Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History [Hardcover]

John Patrick Diggins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2007

Affirming Reagan's position as one of America's greatest presidents, this is a bold and philosophical reevaluation.

Following his departure from office, Ronald Reagan was marginalized thanks to liberal biases that dominate the teaching of American history, says John Patrick Diggins. Yet Reagan, like Lincoln (who was also attacked for decades after his death), deserves to be regarded as one of our three or four greatest presidents. Reagan was far more active a president and far more sophisticated than we ever knew. His negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev and his opposition to foreign interventions demonstrate that he was not a rigid hawk. And in his pursuit of Emersonian ideals in his distrust of big government, he was the most open-minded libertarian president the country has ever had; combining a reverence for America's hallowed historical traditions with an implacable faith in the limitless opportunities of the future. This is a revealing portrait of great character, a book that reveals the fortieth president to be an exemplar of the truest conservative values. 13 photographs

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A professor of history at the City University of New York Graduate Center, Diggins (The Rise and Fall of the American Left) provides an original reappraisal of Ronald Reagan from the conservative perspective. Throughout, Diggins discovers nuances that have heretofore escaped notice by most other Reagan scholars. For example: in appraising Reagan's reaction as California governor to '60s radicals, Diggins is the first writer to acknowledge the extent to which the onetime movie star shared common ground with rebels on campuses nationwide. Reagan, with his reverence for Thomas Paine and passion for limiting the reach of government, was—on at least one level—more than sympathetic when Berkeley protesters chanted, "Two, Four, Six, Eight, Organize to Smash the State!" Although a fan of Reagan's, Diggins doesn't hesitate to be critical—as when he discusses Reagan's attitude as president toward environmental issues, which Diggins characterizes as "puzzling" and "disastrous." (Diggins notes that Reagan's record as governor of California, where he allied himself with old guard Republican conservationists, was far more environmentally-friendly.) Overall, Diggins does a superb job of tracing Reagan's intellectual development from old school New Dealer to thoughtful, Emersonian libertarian, and also firmly establishes Reagan's credentials as a major architect of communism's final collapse. 13 photos. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Because Reagan has been misinterpreted by both the Right and the Left, his legacy in American political history has been distorted and undervalued, according to Diggins, author of The Rise and Fall of the American Left (1992). Contrary to liberal opinions, Reagan was no philosophical lightweight, nor was he the moral absolutist lauded by conservatives. He was a man of consistent beliefs, forged during the cold war. In his efforts to end the cold war, he was closer to liberals who always thought it possible than to conservatives who didn't believe it could ever be done. Reagan was "the only president in American history to have resolved a sustained, deadly international confrontation without going to war," defying liberal expectations of him personally and conservative expectations of the value of diplomacy. Reagan rejected the authority of religion as much as government. By convincing Americans to believe in themselves, Reagan demonstrated the duality of American political culture, that it is both liberal and conservative. This is a thoughtful book for both Reagan admirers and critics. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First edition (February 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393060225
• ISBN-13: 978-0393060225
• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 6.5 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #585,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Reagan, Ronald

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Please, Professor Diggins . . . March 21, 2007

By Marvin D. Pipher

Format:Hardcover

In this book, a distinguished professor of history examines the education and fundamental beliefs of Ronald Reagan; the liberalism and conservatism of his time; and his goals, objectives, accomplishments, failures, and triumphs as President of the United States of America. In the process, he makes some profound observations and comes to some rather surprising conclusions.

Three such observations stand out: 1) Reagan's formal education and religious upbringing pre-dated the radical liberalism of his time in office, i.e., he wasn't an "intellectual"; 2) his brand of Conservatism was remarkably close to the Liberalism of an earlier time; and 3) Reagan won the battle with the student activists in the 1960s but may also have lost the war, since those radicals went on to become the university professors who were, and are, his most vocal political critics.

The author contends that Reagan's major flaw, as president, was that, as a result of his early encounters with communism in the 1950s, he became obsessed with communism, which he perceived as truly evil, and came to interpret every action of the Soviet Union in that light. This, the author contends, caused him to misjudge and misunderstand much of what was happening in South America and in the Middle East. For example, he failed to realize that those fighting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan weren't "freedom fighters," but were, in fact, the zealots who would go on to become today's Islamic terrorists.

The author further contends that it wasn't until Reagan came to the profound conclusion that the greatest threat to America and to the world at large was nuclear annihilation, for at that time both the United States and the Soviet Union had the capability to destroy the world.... This was a threat which had hung over the world like the sword of Damocles for almost forty years. It was then that Reagan saw the folly of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) and made the elimination of nuclear weapons his highest priority. That realization led him to become an enlightened statesman and a leader unique in world history. In the author's opinion, not only did he succeed in bringing an end to the "cold war," in eliminating the threat of nuclear annihilation, and in facilitating the break-up of the Soviet Empire, but he did something unprecedented in world history. He ended a long-standing confrontation with an avowed enemy state without resorting to war and for the first time in world history an empire collapsed without war or revolution.

I don't agree with everything Professor Diggins contends in this book and sensed an underlying theme of radical liberalism throughout much of it. But all things considered, this may well be the most important book about Ronald Reagan, and his life and times, that has been written to date. As a minimum, it is the most complete and comprehensive study of Reagan's political life that the reader is likely to find. It makes the reader think and makes him wonder, and may change his mind a time or two. But what makes the book truly remarkable is that the author, an admitted liberal (of unknown persuasion) freely admits that he misjudged Ronald Reagan during his presidency and now, after studying his subject, ranks him alongside Abraham Lincoln as one of America's greatest presidents.

(But please, Professor Diggins, Vince Lombardi wasn't the coach of Notre Dame's "Fighting Irish.") Read more ›

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Reagan and his Quest for Liberty. Well-Researched and Important March 6, 2007

By T. Carlsen

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In this illuminating book "Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History," John Patrick Diggins shows clearly that Ronald Reagan was a believer in the American dream and Emersonian in his optimistic belief in self-reliance and emphasis on individual freedom. Reagan worried about the danger of government as strong as totalitarianism. Reagan was ideological for libertarianism (often called liberalism in the old sense of that word). Reagan was not a social order conservative like Edmund Burke, who believed government was needed to restrain the dark side of people or impose an unfair social order. Instead, Reagan was optimistic about human freedom, like Jefferson, and not pessimistic like Alexander Hamilton. This split in ideology between liberty and order goes back to the early days of the American republic and way before that. Reagan was for liberty.

The history of Reagan's time in California is engrossing. Reagan adored FDR and was a staunch New Dealer. Then communists tried to infiltrate Hollywood and used lie after lie to do so. Reagan felt he was defending American became an anti-communist crusader, still as a FDR-loving Democrat, and then registered one day as a Republican and he never turned back. He then advocated free markets, freedom and the danger of government making bad mistakes with too much power. The story of Reagan's life before he became president is very important for understanding Reagan as a person and what he really believed. Reagan's extensive writings, speeches and political career show Reagan to be a thoughtful advocate of individual freedom. Therefore, he was a staunch enemy of communism or any form of totalitarianism. Indeed, the author argues that Reagan was in some ways anti-establishment in his optimistic belief in individual freedom.... This may go back to his early years growing up with an alcoholic father. Reagan was leery of freedom being subjected to a fallible power.

Reagan's spirit was deeply shaped by his mother, a member of the Disciples of Christ faith (related to Unitarianism), which espoused an optimistic view of nature and personal responsibility.

Reagan's proactive optimism helped bring liberty to Eastern Europe. Reagan and his Secretary of State George Schulz reached out to USSR leaders and negotiated arms reductions and a peaceful end to the cold war. Reagan believed in other people. He saw institutions and government as the problem -- not people. Very few people, other than Reagan, believed that Communism would collapse. Yet Reagan saw it coming, because he viewed communism as an unnatural system. Contrary to what neo-cons falsely claim, Reagan's charm and sincere diplomacy with Gorbachev achieved the end of the Cold War peacefully. (Read Reagan's autobiography to hear it from Reagan himself.) Reagan pivoted from confrontation to a peaceful unraveling of USSR due to Perestroika and the fatal flaws of communism, with a push from Reagan. This is an important book about the Cold War.

The book says that Reagan (the Cold War), Abraham Lincoln (American Civil War) and Franklin Roosevelt (World War Two) were the three greatest liberators, and that Reagan deserves to be recognized as a great president. Reagan's can-do optimism led him to negotiate a peaceful end to the Cold War.

I would like to add that Reagan's burial site is inscribed with these optimistic words: "I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life." Reagan spoke these optimistic words at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and these optimistic words express what Reagan wanted to be remembered by. They express his optimistic belief in individual liberty. Reagan optimistically wrote in his autobiography "An American Life" that "every individual is unique, but we all want freedom and liberty, peace, love and security, a good home, and a chance to worship God in our own way; we all want the chance to get ahead and make our children's lives better than our own." He wrote that "my mother always taught us: 'Treat thy neighbor as you would want your neighbor to treat you,' and 'Judge everyone by how they act, not what they are.'" Reagan believed in individual freedom. Reagan optimistically told Americans to believe in themselves and reach to an optimistic future.

This book is great at accurately explaining Reagan's outlook, but I think this book should be supplemented further with An American Life, Reagan's Autobiography and The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.

This book is one of the maybe five or ten essential books about Ronald Reagan. Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Ronald Reagan: The Romantic President March 9, 2008

By D. Mataconis

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

For the most part, the biographies that have been written about Ronald Reagan in the years since he left office have suffered from one of two defects. Either they have been overly critical and dismissive and failed to grasp the truly revolutionary aspects of the Reagan Presidency, or they have been overly worshipful, something more akin to adulation than real scholarship. In both cases, the differing interpretations of Reagan have likely been based on ideological differences and political resentments of the 1980s and beyond.In Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History, John Patrick Diggins takes a worthy first step toward moving beyond either the worshipful or the hate-filled evaluations of the Reagan Presidency and gives America's 40th President the respectful, if not always positive, evaluation that he deserves.

Reagan's singular achievement, Diggins argues, was the role he played in bringing a peaceful end to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Though he came into the White House with a promise to rebuild the American military and confronted what his advisers contended were Soviet-sponsored regimes in nations ranging from Nicaragua to Angola, it's clear that, very early in his Administration, if not before then, Reagan became committed to the idea of drastically reducing, if not eliminating, nuclear weapons.

Much to the consternation of his neo-conservative foreign policy team, Reagan made overtures to the Soviets as early as April 1981, when he wrote a letter to Leonid Brezhnev while recovering from an assassination attempt. The Brezhnev dialog never went anywhere, largely because Brezhnev was apparently too stubborn and too ill to actually pursue serious negotiations.... Similarly, the short-lived reigns of his two immediate successors made pursuing peace impossible. As Reagan himself once quipped, "They keep dying on me."

It was only with the rise to power of Mikhail Gorbachev, who required reduced tensions with the U.S. to pursue his ultimately doomed strategy of reforming Communism, that Reagan was able to pursue his desire to bring both countries out of the horrifying doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction.

One interesting thing that Diggins' book brings out is the extent to which many of Reagan's conservative supporters became convinced in the late 1980s that their leader had sold America down the river. Many of the same people who, on the occasion of his funeral in 2004, lionized him as the man who had "won" the Cold War. Among the critics were William F. Buckley, Jr., George Will, and Henry Kissinger, all of whom seemed convinced at the time that the Cold War and the tensions with the USSR were a permanent and irreversible fact (Jeane Kirkpatrick had in fact said as much in her writings prior to being named U.N. Ambassador).

Reagan, Diggins, argued, never accepted the neo-conservative view of history and rejected the idea that the Cold War was a permanent fact of life that could only end with an exchange of nuclear missiles that would destroy both nations, if not most of the civilized world. In fact, rather than being a true conservative, Diggins persuasively argues that Reagan was really more of a traditional old-style liberal, what we would today call a libertarian, and that his ideas were influenced more by the libertarianism of Thomas Paine and the romanticism of Ralph Waldo Emerson than conservative hero Edmund Burke. While Reagan courted social conservatives and neo-cons, he did not share their views on the inherent sinfulness and fallibility of man.

Diggins goes criticize some aspects of Reagan's record, most notably, in the domestic sphere, and he rightly criticizes him for the mis-handling of the Iran Contra affair. But, like I said, this is a biography not a hagiography. On the whole, though, Diggins does an excellent job of rescuing our 40th President from his detractors and his worshipers. Hopefully, other historians will follow suit. Read more ›