Reckoning with Reagan: America and Its President in the 1980s

By Michael Schaller

Book Overview

At the height of Ronald Reagan's popularity in July 1986, Time Magazine wrote glowingly of how he had "found America's sweet spot." Reagan seemed a "magician who carries a bright, ideal America like a holograph in his mind and projects its image in the air." Not since journalist Theodore White rhapsodized about "Camelot" in the wake of John F. Kennedy's assassination had a president been spoken of so reverently. And indeed, Reagan seemed to know just what America wanted to hear. In the 1980 campaign, energized by Jimmy Carter's problems, the Republican nominee downplayed his own conservative economic and social ideas to call for a restoration of national strength and pride. "This is the greatest country in the world," he declared, "we have the talent, we have the drive, we have the imagination. Now all we need is the leadership." Government, he said time and again "is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." Reagan pledged to bring Americans a "little good news" and during the next eight years, through recession and recovery, cold war and detente, success and scandal, he forged a powerful bond with the public. His popularity appeared so unrelated to actual achievements and so undiminished by failure that Colorado Representative Pat Schroeder dubbed him the "teflon president."
While much has written about the Reagan presidency by "insiders" and journalists, Reckoning with Reagan is the first historian's account of the period, providing a brief but comprehensive and non-polemical overview of what exactly took place while Reagan was in charge. Schaller, the acclaimed author of Douglas MacArthur, The American Occupation of Japan, and The United States and China in the Twentieth Century, presents a lively account of the Reagan years, analyzing the origins and consequences of the Reagan administration's domestic and foreign policies, and weighing the former president's great personal and political popularity against the effects of his economic, social, diplomatic, and strategic decisions. Showing how an illusion of national strength, prosperity, and global power was created at a time when these were in fact declining, Schaller discusses all aspects of the Reagan revolution, including Reaganomics, the rise of political Christianity, the drug war, changes in the American family, relations with the Soviet Union, terrorism, and the end of the Cold War. Writing in a straightforward and lively style, Schaller brings to light a host of complex issues--from supply-side economics to the appeal of televangelists; from the secret foreign policies of the Iran/Contra adventurists to Reagan's days of "Evil Empire" and the eventual detente with Mikhail Gorbachev.
Much more than an account of Reagan the man, Schaller offers us a fascinating evaluation of the Reagan phenomenon, providing an accessible introduction for Americans struggling to understand the illusory and actual impact of the Reagan administration on the 1980's and on years to come.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195069153
• ISBN13: 9780195069150
• Release Date: May 1992
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

A Very Informative Work on Reagan

This book by Michael Schaller is an excellent work taking a look at Reagan the man and Reagan as President. I was assigned this book and used it in a major term paper for one of my classes in college. Schaller's book was instrumental in my paper and helped me argue the fact that Reagan was responsible for ending the Cold War. Aside from my paper, Schaller provides little known facts and an excellent background section on Reagan. Although hampered by the fact that many sources and documents were not public at the time this book was written, Schaller does a fine job looking at the Reagan Presidency. Definitely recommended for anyone researching about Reagan or just wanting to read about him.

Job well done.

I would say ignore the reviews that cast this book in a less than outstanding light. This book is not an abstract novel, but rather a historical account of Reagan's time in office. Michael Schaller is an award winning History Professor that does a wonderful job teaching the Mystique of what was Reagan's Presidency.

A Middling Assessment of a Middling President

"Reckoning with Reagan" makes some nice attempts at getting a grip on Reagan's presidency. Taking into account the good as well as the bad, it provides a more balanced account that the fawning hero worship pieces written by Noonan and D'Souza. An easy read, though it leaves the reader wanting a little more detail in spots.

Excellent starting point in understanding Reagan and 1980's

Schaller gives us a well-researched, straightforward, and highly readable book on what went right and wrong in the 1980's. Highlighting such bright spots as the sucess of detente while at the same time addressing some of the darker aspects of the '80s (e.g. the rise in income inequality, S & L Crisis, the US as a debtor nation) Schaller's book is probably the best starting point in understanding the causes of Reagan's ascension and the consequences of his polices. His obserbvation that the 80's were an era when Americans "suspended disbelief" is well taken. Schaller makes clear that Reagan did have some solid achievements while at the the same time his "Teflon" quality left him unjustifiably untainted by a number of scandals. Reagan emerges "tall in the saddle" as the Cold War nears its end, but not nearly as tall as some Reagan apologists would lead you to believe. The overall picture on of Reagan's foreign policy is favorable. In the area of domestic policy Schaller is much more negative towards Reagan. Not surprsingly, Schaller saves his hatchet work not for his evaluation of Reagan the man, but his evaluation of those who benefited most from the Reagan years: Yuppies, moneylenders, and investment bankers. Reckoning with Reagan is especially effective for those whose formative and/or adolescent years were during Reagan's Presidency. A wonderful detour through the 80's and its President.