Customer Reviews

Ronald Reagan : Biography

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I bought this book primarily because of my respect for A&E, its unbiased reporting, and the high quality of its programming. Sadly, the book failed to live up to my expectations or to A&E's high standards. My impression is that the author was an outsider during Reagan's political lifetime who views events through a prism of liberal bias and, therefore, simply can't understand or accept them. "How," he might ask, "could such an ignorant man accomplish so much?" My main gripe with the book, however, lies with the constant use of prejudicial terms seemingly intended to disparage Reagan or slant the discussion. I must admit, though, that this book for the most part truly represents the liberal view of Ronald Reagan during his time as president. Therefore, if you dislike Ronald Reagan and feel that he was simply an uninformed actor who had to be told what to say and do, and that everything achieved during his administration either happened by chance or would have happened even if he had not been president, then this is the book for you.

About three quarters of the way through this book, I was ready to throw it out the window. I am biased on the issue of Ronald Reagan, I am a huge fan of his. I wasn't angry just because the book was mostly in criticism of Reagan, but I didn't like that it showed more bad than good, and I think that that is unfair. However, after reading through the whole book (an encouraged practice before making a judgement, and writing a review), I found that, while I believe that Kenneth Walsh is anti-Reagan, he did an okay job of portraying the good side of Reagan as well, but by no means sufficient. I don't think that this book is what it says it is: an unbiased portrait of the Reagan legacy; but rather, a censure in disguise.

Mr. Walsh presents the information well and tells both sides (good and bad) about one of the most influencial presidents of this century. I read this book within hours and learned a tremendous amount of information.