Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency by Peter J. Wallison

From the Publisher

An icon of the twentieth century, Ronald Reagan has earned a place among the most popular and successful U.S. presidents. In this compelling firsthand account of Reagan's presidency, Peter J. Wallison, former White House Counsel to President Reagan, argues that Reagan took office with a fully developed public philosophy and strategy for governing that was unique among modern presidents. "I am not a great man," Reagan once said, "just committed to great ideas." Wallison shows how Reagan's unyielding attachment to certain key ideas-communicated through his speeches-created a cohesive administration and revived the spirit of the nation. In Ronald Reagan, Wallison describes what it was like to be on Reagan's White House staff and how Reagan's attachment to principle produced both the best and worst days of his presidency. Updated with a new epilogue.

Publishers Weekly

During his year as White House counsel, Wallison was able to witness President Reagan up close-as a man who defied the textbook model of a "great president." Unlike any other president to date, says Wallison, Reagan came to office with a firm and unique philosophy of government. While many accuse Reagan of ignorance and lack of interest, Wallison shows that the president was a man of ideas and conviction. When it came to his core beliefs-small federal government, tax cuts and a formidable defense policy-Reagan was unbending. When even his own staff members rallied against him, begging him to relent, Reagan shook his head and spoke of "staying the course." Wallison also defends Reagan's managerial style, in which he focused on his main agenda and delegated all other policy decisions to his staff. This, too, was due not to "cognitive limitations" but to a determination to focus on achieving several key principles. To his credit, Wallison is not blind to Reagan's faults, noting that the very qualities that allowed for his many successes also permitted the devastation wrought by the Iran-Contra affair. The author's recollection of the scandal is detailed and honest. Despite the personal nature of his book, Wallison's portrayal of Reagan is balanced and clear: he gives us a man who is fundamentally human, who made mistakes and yet achieved great things. 10 b&w photos not seen by PW. (Jan.) Forecast: Reagan's popularity seems not to have waned with time, so Westview's 30,000 first printing may sell very well. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Erstwhile White House counsel Wallison earmarks the reasons for his former boss’s success as president, seeking to reveal the heart of how Reagan governed. Biographers from Frances FitzGerald to Lou Cannon to Edmund Morris, asserts Wallison, have missed the crucial element in Reagan’s presidency: He conveyed the overall objectives and philosophy of his administration, setting the tone and supplying the conviction. Reagan appreciated that what ultimately moved people were principles, such as faith in the market, individual opportunity, limited government, and the American people. He passed on the details not because he was a dim bulb, but because that wasn’t his job; the details were delegated to staffers who were expected to fashion them to fit his larger purpose. (Wallison admits that failures of oversight in this department brought the president what troubles he had.) As a figurehead, Reagan could not flinch in his advocacy of personal responsibility, cutting taxes, cutting (some) government spending, building the military, reducing regulation and trade restrictions. Wallison’s description of Reagan—not oracular, but symbolic; not a Richard Neustadt–style operator, but a clear and charismatic voice—fits to a tee, and by stressing this aspect he has added to the picture of the Gipper’s presidential tenure. But when Wallison strays from this point, he can sound like a crank, suggesting, for example, that the Iran-Contra affair was "nothing more than a foreign policy blunder." (He does, however, offer a plausible explanation of how Reagan let the imbroglio spin out of control.) Also, the author’s belief that "firing the striking air traffic controllers established Reagan’s credibility"overstates the case and displays a shallow understanding of the long-term consequences such an act had on government-employee unions, all for the sake of projecting a no-compromise attitude. Obvious and therefore easily overlooked, Wallison’s interpretation of the Reagan style has a credible ring, whether or not one agrees with Reagan’s agenda. (10 b&w photos)

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