style of Reagan and Bush is the most fascinating part of the book and the authors tell this one well. While Reagan sought broad consensus and a balanced view, Bush has retained a small coterie of yes-men with hardly divergent views.

As we reach the end of the tragic Bush years, "Reagan's Disciple" is a reminder of the bookends of the Republican domination since 1980. The "Morning in America" brand of Ronald Reagan has been wiped clean by the miasma of the past several years. As the authors rightly suggest, when Bush comes on tv people either change the channel or put on the mute button...Americans stopped listening to him a long time ago. People will invoke Reagan's name for years to come, but Bush's legacy, undoubtedly, will be something quite different.

The Gipper's mantle doesn't fit on his self-proclaimed heir
Lou Cannon, journalist and historian, is one of Ronald Reagan's most prolific and reliable biographers (I think his President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime is still about the best bio yet written of our 40th president). Carl M. Cannon is a resourceful and clear-eyed reporter in the Washington of Bush 43. Together, they have produced an interesting book that gives us some valuable insights into the motivations and actions of the Bush presidency. It also, perhaps unexpectedly, shines a fascinating light on Ronald Reagan.

For years -- before, during, and after his time in the Oval Office -- Ronald Reagan was portrayed by his opposition as a dim ideological cowboy. In recent years, however, he has been granted a Strange New Respect (as R.E. Tyrrell might put it) by the Left -- in part, no doubt, to try to seize a bit of his own still-strong popularity with the American people for their own purposes, but also to use as a cudgel with which to beat the new, dimmer ideological cowboy, George W. Bush. To use the inevitable cliché -- so inevitable that even the Washington Post Book World review quoted on this page made use of it -- "George W. Bush, you're no Ronald Reagan."

It's one of the many paradoxical features of today's political scene that it's now the Left who sees in Ronald Reagan a nuanced, deliberative statesman, while the Right (or at least the neocon, Bushian right) honors a one-dimensional, caricatured memory of who Reagan was and what he believed. One of the most valuable parts of "Reagan's Disciple," I thought, was the Cannons' accurate portrayal of Reagan as a leader far more practical, realistic, and conciliatory than ideological; far less willing to put American lives on the line or rely on military muscle than anyone thought; and far more willing to draw on a broad range of advisers and opinions than is his ostensible philosophical heir, President Bush.

I found the most interesting parts of "Reagan's Disciple" to be the comparison of the two presidents' approach to warmaking. But the authors also discuss in some detail Supreme Court confirmation battles, the politics of White House personnel decisions, and what it means to be a "decisive" leader. There's also an interesting exploration of the validity of George W. Bush's current preferred presidential comparison, himself with Harry Truman: scorned and unpopular when he left office, but ultimately vindicated by history and honored in the memory of the American people. The Cannons find this comparison also ... imprecise.

As this primary season has shown, Ronald Reagan is still a touchstone of Republican politics. As the Cannons and other historians have noted, if all the presidents since 1945 operated in the shadow of FDR, the presidents since 1989 have operated in the shadow of Ronald Reagan -- a shadow that seems likely to stretch, like a movie gunslinger's at sunset, for a considerable time yet. With George W. Bush having so explicitly claimed the Reaganite mantle, a book like "Reagan's Disciple" was both necessary and inevitable. That it was done so well, and by two writers so well-qualified to draw conclusions, is something to be thankful for. With so many books written about the Bush presidency, from so many different directions and viewpoints, how can you tell which ones are worth reading? Here's my helpful hint: this is one of the good ones. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of Presidential Speeches from George Washington's first Inaugural Address in 1789 to the second term Inauguration address by George W. Bush.

... Read more

Product Description
"They called it the Reagan revolution," Ronald Reagan noted in his Farewell Address. "Well, I'll accept that, but for me it always seemed more like the great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense." Nearly two decades after that 1989 speech, debate continues to rage over just how revolutionary those Reagan years were. The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction identifies and tackles some of the controversies and historical mysteries that continue to swirl around Reagan and his legacy, while providing an illuminating look at some of the era's defining personalities, ideas, and accomplishments. Gil Troy, a well-known historian who is a frequent commentator on contemporary politics, sheds much light on the phenomenon known as the Reagan Revolution, situating the reception of Reagan's actions within the contemporary liberal and conservative political scene. While most conservatives refuse to countenance any criticism of their hero, an articulate minority laments that he did not go far enough. And while some liberals continue to mourn just how far he went in changing America, others continue to mock him as a disengaged, do-nothing dunce.- Nevertheless, as Troy shows, two and a half decades after Reagan's 1981 inauguration, his legacy continues to shape American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush modeled much of their presidential leadership styles on Reagan's example, while many of the debates of the '80s about the budget, tax cutting, defense-spending, and American values still rage.
----- Love him or hate him, Ronald Reagan remains the most influential president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, and one of the most controversial. This marvelous book places the Reagan Revolution in the broader context of postwar politics, highlighting the legacies of these years on subsequent presidents and on American life today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A solid, impartial and largely favorable account of Reagan's legacy
It is not all that common that one of the university presses like OUP would publish a book that treats a conservative icon with a glowing praise, even when that book is aimed at a general audience. Even more unusual is the title of this book, which minces no words in characterizing its subject in such an uncompromising and definitive terms as "The Reagan Revolution." Ronald Reagan was one of the most significant American presidents of the twentieth century, and part of his enduring appeal stems from his willingness to portray the most important issues of the day in straightforward terms. His characterization of the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" resonates to this day.

Gil Troy gives us a very interesting and favorable portrayal of Reagan, but he manages to avoid turning this book into some kind of hagiography. He describes Reagan's early youth in Illinois, and tries to establish some of the influences on his character that remained over the years. Troy is not shy of psychoanalyzing Reagan, but for the most part these assessments have a lot of face validity and generally flow well with the image of the 40th President. We also learn quite a bit about Reagan' political career, and his climb to the top of US politics. Overall these are all very interesting bits of information.

One of the issues that I have with this book is that it spends too much time on either the background material that builds up to Reagan's presidency, including the general political trends in the US, or on the assessment of that presidency in terms of later political and social developments. Personally I would have liked if the book focused more on Reagan himself and let the presidency years speak for themselves.

Furthermore, Troy seems to be overly eager to stress the facts that Reagan was no hard-core conservative, and was in fact rather moderate in his policies. This assessment, whether justified or not, is not very likely to jive well with either the conservatives or liberals today. In fact, Troy seems to be backtracking from the very title of this book, and even suggesting that if there was such a thing as The Reagan Revolution it was both a) limited and b) over by now. This attitude almost nullifies the otherwise very favorable account of Reagan legacy. Nonetheless, this is a very interesting book and well worth the read.

Nice Little Intro
If you perhaps are too young to remember the great Reagan years, read this book. I remember them as a time when everyone had a job, extra money, and fun. I thought the book was a nice way of introducing people to one of the greatest presidents. Too bad the other reviewer came here only to trash Reagan and not much else. If you want to understand more about Reaganomics and the 80s era, you should enjoy this.

A Big Wet Kiss for Ronald Reagan
If you are a Reagan fan, you'll love this "fair and balanced" overview of what the man, and his era, was all about.I'd say much of the stuff you'd find in any muddle-headed watered-down history written for minors is in this book.

If you don't mind wasting your time to read, once again, what a likable quipster the Gipper was, go ahead... fill your lonely hours with fairy tales of this most affable president who took orders from his own brand of intellectual elites.

If you really care about what this Alzheimer's Presidency was all about, there are many tomes written for adults, such as "The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America," written by William Kleinknecht... and no, I'm not a liberal, I despise the term, it has come to mean nothing.

What really surprised me, is that this weak and affectionate view was published by Oxford's usually very fine series of "Very Short Introductions."I have read a good number of these, always with the feeling that my time was well rewarded.This particular "VSI" was a curious misstep for an otherwise excellent series of publications. ... Read more