A CRITICAL Biography of Ronald Reagan

[SoDesuKa]

Enough time has passed since Reagan died that somebody should be looking back at him critically. A lot of the stuff written about him doesn't stand up to analysis, e.g., that he was "great," that he won the Cold War, etc. I've been frustrated in my efforts to find anything written within the past 10 years that isn't worshipful.

I would have posted this on an earlier thread about Reaganomics, but I'm not limiting myself to the silliness that Reagan called economic policy. It's the other silliness that people believed because Reagan said so. The book I'm looking for might have a title like Reagan: A Look Back at a Horrible Dude.

Any suggestions?

[jbgatkinkos]

1. Reagan book

Write it. I may buy the first copy.

[gateley]

2. If you find one, let me know. nt

[Davis_X_Machina]

3. Garry Wills' "Reagan's America"

...is the best I know for Reagan's pre-presidential career.

For the rest, Haynes Johnson's "Sleepwalking Through History".

[Lasher]

4. Those stink tanks sure do churn out the fiction about Saint Ronnie, don't they?

While you're deciding on which book to read here are some links to occupy your time:

The Ronald Reagan Years - The Real Reagan Record
The Real Reagan Legacy - Debunking Myths About Reagan
Ronald Reagan - The Bonzo Years
More Gloss for the Gipper - The Myth of Reagan's "Enormous Popularity"

[SoDesuKa]

6. Reagan and Free Speech

Reagan's career as an elected official began with an attack on free speech. He ran for governor with a pledge to "clean up the mess at Berkeley" and famously denounced education there as a four-year course in drugs, sex and treason.

Reagan managed to avoid blame for the People's Park confrontation which he almost certainly provoked. Up until the time the University abruptly erected a fence around that property in May 1969, it had been unused land that local residents converted into a park. There would not have been a confrontation had Reagan simply waited a month until the school year was over. Reagan, however, had been looking for an opportunity to display dominance.

As Governor, and later as President, Reagan was an opponent of free speech. Here's a video from a surveillance camera at Reagan Airport earlier this year. It reflects Reagan's legacy more accurately than than the name itself. A young woman objects to having her baggage searched when a male police officer comes up behind her and throws her on the ground. Two female officers assist in handcuffing the woman, who seems to be asking why she was being arrested. The male officer then slugs her with his fist, and slams her head onto the a table.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XPNmxZwhMag

The cop's swagger shows that he is well pleased with himself. This is Reagan's real legacy. Young people should not talk back to cops, and certainly not at Reagan Airport!

[jdadd]

5. Heres a quickie....

Ronald Reagan, the actor,
was mediocre. Ronald Reagan the president was a
disgrace. Ronald Reagan, the soft-serve ice-cream guy
in Dubuque, Iowa was cool.

[Zomby Woof]

7. I recommend two

"Sleepwalking Through History" by Haynes Johnson.

"The Clothes Have No Emperor" by Paul Slansky.

Slansky's is probably out of print, but worth tracking down. It's a chronology rather than a traditional thesis.

They were both published in the years following his White House departure, and defy Schlesinger's dictum that a president cannot be honestly evaluated for 20 or 30 years. Both of these hold up just as well as they did in the late 80's/early 90's.

His teflon disappeared for awhile when he left office, only to be re-applied when the Alzheimer's news broke. He has gotten more or less of a warm, fuzzy, nostalgic gloss ever since. Read the two above, and hope maybe Schlesinger is right and that another honest appraisal will appear in the next 5-10 years.