Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography

When the late Barbara Olson wrote a biography of Hillary Clinton from a right wing perspective, she was imitating this excellent "hatchet job" of a book. Nancy Reagan comes across as a phony control freak in this book. She ordered her husband around like he was a little baby throughout their marriage. There is a lot of fascinating gossip about the rather dysfunctional Reagan clan. There is a great joke in the book as follows: Ron and Nancy go to a restaurant. Nancy tells the waiter she'll have a steak. The waiter asks"And the vegteable?" Nancy answers"He'll have the steak too".

Nancy of course hated this book but it makes you-- not exactly like her-- but certainly respect her, and thank God (or maybe Nancy's astrologer) that she was in charge during the latter days of the Reagan presidency.A very absorbing, curiously fair-minded, historically important story.

To begin with I must say that I am not American and therefore I am giving an outsiders point of view. Having saying that however, I am pretty knowelgeable on American Politics. What a book! From start to finish, every morsel of Nancy Reagans life is turned over and strongly critisised. Kitty Kelly gives Nancy credit for nothing. According to Kelly, every good deed that Nancy undertook was only for her own personal benefit. I thought this was a bit over the top. I am not a fan of Nancy but I think she should get credit for the good deeds she did. However those good deeds were far and few between, and the thrashing that Kelly gave her in relation to the disgraceful comments Nancy made about her children in her own book were fair. Having read Nancys own book subsequently, I could only conclude that Kitty Kelly was right in about 90% of the things she said in her book and that overall Nancy Reagan was and is a spiteful vindictive mean woman who brought dishonour and distain to the role of First Lady. It also shows her husband to be nothing but a pathetic lackie, but then Nancy herself portrayed 'Ronnie' in that light so nothing new there. It makes me wonder. Were the American people on some kind of drug when they elected this, to put it mildly, less than intelligent man.Overall the book was revealing and it undoubtably rubbishes any slight semblence of respect I would have had for Nancy Reagan, however slight, and I think and hope the same is true for other people. If even 10% of the allegations that Kitty Kelly made in her book are correct, then anyone with any respect for Integrity and Honesty has to hold Nancy Reagan in nothing but contempt. Well done Kitty for telling a story that had to be told.

I wasn't expecting much when I sat down to read this book. I assumed it would be a fairly cut and dried bio of an marginally interesting, blatantly social-climbing first lady. Was I wrong!! There's plenty to read here about Nancy Reagan, her family, the presidency, and more. They don't call Kitty Kelley the Saddam Hussein of journalists for nothing! I enjoyed this book very much, (going on the assumption that all of her sources were being 100% honest of course) and I'd recommend it without reservation.