Ronald Reagan: Spirit of a Leader

After scanning the preceding 109 book reviews, I wasn't quite sure that another review was warranted. However, since I found this book to be so remarkable, I couldn't help but add my two cents worth. Having read upwards of thirty books by and about Ronald Reagan, I had almost concluded that no one would ever be able to capture the essence of Reagan as a man, as a political figure, as the president, as a human being, or simply as the man I watched, admired, and came to respect throughout his political career - and put it down on paper. Virtually every other book which I had read seemed to concentrate on a single aspect of his life or career; for example, his strained relationships with his various family members, his efforts to undermine and bring down the Soviet Empire, or the relationships between him and his various cabinet and staff members. I found some of these books, such as "Victory: The Reagan Administration's Secret Strategy that Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union" by Peter Schweizer and "Revolution: The Reagan Legacy" by Martin Anderson to be extraordinary and insightful, but none of the books seemed to capture the fundamental nature of Ronald Reagan. This book fills that void. Although, by necessity, it skips lightly over some of the lesser aspects of his life and career, some good and some bad, it covers the span of his political career with a breathtaking depth of insight into not only Ronald Reagan, the man, but also into his political allies and enemies, and, in a broader sense, his political life and times, In reading the book, I once again was able to sense the Ronald Reagan that I and the rest of America came to know, love and admire during the 1980s and yet again was able to marvel at the scope and magnitude of his achievements. So, if you admire Ronald Reagan, you will certainly enjoy reading this book and reliving those heady times. And, if you are a member of the younger generation and don't know much about Reagan, the "Cold War," or the 1980s, this book will set you straight. But, if you are one of those close-minded liberals, who despised and opposed Reagan and his policies, you had better stand clear; for D'Souza has made a valuable contribution to those who honestly seek to understand Ronald Reagan and his legacy by setting the record straight.

Reagan was America's fortieth president and perhaps the greatest President of the 20th century. D'Souza chronicles his ascendency to the President as he climbs from his youth to his career as an actor to state politics in California. This is a unique biography since it offers a window into the thoughts and perspectives of Reagan on leadership and policy. His foreign policy ideas and Cold War actions are magnified in 'Confronting the Evil Empire.' Reagan stood in the face of communist tyranny and led the free world. He boldly and rightly declared that the Soviet system was EVIL! The chapter 'A Walk on the Supply Side' is an insightful look to Reagan's bold opposition to the tried and failed Keynesian policies of the Left, which was discredited with the stagflation of the 1970's. He embraced the ideas of free-market economists and sought to roll back the Welfare State. Though, in all reality, the needs of defense and a Democratic Congress that wouldn't budge too much on social spending perhaps compromised his agenda. With respect to Reagan's legacy, perhaps it would be a mistake to say that the 'Reagan Revolution' was fulfilled in the meaningful sense of being commensurate with its original conception. Compromise after compromise was made! His economic advisor, David Stockman, points to some of the failures and realities that stopped or at the very least skewed it from its free-market, limited government principles in his book 'The Triumph of Politics.' Perhaps, wrestling the Beltway Machine was a formidable task that perhaps no President can tackle alone with a supportive Congress. All things considered, this is a monumental work in the Reagan biography collection just despite it's brevity.

D'Souza's "Reagan" is one of those rare books which presents its subject in one light at its beginning, and then educates the reader to an entirely different view by its end.The theme of "Reagan" is revealed in the subtitle "How an Ordinary Man Became An Extraordinary Leader." While utilizing biographical information, this is not a biography. It is the story of how Reagan's leadership confounded his critics and enabled Reagan, without brilliance or yeoman work effort, to become one of the most successful presidents in U.S. history.Unlike some of his former aides who belittle Reagan, D'Souza provides a balanced assessment of Reagan's strengths and weaknesses. In the early part of the book , D'Souza illustrates Reagan's limitations thereby establishing his credentials as an ordinary man.D'Souza explains Reagan's style of leadership, which basically involves establishing a general policy and then entrusting its execution to subordinates. D'Souza illustrates, by example, Reagan's leadership style through his handling of a series of crises with which he was confronted during his career. One by one, D'Souza takes us through the backgrounds of the tax cut, deployment of missiles in Europe, Bittberg, and many others. In this presentation of the Iran-Contra scandal Reagan is presented as thoroughly involved in the plan to trade arms for hostages, but unaware of the diversion of the proceeds to the Contras.D'Souza does not explore exclusively Reagan's public leadership. He also focuses on Reagan's personal relationships as well. He portrays Reagan as one who, while publicly promoting family values, was unable to live them in his own family. Reagan, who was every American's friend, had few real friends of his own. Many of his aides were disappointed to find themselves unable to establish a personal relationships with Reagan who then discarded them when their usefulness to him was exhausted.By the conclusion of the book, we are left with a perception of Reagan much different than that prevailing among the public. The kindly, simpleminded grandfather is replaced by a much different person. Rather than kindly, Reagan is seen as a very private person, unable to establish, except with Nancy, a personal relationship with anyone. The undistinguished scholar is shown to confound and outwit the wise men time after time. Much of Reagan's strength is found in his unchanging firm adherence to his faith in God, freedom and the American people. D'Souza's Reagan has a much weaker claim on our affections, but is much more deserving of our respect than the Reagan of many other evaluators. This is one of those excellent books which causes us to change our impression of its subject. I admire its craft and appreciate its teaching.

Having just exposed Matt Cale for apparently reviewing Peggy Noonan's When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan without bothering to READ it first, I am a little surprised to catch him at it AGAIN! Though at least this time Matt COULD have read the book before reviewing it (since it was first published in November of 1997), it is pretty clear from his review that he did NOT because he gets NOTHING right. For example I'm sure it will come as a tremendous surprise to Mr. Cale that Dinesh D'Souza condemned Reagan's trading of arms for hostages as "a grave error in judgment" and "the most serious blunder of his presidency" (page 247 of the hardback first edition so Matt STILL won't have to read it). I could give more examples, but I'd be wasting my time and yours. What I DO want to say is that this book Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader is STILL one of the best Reagan biographies available. In exploring the paradox of Ronald Reagan, a (seemingly) ordinary man who became an extraordinary leader, D'Souza did not have access to the treasure trove of handwritten manuscripts that became the basis of Reagan, In His Own Hand: The Writings of Ronald Reagan that Reveal His Revolutionary Vision for America and so was forced to make his case primarily by pointing out how all the self-appointed experts on the Left AND the Right had consistently underestimated him and his policies and had been incapable in particular of grasping his vision for moving decisively to WIN the Cold War. As D'Souza puts it, "Not long after this, the wall did come tumbling down, and Reagan's prophecies all came true. The most powerful empire in human history imploded. These were not just results Reagan predicted. He intended the outcome. He advocated policies that were aimed at producing it. He was denounced for those policies. Yet in the end, his objective was achieved. If Reagan was such a fool, what does that make the wise men? What does that make us?"

How to understand Ronald Reagan? This biography is the best available guide but still the mystery remains.Many people who read this book (all liberals) will consider themselves Reagan's intellectual superior. How do we reconcile that easy and gratifying self judgement with the reality that we have individually done so little and Reagan did so much. I don't know. I can't explain it. I can't stop thinking about it.Twenty five years after the Second World War we learned that Roosevelt conspired with Churchill to steer the US into war against Hitler. With that realization I considered FDR the American hero of the century. This was true leadership. The President essentially isolated and opposed by so many well respected national leaders takes the nation on a course based on a personal sense of national interest and moral right. Stalin said England gave us time, American gave us money and Russia gave blood. He was wrong, America in the person of Roosevelt also gave the world personal political courage and moral leadership.At the end of the century we can now see that the nation produced another hero in an even more difficult and important struggle. Reagan personnaly led a crusade to destroy international communism and he succeded. I lived through those times and I can hardly believe it. In the seventies Democrats like Jerry Brown and Jimmy Carter (unlike current Democrats, both highly moral men) believed in an era of diminishing expectations. Republicans like Nixon negotiated for Detente because they wanted to buy time for the US as it inevitably declined against the communist world.When Reagan called the Soviet Union the Evil Empire he was called loony. His arms build up was seen a irresponsible and his attempt to provide missle defense was termed a reckless provocation.There were no Democrat allies for this vision and much of the Republican party was uncomfortable with his single mindedness. The media certainly was never sympathic with his agenda to defeat communism. The media delighted in characterizing him as a rather simple former actor who could not grasp the complexities of international relations.And yet his personal agenda prevailed. England without Churchill would have made an accomodation with Hitler. America and the world without Reagan would still have Communism on the ascendancy. Its easy for us to accept the first proposition because we think of Churchill as a monumental intellectual giant. We have trouble with the second proposition because Reagan seems so much less. But both statements are true - we just don't understand Reagan. Maybe we can't. I suspect that Reagan didn't want to be understood. Like Gauss who never published until he could obscure how he reached his results, Reagan seemed to hide his effectiveness behind a screen of affability.The ability to give credit to Reagan is one of the defining traits of our modern citizens. Many liberal Democrats reason that Reagan was stupid, Com