A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan [Hardcover]

Michael K. Deaver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2001

Michael Deaver's relationship with Ronald Reagan began with the former President's 1966 campaign for governor of California, and in the 35 years since their first meeting he has gained an understanding of the inner Reagan equalled by very few. Deaver had unprecedented access to Reagan throughout the President's political career, giving him unsurpassed insight. Now he offers his personal memories of Ronald Reagan the perfectionist, the communicator, the world leader, and the friend, including the qualities and personal traits that made him one of the most successful and popular Presidents of the 20th century. Deaver discusses Reagan's deep spiritual sense of purpose, and shows how he changed after he was shot, including the surprising ways the assassination attempt influenced his dealings with the Soviet Union. Warm, rich in historical detail, and intensely personal, A Different Drummer sheds remarkable new light on an American icon. Deaver tells the story of Nancy Reagan in her finest hour, as the caregiver for her husband during his courageous battle with Alzheimer's disease, and the toll it has taken on her family. Included are never-before-published excerpts from Reagan's personal letters to people across America.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Michael Deaver, a longtime political advisor who served as deputy chief of staff in the Reagan White House, offers an approving, affectionate, and well-written portrait of the former president--but one that, for an insider's account, is surprisingly short on news.

The Ronald Reagan who emerges from Deaver's pages is far different from the popularly held view, fueled by the media, of the president as an amiable but limited man who napped, golfed, and left the business of running the government to his lieutenants. Far from it, Deaver insists: Reagan read widely, kept up with the issues, and "firmly believed that it was his job to set the priorities of his administrations and to make the big decisions." Thoughtful and utterly courteous, if sometimes distant, Deaver's Reagan is a man of unbending conservative principle; careful to cross party lines to secure support for his policy and to judge his opponents by character, not doctrine; stalwart in his devotion to country; and certain, in Deaver's words, "that he was the right guy at the right time." This Reagan can do no wrong, and when controversy arises in Deaver's account it is almost always because someone else has flubbed the play. Unlike Alexander Haig, David Stockman, and other former administration officials who have written about their time in the Reagan White House, Deaver is quick to fall on the sword whenever he must. He takes responsibility, for instance, for the president's controversial decision to lay a wreath at a German cemetery that contained the graves of fallen SS soldiers, and for Reagan's difficulties in convincing voters of the wisdom of an expensive military buildup in the closing years of the cold war. About the Iran-Contra affair, which blackened Reagan's second term, Deaver has little to say, and about his own departure from the administration and subsequent investigation by federal prosecutors he is even more close-mouthed.

Those seeking to learn more about Ronald Reagan as president may come away from Deaver's book disappointed. His admirers, however, will enjoy the anecdotes about "the traits that made him so successful as a leader and so peculiar--and wonderful--as a person." --Gregory McNamee

From Library Journal

Reagan's former aide looks back on better days.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (April 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060197846
• ISBN-13: 978-0060197841
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,591,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book on Reagan, May 23, 2001

By 

Newt Gingrich (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
("THE")   

This review is from: A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan (Hardcover)

This is simply the best book that has been written about how Reagan operated and how he was successful in getting things done. Deaver communicates a deeper personal sense of Reagan than any other book I have read. For any student history interested in how this remarkable man could carry the conservative movement to the White House, defeat the Soviet Empire, restart the American economy and rebuild faith in the American civic culture, this book is must reading. Deaver was with Reagan for thirty years and has thought deeply about his leadership since then. This book captures that analysis in remarkably few pages.

Let me just give you a few of the many insights Deaver outlines: "If we Californians had a modicum of smarts, it was that we understood the secret to Reagan's success. He won when people saw him and heard his message. Personal persuasion, not political manipulation, was the secret of Reagan's magic. To Sears, Ronald Reagan was just another political commodity. To us, he was something special, someone we knew the American people would embrace if they got to know him," p.198-99.

"It was during his tenure as GE spokesman that he learned it was best always to dine with his listeners. Later in life Richard Nixon would advise Reagan that he should eat his dinner in solitude in his hotel room where he could rehearse one last time and relish the quiet time before facing the gritty masses. This would not only provide the opportunity for singular uninterrupted dining, Nixon advised, but would also afford a triumphant entrance into the ballroom. Reagan respectfully discarded the loner Nixon's counsel, preferring to always take his seat at the head table and dine at the same time as everybody else. He did this not out of any populist impulses but out of a need to be in the same room as his audience so he could make a personal connection before he spoke. " . . . He was always listening and learning." p.54. This is a must read for students of leadership, government, politics and history.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Making it look easy., April 22, 2001

By 

E. Graham "News1" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan (Hardcover)

Reagan made it all look so easy -- a simple clarity which unnerved many, but enabled a revolution.

Fate smiled when it put Michael Deaver at Reagan's side; they clearly worked as a matched set. And that fit shows here in the story.

Deaver has managed to match his old boss again. This time by making the telling of this American Classic look easy!

The difference from others' earlier attempts is that unlike those who've tried to talk about being there, he ignores the academic and chattering-class' over-analysis. Like The Gipper, Deaver wisely insists on just sharing a great set of stories.

Reading "A Differnt Drummer" is a lot like listening to The Great Communicator himself. Even for a political agnostic, I was swept up by the clarity of Deaver's perspective. He carries you through three decades with insight and soul.

If you are a Reagan fan, this is a Must Read.

But more important, if you don't much like politics, Reagan, or the '80's, it is a delightful and valuable surprise. It flows. It fills in the gaps. And finally peeking inside the reality -- is fun.

EMG

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Both comfortable and comforting, July 5, 2004

By 

D. M. North (Flintstone, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan (Hardcover)

No review of this book would be complete without addressing the first point to be made by the author -- a description of what this book is not.

It is not an exhaustive biography, an apology for Reagan's policies, or a criticism of his opponents. It is simply an accounting of Mike Deaver's time with Ronald Wilson Reagan.

This is a comfortable book, because it is written with an ease and familiarity born of friendship. It is comforting, because it shows that behind the scenes and out of the spotlight, Ronald Reagan was as genuine as he appeared to be. His integrity and conviction was not an act.

Deaver could easily have used this book for self-promotion, but he wrote it in the same way he served Reagan -- with wholehearted committment to his friend and boss.

Reagan's person and policy has been, and will continue to be studied, criticized, and defended. Biographies and collections of works will tell much of the story. But none of them will offer such a simple glimpse into the public and private nature of the 40th President as does this recounting of memories shared by a loyal friend and advisor.