Ronald Reagan

• 
• 4/25/2021
  

  "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. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  

  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. 

• 
• 4/11/2021
  

  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.

• 
• 3/7/2021
  

  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. 

• 
• 2/28/2021
  

  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."

• 
• SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
  11/12/2020
  

  ‘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. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  11/11/2020
  

  Was Reagan a Precursor to Trump? A New Documentary Says Yes

  Reagan biographer Lou Cannon and historian Rick Perlstein contend the series misconstrues Reagan's politics by portraying him as a dog-whistling race baiter (Cannon says it's flat wrong, Perlstein says it's more complicated than that). 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  11/12/2020
  

  ‘The Reagans’ Review: Making America Great Again, Round 1

  "The series provides a steady succession of parallels between Reagan and Donald J. Trump, none labeled as such but all difficult to miss."

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  10/4/2020
  

  Presidents Don’t Get Privacy. My Father Understood That — Even When He Was Shot

  by Patti Davis

  Ronald Reagan's daughter recalls the chaotic day when he was shot and argues that the public has a right to know about the president's health.

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Review
  9/30/2020
  

  Trump’s America Remains Stuck in the Shadow of Reagan (Review)

  A reviewer of Rick Perlstein's "Reaganland" stresses that Donald Trump today presides over a corporate oligarchy that Reaganism helped build by drawing new, politically active corporate lobbyists into coalition with social conservatives.

• 
• 9/20/2020
  

  Rick Perlstein’s Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980

  by James Thornton Harris

  Rick Perlstein's latest volume in his study of the rise of the conservative movement focuses on the coming of Reaganism, but sheds light on how we got Trump.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/27/2020
  

  How Reagan Captured the Presidency, and the Right Captured Politics (Review)

  by Michael Bobelian

  Rick Perlstein's latest history of American conservatism is reviewed as a lens on today's aggrieved conservatism. 

• 
• 8/30/2020
  

  Remember Punk Rock? Probably Not…: The Real Culture War of 1980s America

  by Kevin Mattson

  Digging beneath the aesthetics of punk to find its politics, Kevin Mattson's new book finds a counterculture of suburban youths who identified the unrestrained capitalism of the Reagan era as the true nihilism threatening America.

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  8/26/2020
  

  Reaganland' Author Revisits The Roots Of American Conservatism (audio)

  Author Rick Perlstein chronicles the events that propelled Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980. He says that a certain "viciousness" has always been part of the conservative Republican coalition.

• 
• SOURCE: The New York Times
  8/18/2020
  

  ‘Reaganland,’ by Rick Perlstein: An Excerpt

  'Reaganland: America's Right Turn, 1976-1980' is available now.

• 
• SOURCE: The Guardian
  8/15/2020
  

  Rick Perlstein: 'If you're not writing about the berserk, you're not writing about America' (Interview)

  The historian has completed his epic on the rise of the US right – just in time for Donald Trump’s attempt to hold on to his throne.

• 
• 8/9/2020
  

  The 1976 Election: Why We Can't Predict Vice Presidential Selections in Advance

  by Daniel K. Williams

  The 1976 campaign highlights a paradox: while the person a presidential nominee chooses as their running mate might be surprising, that individual is selected using criteria that are predictable. 

• 
• SOURCE: Slate
  8/3/2020
  

  Reaganland Is the Riveting Conclusion to a Story That Still Isn’t Over (Review)

  "Rick Perlstein’s epic series shows political history and cultural history cannot be disentangled."

• 
• SOURCE: TIME
  7/26/2020
  

  Ronald Reagan Foundation Asks RNC to Stop Using Reagan's Likeness for a Trump Fundraiser

  The RNC had printed a commemorative coin without receiving permission to use the 40th President’s likeness, said the Reagan Foundation's chief marketing officer.

• 
• SOURCE: Business Insider
  7/2/2020
  

  Democrats May Beat Trump in November and Still not Learn the Most Important Lesson from his Presidency

  by Daniel Bessner

  Democrats must not just defeat Trump; they must commit to fighting a culture of elite impunity that has enabled the rise of Trump and an unaccountable Republican Party.