Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
In the past century, two political demigods dominated. The Democrats had FDR, and the Republicans had Ronald Reagan.
Since Reagan left office in 1989, more than 900 books have been written about the late president, many of which are unmitigated idolatry.
Richard Reeves' new biography, Ronald Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination, is different. It is a cogent, evenhanded, in-depth examination of the Reagan presidency. (Reeves also has written about the Nixon and Kennedy administrations.)
Liberals might find fault with Reeves' recognition that Reagan was far smarter, sharper and savvier than his foes would acknowledge. But the aging Reagan also had faults and limitations that his conservative admirers might be loath to concede.
Reeves uses a chronological approach to the Reagan years. Economic questions, legislative conflicts, foreign affairs and ideological tensions are all presented along with the media reaction at the time.
It is refreshing and unusual to read a presidential biography in which the man's public actions -- not his private psyche -- are the primary focus.
First lady Nancy Reagan's influential role is depicted. And so is her obsession with astrology. But Reeves also addresses the less sexy, more important issues of Iran-Contra, deficit spending, the Lebanon crisis and the spread of AIDS.
The book, however, is not all facts and figures.
Reeves explains how Reagan had a personality and pacing that were easy for the hyperactive press corps and ambitious White House staffers to underestimate.
He was an old man, but he had an old man's strengths: He knew what he believed, and he really didn't care what his opponents thought of him.
Drawing on his years in Hollywood, Reagan was comfortable as a solitary star whose staff was simply an interchangeable constellation.
Moreover, Reeves captures Reagan's undeniable charm, presidential aura and ability to inspire Americans with his own vision of an earlier America when things seemed simpler and better. That those times, in reality, were not better for large numbers of Americans did not faze Reagan.
The most dramatic chapters recount John Hinckley's assassination attempt. Reagan was far more gravely injured than the public knew.
And the most dynamic chapters chronicle Reagan's meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The book has been published to mark the 25th anniversary of Reagan's inauguration -- a fitting reminder of a presidency that changed the world.
President Reagan: The Triumph
of Imagination
By Richard Reeves
Simon & Schuster, 572 pp., $30
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
