Ronald Reagan

William Casey (Almost) Certainly Delayed the Release of Iran Hostages to Help Reagan

by Jonathan Alter, Gary Sick, Kai Bird and Stuart Eizenstat

It has long been suspected that Reagan's campaign chief William Casey convinced Iran that they could get a better deal by releasing American hostages after the election of Ronald Reagan. Available documents, recent interviews, and the vast circumstantial evidence present a damning case, argues a team of policy vets and journalistic experts on the Carter years. 

How the Reagan Administration Used "A Nation at Risk" to Push for School Privatization

by Valerie Strauss and James Harvey

One of the educators who served on the commission that developed an influential report on the state of American education argues that the report was built to serve an anti-public school ideology, and that its conclusions were a foundation for the culture war battles over schooling today. 

New Official Bio Claims Big Role for Secretary of State George Shultz in Ending the Cold War

Philip Taubman's new biography portays Shultz as a key figure in pushing Reagan to move closer to Soviet leadership, albeit one who was content to work in the background. 

I Helped John Connally Try to Delay the Release of the Iran Hostages

The New York Times recently reported the claim by Ben Barnes that he and the former Texas governor toured the middle east in 1980 to try to delay the release of hostages to help Ronald Reagan win election. 

H.W. Brands on Ben Barnes's "Revelation" about the Iran Hostage Crisis

"In effect, Connally and Casey were telling the Iranians not to do something the Iranians had no intention of doing."

Nicole Hemmer: Trump Didn't Kill off Reaganism—Reagan's Contemporaries Did

Why, as Republicans touted the legacy of Ronald Reagan, have they moved further from his sunny rhetoric and international engagement toward a harder-edged nationalism? 

"Father Knows Best": Anti-LGBTQ Legislation and the Patriarchy

by Judith Levine

The elision of children’s interests and parents’ rights is not just bad grammar, however. It is an expression of conservative “pro-family” ideology, which posits the family as an indivisible unit where everyone’s interests are unanimous.

Reagan's Go-To Magazine Has Gone Full MAGA – What it Means for Conservatism

"The renaissance of the magazine provides the perfect capsule summary of the conservative movement’s long downward journey from pages to pixels."

Perlstein's "Reaganland" Sheds New Light on a Familiar Story

by Ron Steinman

Rick Perlstein's "Reaganland" captures details of the 1980 campaign that weren't obvious even to political journalists covering Reagan's ultimately successful mission to take the conservative movement to the White House. 

We're Still Living with the Consequences of Letting Iran-Contra Perpetrators Get Away with It

by Zeb Larson

An explainer on the Iran-Contra affair, and why the failure to hold wrongdoers accountable shapes our politics today. 

How the Republicans Became the Anti-Abortion Party, and What it Means for the GOP Today

by Donne Levy

Conservative evangelicals rode the abortion issue to a place of power in the Republican coalition. Will their success help or harm the party now that abortion rights are more imperiled than at any time since 1973? 

Is the PATCO Era Ending?

by Joseph A. McCartin

Forty years ago, Ronald Reagan's handling of the air traffic controllers' strike enshrined the era of union-busting. Can labor start to recover now? 

The U.S. Role in the El Mozote Massacre Echoes in Today’s Immigration

by Nelson Rauda and John Washington

Renewed efforts to prosecute the perpetrators of the 1981 El Mozote massacre of Salvadoran civilians during the civil war will further demonstrate American involvement in the perpetuation of inequality and violence in Central America and, the authors argue, the hypocrisy of US immigration policy. 

Joe Biden, the Reverse Ronald Reagan

Is the Biden administration's response to the crises affecting America more than a collection of programs and initiatives? Is the Democratic party moving to firmly repudiate Ronald Reagan's quip that "government is the problem"? 

"The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III" by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser

by James Thornton Harris

Peter Baker and Susan Glasser's biography of the influential Republican political dealmaker at the heart of the Reagan-Bush era offers a compelling account of James A. Baker's career, but shows him to have been more motivated by power than by a vision of its uses. 

Nancy Reagan’s Real Role in the AIDS Crisis

Washington journalist Karen Tumulty writes that Nancy Reagan worked against the demands of social conservatives to ask her husband's administration to pay attention to the AIDS crisis, but her efforts weren't enough. 

Political Precedent for the Trump Cult of Personality

by Donne Levy

Their differences in character and personality should not obscure similarities between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. Both men's ability to flout the truth and survive serious scandals, plus their dalliances with white racism, make their political careers resemble cults of personality.

When Did America Stop Being Great?

by Nick Bryant

Nick Bryant began observing America as a 16 year old at the patriotic spectacle of the 1984 Olympics. His book traces the path from "Morning in America" to "American Carnage," fixing some blame but also seeking a way through. 

George Shultz: The Last Progressive

by Ron Schatz

"A steadfast Republican committed to union-management cooperation, peace through treaties, competitive capitalism, and empowerment of African-Americans, George Shultz was the last old-fashioned Progressive."

‘The Reagans’ Review: Challenging a Leader’s Legacy

If the new Showtime documentary wishes to undermine the legacy of Ronald Reagan, one reviewer suggests it ultimately makes the 40th President more sympathetic and appealing.