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The Resource Reagan : an American journey, Bob Spitz

Reagan : an American journey, Bob Spitz

Creator
Author
Summary
"From New York Times bestselling biographer Bob Spitz, a full and rich biography of an epic American life, capturing what made Ronald Reagan both so beloved and so transformational. More than five years in the making, based on hundreds of interviews and access to previously unavailable documents, and infused with irresistible storytelling charm, Bob Spitz's REAGAN stands fair to be the first truly post-partisan biography of our 40th President, and thus a balm for our own bitterly divided times. It is the quintessential American triumph, brought to life with cinematic vividness: a young man is born into poverty and raised in a series of flyspeck towns in the Midwest by a pious mother and a reckless, alcoholic, largely absent father. Severely near-sighted, the boy lives in his own world, a world of the popular books of the day, and finds his first brush with popularity, even fame, as a young lifeguard. Thanks to his first great love, he imagines a way out, and makes the extraordinary leap to go to college, a modest school by national standards, but an audacious presumption in the context of his family's station. From there, the path is only very dimly lit, but it leads him, thanks to his great charm and greater luck, to a solid career as a radio sportscaster, and then, astonishingly, fatefully, to Hollywood. And the rest, as they say, is history. Bob Spitz's REAGAN is an absorbing, richly detailed, even revelatory chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan's epic life - giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics and rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor, and ultimately, of course, his iconic presidency, filled with storm and stress but climaxing with his peace talks with the Soviet Union that would serve as his greatest legacy. It is filled with fresh assessments and shrewd judgments, and doesn't flinch from a full reckoning with the man's strengths and limitations. This is no hagiography: Reagan was never a brilliant student, of anything, and his disinterest in hard-nosed political scheming, while admirable, meant that this side of things was left to the other people in his orbit, not least his wife Nancy; sometimes this delegation could lead to chaos, and worse. But what emerges as a powerful signal through all the noise is an honest inherent sweetness, a gentleness of nature and willingness to see the good in people and in this country, that proved to be a tonic for America in his time, and still is in ours. It was famously said that FDR had a first-rate disposition and a second-rate intellect. Perhaps it is no accident that only FDR had as high a public approval rating leaving office as Reagan did, or that in the years since Reagan has been closing in on FDR on rankings of Presidential greatness. Written with love and irony, which in a great biography is arguably the same thing, Bob Spitz's masterpiece will give no comfort to partisans at either extreme; for the rest of us, it is cause for celebration"--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
863 pages, [32] unnumbered pages
Contents
  • Part 1: DUTCH
  • An Ideal Place
  • A Little Bit of a Dutchman
  • The Happiest Times of My Life
  • Ready to Shine
  • Everyone's Hero
  • Living the Gospel
  • The Disappearance of Margaret
  • A People-Pleaser
  • Another Robert Taylor
  • Part 2: RONNIE
  • Letting Dutch Go
  • Button Nose
  • Where's . . . Where's the Rest of Me?
  • In the Army Now
  • A Dangerous Man
  • Trouble in Paradise
  • The Blue Period
  • Nancy (With the Laughing Face)
  • Ronnie's Finest Hour
  • Moving from Left to Right
  • An Apprenticeship for Public Life
  • The Friends of Ronald Reagan
  • The Citizen Politician
  • Part 3: GOVERNOR
  • Prairie Fire
  • The Non-Candidate
  • The Conservation Governor
  • A Horse of a Different Color
  • Momentum
  • The Front-Runner
  • Big Mo
  • A Referendum on Unhappiness
  • Part 4: MR. PRESIDENT
  • The O and W
  • Survival of the Fittest
  • Cracks in the Foundation
  • War and Peace
  • Urgent Fury
  • Teflon Man
  • Let Reagan Be Reagan
  • Into the Abyss
  • A Fresh Start
  • So Far Down the Road
  • Back on the Rollercoaster
  • Snakebit
  • Reclaiming the Spotlight
  • The Long Goodbye
  • An Ordinary Citizen
  • The Sunset
Isbn
9781594205316
Instance
Label
Reagan : an American journey
Title
Reagan
Title remainder
an American journey
Statement of responsibility
Bob Spitz
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"From New York Times bestselling biographer Bob Spitz, a full and rich biography of an epic American life, capturing what made Ronald Reagan both so beloved and so transformational. More than five years in the making, based on hundreds of interviews and access to previously unavailable documents, and infused with irresistible storytelling charm, Bob Spitz's REAGAN stands fair to be the first truly post-partisan biography of our 40th President, and thus a balm for our own bitterly divided times. It is the quintessential American triumph, brought to life with cinematic vividness: a young man is born into poverty and raised in a series of flyspeck towns in the Midwest by a pious mother and a reckless, alcoholic, largely absent father. Severely near-sighted, the boy lives in his own world, a world of the popular books of the day, and finds his first brush with popularity, even fame, as a young lifeguard. Thanks to his first great love, he imagines a way out, and makes the extraordinary leap to go to college, a modest school by national standards, but an audacious presumption in the context of his family's station. From there, the path is only very dimly lit, but it leads him, thanks to his great charm and greater luck, to a solid career as a radio sportscaster, and then, astonishingly, fatefully, to Hollywood. And the rest, as they say, is history. Bob Spitz's REAGAN is an absorbing, richly detailed, even revelatory chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan's epic life - giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics and rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor, and ultimately, of course, his iconic presidency, filled with storm and stress but climaxing with his peace talks with the Soviet Union that would serve as his greatest legacy. It is filled with fresh assessments and shrewd judgments, and doesn't flinch from a full reckoning with the man's strengths and limitations. This is no hagiography: Reagan was never a brilliant student, of anything, and his disinterest in hard-nosed political scheming, while admirable, meant that this side of things was left to the other people in his orbit, not least his wife Nancy; sometimes this delegation could lead to chaos, and worse. But what emerges as a powerful signal through all the noise is an honest inherent sweetness, a gentleness of nature and willingness to see the good in people and in this country, that proved to be a tonic for America in his time, and still is in ours. It was famously said that FDR had a first-rate disposition and a second-rate intellect. Perhaps it is no accident that only FDR had as high a public approval rating leaving office as Reagan did, or that in the years since Reagan has been closing in on FDR on rankings of Presidential greatness. Written with love and irony, which in a great biography is arguably the same thing, Bob Spitz's masterpiece will give no comfort to partisans at either extreme; for the rest of us, it is cause for celebration"--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
individual biography
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Spitz, Bob
Dewey number
  • 973.927092
  • B
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
no index present
LC call number
E877
LC item number
.S75 2018
Literary form
non fiction
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Reagan, Ronald
  • Reagan, Ronald
  • Presidents
  • Governors
  • Motion picture actors and actresses
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Presidents & Heads of State
  • POLITICAL SCIENCE / Government / Executive Branch
  • HISTORY / United States / 20th Century
  • Governors
  • Motion picture actors and actresses
  • Presidents
  • California
  • United States
Label
Reagan : an American journey, Bob Spitz
Instantiates
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Part 1: DUTCH -- An Ideal Place -- A Little Bit of a Dutchman -- The Happiest Times of My Life -- Ready to Shine -- Everyone's Hero -- Living the Gospel -- The Disappearance of Margaret -- A People-Pleaser -- Another Robert Taylor -- Part 2: RONNIE -- Letting Dutch Go -- Button Nose -- Where's . . . Where's the Rest of Me? -- In the Army Now -- A Dangerous Man -- Trouble in Paradise -- The Blue Period -- Nancy (With the Laughing Face) -- Ronnie's Finest Hour -- Moving from Left to Right -- An Apprenticeship for Public Life -- The Friends of Ronald Reagan -- The Citizen Politician -- Part 3: GOVERNOR -- Prairie Fire -- The Non-Candidate -- The Conservation Governor -- A Horse of a Different Color -- Momentum -- The Front-Runner -- Big Mo -- A Referendum on Unhappiness -- Part 4: MR. PRESIDENT -- The O and W -- Survival of the Fittest -- Cracks in the Foundation -- War and Peace -- Urgent Fury -- Teflon Man -- Let Reagan Be Reagan -- Into the Abyss -- A Fresh Start -- So Far Down the Road -- Back on the Rollercoaster -- Snakebit -- Reclaiming the Spotlight -- The Long Goodbye -- An Ordinary Citizen -- The Sunset
Control code
on1024139532
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
863 pages, [32] unnumbered pages
Isbn
9781594205316
Lccn
2018019603
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (some color)
System control number
(OCoLC)1024139532
Label
Reagan : an American journey, Bob Spitz
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Part 1: DUTCH -- An Ideal Place -- A Little Bit of a Dutchman -- The Happiest Times of My Life -- Ready to Shine -- Everyone's Hero -- Living the Gospel -- The Disappearance of Margaret -- A People-Pleaser -- Another Robert Taylor -- Part 2: RONNIE -- Letting Dutch Go -- Button Nose -- Where's . . . Where's the Rest of Me? -- In the Army Now -- A Dangerous Man -- Trouble in Paradise -- The Blue Period -- Nancy (With the Laughing Face) -- Ronnie's Finest Hour -- Moving from Left to Right -- An Apprenticeship for Public Life -- The Friends of Ronald Reagan -- The Citizen Politician -- Part 3: GOVERNOR -- Prairie Fire -- The Non-Candidate -- The Conservation Governor -- A Horse of a Different Color -- Momentum -- The Front-Runner -- Big Mo -- A Referendum on Unhappiness -- Part 4: MR. PRESIDENT -- The O and W -- Survival of the Fittest -- Cracks in the Foundation -- War and Peace -- Urgent Fury -- Teflon Man -- Let Reagan Be Reagan -- Into the Abyss -- A Fresh Start -- So Far Down the Road -- Back on the Rollercoaster -- Snakebit -- Reclaiming the Spotlight -- The Long Goodbye -- An Ordinary Citizen -- The Sunset
Control code
on1024139532
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
863 pages, [32] unnumbered pages
Isbn
9781594205316
Lccn
2018019603
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (some color)
System control number
(OCoLC)1024139532

Subject

Genre

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