Reagan Detour: Conservative Revolutionary
Ronald Reagan for years made his living as an industry spokesman. He represented the General Electric Company on television and in appearances around the country from 1956 to 1965. Then, in a sense, beginning sometime in the mid-1970s, he became a spokesman for a new industry -- a conservative "ideas industry."
The rise of Reagan and his election to the presidency was a triumph of ideas, not of images as is commonly claimed. Richard Reeves, one of America's liveliest political commentators, follows Reagan across the political landscape, reporting on how this man who is now at the center of it all managed to capture (and bend to his will) the power of old-fashioned American populism.
American belief, optimism and common sense weren't invented by Ronald Reagan, but they served him well, as they have others who would lead their fellow Americans in the pursuit of happiness.
In this regard, Reeves compares Reagan to Franklin D. Roosevelt, even as he argues that Reaganism has failed and that instead of restoring America's faith in themselves and in their big self-government, this conservative president has succeeded in doing the opposite. The Reagan years will be remembered as a detour in the long American road of liberal democratization.
The Republicans polished and manipulated certain ideas for their purposes and recaptured intellectual dominance and political power. Reeves argues that the liberals must now respond with the kind of fresh and vibrant ideas that he lays out in this book. The Reagan Detour combines perceptive on-the-scene reporting with a deeper and broader perspective that will bring readers a fuller realization of what has been happening in American political life.
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Politics As Entertainment
LOS ANGELES —- In 1976, to my regret, I wrote what amounted to an obituary of the Republican Party. Writing about the Democratic Convention in New York that year, I said:
Column Archive
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Goodnight, Moon! Goodnight, America!
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Whack-a-Newt Is The New Game In Town
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American Decline; Crushing The Middle Class
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Which Side Are You On!
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The Republican Circus
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Class Warfare: Bring It On!
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America The Passive
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Lost Decade ... Lost Generation?
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Does Karl Rove Know Something We Don't?
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Who Pays For God's Revenge?
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Deep In The Heart Of Fantasyland
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