Recollections of Reagan: A Portrait of Ronald Reagan

Well, it IS mostly light fare compared to weightier and more scholarly treatments of Reagan. But even if you are deep diving on the subject, as I am, you'll need a break between Lou Cannon's biography and the heavy tomes of Weinberger and Shultz. This, in short, is the perfect bathroom break book for conservative households, and I mean that as a compliment. I don't mean to denigrate it at all, because it's a charming book full of one or two page vignettes on the man many of us believe was a great president the like of which we need, well, right now. There are too many recollections of people who mostly quote themselves in recounting What They Told Reagan and others who are otherwise just a bit full of themselves, even by Hollywood or Washington standards (Charles Wick comes to mind). The most valuable stories are not from other great or important men--though the memories of Shultz, Charlton Heston, Jeane Kirkpatrick and Maggie Thatcher are very good--but the best are from the little known or unsung staffers like Jim Kuhn and others. Through this testimony of many, one gets the consistent view that Reagan was the real thing, a genuine man who knew himself and what he wanted to do, and someone profoundly committed to the dignity of every human being he encountered.

It has been said that every man is three men -- the man he is -- the man he thinks he is -- and the man others think he is. We may never know for sure what kind of man Ronald Reagan thought he was, but after reading this book you will be able to see him as did those who knew him, worked with him, and in some instances opposed him. And, if you can somehow put it all together, you might just catch a glimpse of the man Ronald Reagan really was. The book relates many stories about Reagan, some as a politician, but most simply as a friend and as a private man. A few of the stories are well known, but most are based on personal recollections known only to the person telling the story. Some will make you laugh; others might bring a tear to your eye, but each one sheds a little more light on Ronald Reagan as a man and as a human being. So if you admire Ronald Reagan, you'll really enjoy this book. I do and I did. After reading it, I'm sure you'll admire and appreciate him more than ever.