Reagan Reading

February 17, 2018

I've just finished reading two books on Ronald Reagan, one of which I recommend to you, and the other I won't.

In Way Out There in the Blue, Frances Fitzgerald examines the Strategic Defense Initiative and gives an adequate chronological review of the Reagan administration, but completely misunderstands Reagan and the events that led to the end of the Cold War. She presents Reagan as the "amiable dunce," stubbornly clinging to a vision he didn't create or understand, and seemingly riding the waves of history that he had no influence over. She concludes with Time magazine that Gorbachev was the man of the decade and the hero of the Cold War, that it was his idea to reduce the INF in Europe, that Gorbachev was in control of the Geneva and Reykjavik summits, and that his economic proposals to save the USSR had nothing to do with Reagan's military buildup. She conveniently ignores the collapse of the USSR and Gorbachev's hapless efforts to save it. The book is lengthy, written from an obvious liberal bias, and not worthy of your time.

The other is called The Reagan I Knew, by William F. Buckley. It is relatively short, but a marvelous read about the forty year friendship between Buckley and Reagan. Buckley founded and edited the National Review for thirty-five years, was the founder of the modern conservative movement, and probably the greatest influence on Reagan's switch from being a Democrat to being a Republican. Relying on extensive letters between the two and Nancy Reagan, Buckley presents a man who understood the world better than most, who refused to be intimidated by his detractors, and was likely the greatest president of the twentieth century. The INF treaty was indeed Reagan's idea that Gorbachev was forced to accept. In a letter to Buckley May 5, 1987 Reagan writes, "I warned the General Secretary in Reykjavik that his choice was to join in arms reduction or face an arms race he couldn't win." Buckley concludes, "The 1980s are most certainly the decade in which Communism ceased to be a creed, surviving only as a threat. And Ronald Reagan had more to do with this than any other statesman in the world."

The Reagan I Knew is a very compelling read that addresses Reagan's distant nature as well as his warmth, that examines his passions and touches on the Alzheimers that would eventually overtake him. It is unfortunate that Buckley died before the book was finished as there may have been more coming, but it is an incredibly revealing book and I highly recommend it to you.