Pros: Incredible breadth, revealing insights, shows Reagan "in full."
Cons: Not enough context. Some sections are just plain boring. Not a biography by any means
The Bottom Line: This rewarding book should have a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in politics, conservatism, Reagan, and Republican government.
excremento's Full Review: Kiron K. Skinner, Ronald Reagan, Martin Anderson -...
I was 9 years old and in 3rd grade when Ronald Reagan was first elected president in 1980. When he finally left the White House in 1989, I was in the middle of my junior year of high school.
My "political awakening" occurred when Reagan was in office. For me, Reagan is the best president of my lifetime so far. I wonder if he will always be. I believe in Reagan's vision of limited government and, without getting excessively political, committed myself to conservatism after seeing Reagan restore America to greatness after the disaster of the '70s.
I first learned of Reagan: A Life In Letters in September 2003 when Time magazine did a cover story of the book. The article included several passages and I put it on my wish list. But it wasn't until the day of Reagan's funeral in June that I finally ordered the book from Overstock.com.
Structure of the Book Reagan: A Life In Letters includes more than 1,000 letters Reagan wrote during his lifetime on numerous subjects. The books is almost overwhelming in it's length (the letters alone comprise 834 pages).
The chapters are organized as follows:
1. The Early Years
2. Home and Family
3. Health and Personal Appearance
4. Old Friends
5. Hollywood Years
6. Governorship
7. Running for Office
8. Core Beliefs
9. Economic Policy
10. Domestic Policy
11. The Cold War I: Ideology and Institutions.
12. The Cold War II: Politics, Arms, and Missile Defense
13. The Middle East and Southwest Asia
14. Terrorism and the Iran-Contra Scandal
15. The Americas
16. The International Scene
17. The Oval Office and Reelection
18. The Media
19. The Critics
20. Reaching Out
21. The Lighter Side
22. American Leaders
23. Foreign Leaders
24. Pen Pals
25. Back to California
Obviously there's a lot to sort through. I decided to read it straight through like one would a novel. But, I probably would have been better served reading "randomly" as the editors suggest. One could even read the book intermittently (i.e., chapter 5 one day, chapter 18 the following week) and thus not get overwhelmed by the book.
Each letter is presented with a brief (or sometimes lengthy) introduction. Furthermore, each chapter has an explanation of the significance of the section and provides some context regarding the letters to follow. There are a handful of correspondents who appear frequently, which gives the book a helpful boost of continuity.
Finding the Gems
When I read, I have a pen handy and mark sections that I find especially profound or insightful. I didn't mark this book as often as I expected to.
But there are some great passages in the book that help illustrate Reagan's philosophies and views. Here are a few:
• In a letter to a supporter: "I was a Democrat when the Democratic Party stood for states rights, local autonomy, economy in government and individual freedom. Today it is the party that had changed, openly declaring for centralized federal power and government sponsored redistribution of the individual's earnings."
• In a letter to a friend, recently widowed: “I oppose the dogmas of some organized religions who accept marital relationship only as a ‘tolerated’ sin for the purpose of conceiving children and who believe all children to be born in sin. My personal belief is that God couldn’t create evil so the desires he planted in us are good and the physical relationship between a man and woman is the highest form of companionship.”
• In a letter to his son Michael: “There is an old law of physics that you can only get out of a thing as much as you put in it. The man who puts into the marriage only half of what he owns will get that out.”
• In a letter to his daughter Patti: “Compromising with truth no matter how trivial does something to us.”
• In a letter to a supporter shortly after Reagan took office: “I know I’ve been criticized for not having made a speech outlining what would be the Reagan foreign policy. I have a foreign policy; I’m working on it. I just don’t happen to think that it’s wise to always stand up and put in quotation marks in front of the world what your foreign policy is. I’m a believer in quiet diplomacy and so far we’ve had several quiet triumphant experiences by using that method.”
• In a letter to Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the USSR, from April 1981: “When WWII ended the United States had the only undamaged industrial power in the world. Its military might was at its peak—and we alone had the ultimate weapon, the nuclear bomb with the unquestioned ability to deliver it anywhere in the world. If we had sought world domination who could have opposed us?
“But the United States followed a different course—one unique in all the history of mankind. We used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravaged economies of all the world including those nations who had been our enemies. May I say there is absolutely no substance to the charges that the United States is guilty of imperialism or attempts to impose its will on other countries by use of force.”
• From Reagan’s “farewell letter” to the American people: “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”
We also learn that, press insistence otherwise, Reagan did not color his hair; he believed strongly in his own record of helping minorities and felt his success doing so as a governor was underreported; was generous with people he didn't know; he could reach out with sincerity and without contention to critics; and he was always optimistic about America.
Shortcomings
With some sections of the book, I felt like I "had to" read them, not "wanted to." Some of the letters are rather dull and uninspiring. Obviously one can't expect Reagan to be compelling and dramatic in every letter, especially those dealing with mundane subjects. I suppose "reader fatigue" is a factor in this sense, and reading the book intermittently, as mentioned above, perhaps could have alleviated this issue.
As mentioned above, each letter has an introduction of some sort. But I felt there wasn't enough context to explain what Reagan was responding to. In situations where Reagan is responding to a letter, I had somewhat expected the original letter to be included. But beyond a few excerpts or explanation, the original communication is not included.
There are of course lots of reasons to not include the original communication (permission, availability, length of the book), but in situations where Reagan has an on-going correspondence with someone, I think it makes a lot of sense to include the responses from the other party.
Final Thoughts Reagan: A Life In Letters is not a biography. If you are looking for an in-depth look at Reagan's life, this book won't do it for you. I guess this book is best described as a reference. In fact, it would be interesting to use this book as a support for an actual biography.
While not always "easy" to read because of some tedious sections, it is rewarding and should have a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in politics, conservatism, Reagan, and Republican government.
I'm giving this book four stars because I don't think this book's shortcomings make it a 3-star book...but maybe 3 1/2.
Now in paperback comes the New York Times bestselling collection of Ronald Reagan s letters--a definitive look at a man, an era, and a presidency.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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