Ronald Reagan by Robert Dallek

Ronald Reagan by Robert Dallek

Few American politicians have enjoyed greater popularity than Ronald Reagan. Humor, charm, good looks, an intuitive feel for national concerns, and an extraordinary ability to speak persuasively to millions of people were major assets. But his fundamental appeal went deeper: a blend of Catholic and Protestant, small-town boy and famous entertainer, Horatio Alger and P. T. Barnum, traditional moralist and media celebrity, Reagan spoke for old values in current accents.

Robert Dallek presents a sharply drawn, richly detailed portrait of the man and his politics--from his childhood years through the California governorship to the first years of the presidency. It is an essential guide for all observers of the presidential election of 2000, and a starting point for anyone wanting to discover what the Reagan experience really meant.

Robert Dallek is the author of numerous popular presidential biographies, including Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power; An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy; Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power; Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power; Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power; Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power; Nixon Kennedy, 1917-1963; and Lone Star Rising and Flawed Giant, the famous two-volume biography of Lyndon B. Johnson. He has taught at Columbia, Oxford, UCLA, Boston University, and Dartmouth, and has received numerous prizes for scholarship and teaching, including the Bancroft Prize. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.