"Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just
don't know where to look."
-President Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981
Hero. It was a word most Americans weren't using much in 1980. As they
waited on gas and unemployment lines, as their enemies abroad grew ever
more aggressive, and as one after another their leaders failed them,
Americans began to believe the country's greatness was fading.
Yet within two years the recession and gas shortage were over. Before
the decade was out, the Cold War was won, the Berlin Wall came crashing
down, and America was once more at the height of prosperity. And the
nation had a new hero: Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Reagan's greatness is today widely acknowledged, but his legacy is still
misunderstood. Democrats accept the effectiveness of his foreign policy
but ignore the success of his domestic programs; Republicans cheer his
victories over liberalism while ignoring his bitter battles with his own
party's establishment; historians speak of his eloquence and charisma
but gloss over his brilliance in policy and clarity of vision.
From Steven F. Hayward, the critically acclaimed author of The Age of
Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, comes the first complete,
true story of this misunderstood, controversial, and deeply
consequential presidency. Hayward pierces the myths and media
narratives, masterfully documenting exactly what transpired behind the
scenes during Reagan's landmark presidency and revealing his real
legacy.
What emerges is a compelling portrait of a man who arrived in office
after thirty years of practical schooling in the ways of politics and
power, possessing a clear vision of where he wanted to take the nation
and a willingness to take firm charge of his own administration. His
relentless drive to shrink government and lift the burdens of high
taxation was born of a deep appreciation for the grander blessings of
liberty. And it was this same outlook, extended to the world's
politically and economically enslaved nations, that shaped his foreign
policy and lent his statecraft its great unifying power.
Over a decade in the making, and filled with fresh revelations,
surprising insights, and an unerring eye for the telling detail, this
provocative and authoritative book recalls a time when true leadership
inspired a fallen nation to pick itself up, hold its head high, and take
up the cause of freedom once again.
