It's common to view Ronald Reagan aa a manipulator of symbols
without substance: the "Great Communicator" who has nothing much to
say. On this occasion, UCLA historian Dallek (Franklin D. Roosevelt
and American Foreign Policy, The American Style of Foreign Policy)
gives us little beyond the common coin of his journalistic sources.
Reagan the drunkard's son who learned to detest and fear
dependence; Reagan the radio and movie star, more lucky than
talented or diligent, who learned to praise the work ethic: this is
the figure with whom we're familiar. Following a narrative course
from Reagan's youth, Dallek often quotes the president's
reminiscences of a bucolic Illinois and of soda-fountain dates at
Eureka College. The soppy goo of these tales is a source of symbols
for Dallek - small town values, good clean fun, etc. - and he
compares them to Ray Bradbury's evocation of his Illinois town and
other period-memoirs; but without comparison to some objective
portrait, we don't know how much fantasy is involved. Reagan's role
in King's Row may have been his best, Dallek notes, but it was as
the hero figure, riding in to save people in distress (inevitably,
his father), that he found the self-image he preferred. He rode in
to save the Screen Actors Guild from communism, and thus started
his political career. Dallek tells us nothing new about Reagan's
stint as GE's mouthpiece or his terms as governor of California. In
the latter case, he entered office with an inexperienced staff and
simplistic ideas. He promised a 10 percent state budget cut across
all departments, for instance, oblivious to the fact that some
operated on income from special sources (like the highway
department, from gasoline taxes), so that cutting their budgets
would not affect the overall budget he was trying to balance.
Eventually, he wound up with the biggest budget in California
history. It was then that he learned to act as if what he had
wanted to do was done, or as if he had originally supported
whatever turned out well. Bringing the story up-to-date, Dallek
focuses on the incoherence of Reagan's domestic and foreign
policies - the result, as he sees it, of mixed signals (such as
Reagan's confusing combination of arms limitations offers and arms
deployment actions). For anyone still unfamiliar with this general
interpretation of Reagan, Dallek's synthesis will serve as a
summation. Others, not interested in academic gloss, will prefer to
go straight to Washington Post reporter Lou Cannon's 1982 bio.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Few American politicians have enjoyed greater popularity than
Ronald Reagan. Humor, charm, good looks, an intuitive feel for
national concerns, and an extraordinary ability to speak
persuasively to millions of people were major assets. But his
fundamental appeal went deeper: a blend of Catholic and Protestant,
small-town boy and famous entertainer, Horatio Alger and P. T.
Barnum, traditional moralist and media celebrity, Reagan spoke for
old values in current accents.
Robert Dallek presents a sharply drawn, richly detailed portrait
of the man and his politics--from his childhood years through the
California governorship to the first years of the presidency. It is
an essential guide for all observers of the presidential election
of 2000, and a starting point for anyone wanting to discover what
the Reagan experience really meant.
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