Nicknamed 'Dutch', Ronald Reagan was born in 1911 in rural
Illinois, the son of an alcoholic father and a fiercely religious
mother. At times in his life he was a lifeguard, sports
commentator, film star, union leader, governor of California and,
from 1980 to 1988, president of the United States. His achievements
in office were remarkable: he restored US optimism, patriotism and
self-confidence after Vietnam; he re-invigorated the economy by
giving free rein to market forces and drastically cutting taxes;
and by provoking the 'star wars' arms race, he forced the final
showdown with Soviet communism. In 1993 he announced that he was
suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The Pulitzer Prize-winning
biographer of Theodore Roosevelt is the writer of the only
biography ever authorized by a sitting president. His
'biographical' method, however, is unorthodox: he attached himself
to Reagan, following him everywhere, trying to feel his way into
the president's personality. The price paid by this approach,
sadly, is a loss of distance and objectivity. (Kirkus UK)
THE AUTHORIZED LIFE OF RONALD REAGAN WRITTEN BY AMERICA'S MOST INNOVATIVE AND PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING POLITICAL BIOGRAPHER. THIS UNPRECEDENTED BOOK BREAKS THROUGH ALL CONVENTIONAL DEFINITIONS OF BIOGRAPHY.
'Poor dear. There's nothing between his ears.' So Margaret Thatcher described Ronald Reagan. But the Iron Lady, when in the 'poor dear's' presence, giggled like a schoolgirl. 'One could not talk for more than a few minutes without being aware of the ordinariness of his mind,' say Helmut Schmidt. But Mikhail Gorbachev, deconstructor of communism, is noe despised by his people, while the most popular boys' name in the former USSR is Ronald. Indisputably Ronald Reagan the everyday person was opaque, pedestrian, ignorant, a hollow man – now incapacitated by Alzheimers. Yet, as President – Governor – Actor – Announcer – Lifeguard Ronald Reagan became a creature of the American folk imagination with the power to tap into vast resources of nostalgia in the American people. He is a myth; the sum total of all American fantasies. It is this Reagan that is the subject of Edmund Morris's book. Morris has been working on the authorized biography of Ronald Reagan since 1985. He has become intimate with Reagan himself, Nancy and their children, and has had unrestricted access to all Reagan's private papers. This would be enough to ensure a significant and lasting biography of this extraordinary American. However, Morris combines these benefits with enormous powers of scholarship and a literary imagination beyond compare. The result is a book truly revolutionary in form. Reagan's biography is written with a biographical doppelganger following Reagan through each phase of his life, showing how the life of Reagan integrates with his times, and explaining the great and so-far elusive mystery of the extraordinary potent link between Reagan and the American people. This book succeeds in making literature out of the life of America's Actor-President. There has been nothing like it before.
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