The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War Book

In the past, as a died blue in the wool liberal, I would have scoffed at the idea of Reagan as good president. Afterall, the powers that be in the liberal establishment hark on the savings and loans scandels, the Iran-Contra affair, and the way the man took a hawkish stance to foreign policy. Furthermore, since casting my first vote for president in 2000, I had been hearing the unashamed hero worship of this man for the past 10 years. He is the standard against which all Repulicans compare each other and themselves. Every Republican primary becomes a goofy jockeyed to prove they are more like Reagan than anyone else. Therefore, one comes to equate all that is conservative to the man that is Ronald Reagan.

However, I think this book offers a chance to maybe take a different look at the former president. For one, I was surprised to find that the so-called hawk, doved later in his administration. I enjoyed hearing about the battles behind the scenes, during which Reagan lost his unwavering support from the far right, and indeed fell under their frequent attacks. This insight gives new light to the current climate of conservative American where such radically conservative personalities as Hannity and Coulter continue to hold the former president up as the quintessential conservative. In addition, over the years, I have heard many modern Republican and Conservative analysts insist that the Reagan push on military build up was an intentional attempt to force the USSR into an unsustainable arms race that would economically destabilize the nation enough to force changes. This book seems to call this explanation into question after examining the words and documents of former Reagan officials. These new insights into the former administration were certainly eye opening.

As far as the writing goes, the book is almost a random amalgamation of anecdotes and stories. As mentioned in other reviews, the author repeats himself often. Perhaps he meant this move to mirror the style of the book's subject, but it does more to exasperate the reader than anything else (one certainly begins to feel for Gorbachev). Furthermore, the book does seem to jump from time to time, and I would often have a go back a few pages because I thought I had missed something. Nevertheless, the book was worth the read for the chance to clarify my views on this former president.