Customer Reviews

Reagan Presidency

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I read this book for a graduate class in American history. This book is a great compendium of articles which expertly explained the history and growth of the conservative movement in America, and the skill with which Reagan's conservative philosophy transformed the movement. In addition, it correctly observed how America's socio-economic and political institutions had shifted to the right since the Reagan Revolution of 1980. It astutely noted how Bill Clinton, the only Democrat elected to the presidency after Reagan, was not from the typical liberal or Great Society wing of the Democratic Party. After Reagan, it became no great surprise that President Clinton would tell Americans "the era of big government was over."

The book did a superb job in explaining the "intellectual origins" of American conservatism. Essentially, conservatives have a religious orientation to the world around them as opposed to liberals who rely more on the powers of human reason. This view makes conservatives more likely to rely on proven traditions to solve political problems and less likely to put stock into people who rely primarily on using reason and government to solve human problems. "Conservatives expressed concerns about almost any increase in federal power, especially if it came at the expense of local governments or other groups" (42). Underpinning conservative philosophy, was the idea that conservatives had to defend American traditions. One of the conservatives who epitomized this thinking was the economist, and Noble Laureate, Friedrich von Hayek, who in 1944 wrote the book The Road to Serfdom, which warned that New Deal policies would lead to socialism. Hayek's book ended with the argument that conservatives were morally correct in protecting "property rights, and of cultivating a society that allows individuals the freedom to choose with a minimum of government interference" (43). The book observed that the 1950's had brought new issues to the conservative movement to embrace. Whittaker Chambers wrote his anti-Communist manifesto Witness, in which "Chambers so eloquently characterized the struggle with the Soviet Union as a cosmic war between two mutually exclusive faiths, Communism, and freedom" (43). Witness was extremely influential in shaping the conservative movement. Prior to the late 1950's, American conservatism was perceived to be under the influence of elitist country club Northeasterners who were isolationists in their worldviews. Chamber's book and William F. Buckley's founding of the magazine National Review in 1955 set the stage for a fight over control of the Republican Party. Buckley was able to unite an eclectic group of conservatives who ultimately became successful in wrestling the Republican Party away from the traditional Northeastern elitist, which culminated in the nomination of Senator Barry Goldwater for president in 1964. Though the Goldwater candidacy would lose, there were already new forces taking shape in America that would once again transform the Republican Party.

The federally imposed civil rights laws and the civil unrest that swept through America in the 1960's, brought new adherents from diverse backgrounds in the 1970's to transform the Republican Party once again under a "new right" coalition. This coalition was comprised of Southerners who had traditionally been Democrats, but were dissatisfied with government meddling in their lives. Pro-life organizations and the evangelical Christian organizations disappointed in judicial rulings legalizing abortions joined in the coalition. Fiscal conservatives who saw high taxes and spiraling inflation ruining the economy also joined the coalition. Finally, a new group who became known as "neoconservatives" who the book described as, "liberals who reacted to the excesses of the Great Society and the new left liberalism" also joined the coalition (47). This new movement became the new face of the Republican Party, and this time, it had the organization and votes to propel their standard-bearer, Ronald Reagan, to presidential victory in 1980. Hereafter these new Republicans would be known as "Reagan Republicans."

The book has a good grasp on how Reagan's political philosophy was formed. Reagan's mother, the anti-Communist Chambers, and the economist Hayek, all had a profound influence on forming Reagan's religious beliefs and his political philosophy. Reagan's mother filled him with a religion that had "a strong sense of God's providence and of individual destiny" (50). Thus, Reagan envisioned an America that was part of God's master plan, a "shining city on the hill," that would be a beacon of hope for oppressed people throughout the world to emulate. Chamber's writings shaped Reagan's geopolitical outlook. "To defend America was to defend its ideas and its mission" (51). Finally, while Reagan was a well-paid actor in the 1940's he became frustrated with the large amount of taxes he was required to pay. This fact, coupled with his reading of Hayek's work, which warned that liberal "New Deal" economic policies if allowed to go unchecked, would lead to socialism, "shaped his beliefs about the proper role of government in the economy" (51). Upon assuming the presidency, Reagan moved quickly to fulfill his political philosophy. He cut taxes, extended deregulation, moved to terminate or shrink government agencies, and increased defense spending. He also moved to change the face of the federal judiciary to "redress the imbalance of power between the states and the federal government" (54). The book took special interest in observing how the "new right" coalition changed at the end of Reagan's presidency. The neoconservatives wrested power away from traditional conservatives classified as paleoconservatives. Neoconservative power extended to media outlets, think tanks, and some academic institutions. However, paleoconservatives had ample reason to be happy with their achievements, "the center of politics had moved to the right" (54). Economically and politically, government became less of a burden on the lives of Americans, and culturally America moved closer to conservative values.

As a graduate student I recommend this book for anyone interested in Reagan, American History, Cold War History.