BOOK REVIEW COMPTE RENDU Reagan in His Own Words
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BOOK REVIEW COMPTE RENDU Reagan in his own words Ronald Reagan. The Reagan Diaries, edited by Douglas Brinkley. New York, HarperCollins, 2007. Review by Gil Troy t the risk of sounding insensi- House he never removed his suit jacket California, who have pored through tive, Ronald Reagan’s death did in the Oval Office. Moreover, with a Reagan’s speech draft files and the A wonders for his historical repu- Democrat in office throughout the “Presidential Handwriting Files” pre- tation. Since the week-long, coast-to- 1990s promoting “peace and prosperi- serving every paper he personally coast funeral festivities in June 2004, ty,” it was much harder for liberals to scribbled on, will recognize both the the public discussion about America’s criticize Reagan for seeking the same in small, surprisingly delicate handwrit- 40th president has shifted dramatically. the 1980s. And by governing with a ing recreated on the inside cover, and Once dismissed as an “amiable dunce,” heavy hand ideologically while stum- the robust approach to governing now Reagan is now hailed as a shrewd, sil- bling in Iraq militarily, George W. Bush immortalized in these pages. ver-tongued, substantive orator. Once made Ronald Reagan appear more flex- Readers looking for headline-gener- mocked as a “Good Time Charlie,” he ible, pragmatic and effective. Today, ating revelations will have to look else- is now appreciated as an optimistic many Bush critics like to forget how where. Douglas Brinkley admits that leader who restored American patriot- harshly they criticized Reagan, to the entries “are prosaic, not grandiose. ism and self-confidence. Once derided emphasize that this Republican conser- The power of the diaries is in their as a lazy, incompetent, borderline vative is beyond the pale. cumulative effect.” Depending on one’s senile chief executive who dodged The Reagan Diaries, ably edited by perspective, Ronald Reagan was either impeachment after the Iran-Contra Douglas Brinkley, will help the Reagan remarkably transparent or remarkably scandal by pleading ignorance, he is revival by illustrating Reagan as a far opaque. Ronald Reagan’s wife Nancy now remembered as the presidential more engaged President with a more sup- would complain in her autobiography superhero who triggered the 1980s’ ple mind than his detractors assumed. that her beloved “Ronnie” was like a boom, rebuilt America’s military capac- Love him or hate him, agree with his brick wall; even she found it difficult to ity, revived American conservatism, policies or not, it is difficult to put the access his innermost thoughts. The defeated Great Society liberalism and book down without being impressed by diaries suggest that there was nothing won the Cold War. Reagan’s wit, his balanced perspective on to hide. After decades in the public eye Ronald Reagan’s successors as pres- life, the many hats a president wears and as both Hollywood celebrity and lead- ident have helped bolster his standing his involvement with the big governing ing California politician, the public in the presidential stock market, unin- issues of his day. To those who believe man and the private man were one. tentionally. By lacking what he pooh- that the Alzheimer’s disease that he The diaries are most important as poohed as “the vision thing,” George acknowledged in 1994 hit while he was snapshots catching Ronald Reagan in the H.W. Bush failed to excite America and still President, the diary entries from the act of being himself. Born in Tampico, failed to win re-election after one term end of his administration in 1988 and Illinois, in 1911 and raised mostly in the in office. Bush’s failure made Reagan’s January 1989 are as coherent and pithy larger but still small town of Dixon, big-picture governing seem all the as the first one when he entered the Illinois, Reagan really was a golly-gee more appealing by comparison. By act- White House in January 1981. whiz, aw shucks Midwesterner. Feeling ing inappropriately in the Oval Office “homesick” for old friends after five itself, Bill Clinton increased Americans’ he nearly 800-page book offers months in the White House, he admitted appreciation in retrospect for Reagan, T only highlights of the five fat vol- he “was surprised to find my back tingled an old-fashioned Midwesterner who umes of Reagan’s diaries, written in his a bit” when he visited some at a dinner. squirmed during sex scenes in modern characteristic scrawl. Visitors to the Having never met a cliché he did not like, movies and so revered the White Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, lacking the Northeastern intellectual’s POLICY OPTIONS 121 OCTOBER 2007 Gil Troy COMPTE RENDU cynical, critical, self-consciousness, pray for his soul and that he would and Michael, and two with Nancy, Ron Reagan blithely recorded, on October 5, find his way back to the fold.” Junior and Patti Davis — who rejected her 1981, the universal sentiment, “I hate Reagan expressed sympathy for father’s name and her mother’s parenting Mondays.” He noted on February 2, 1988, Hinckley’s parents, calling them “par- even more intensely. All were adults dur- that on this Ground Hog Day ents of the boy with the gun,” when ing the presidency, yet Patti and Ron in “Puxatawny Phil didn’t see his shadow — he received — and accepted — an particular seemed still to be in the throes Spring will be early.” When he attended apologetic mailgram from them. of adolescent rebellion. The diary is filled the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Reagan was tougher on the assassins of with banal reports of the Reagan chil- dren’s comings and goings, Love him or hate him, agree with his policies or not, it is peppered with sharper asides difficult to put the book down without being impressed by about various tiffs. Reagan’s wit, his balanced perspective on life, the many hats a president wears and his involvement with the big governing he tumultuous relation- T ship between Patti and issues of his day. To those who believe that the Alzheimer’s both Reagans is well known; disease that he acknowledged in 1994 hit while he was still the diaries show great ten- President, the diary entries from the end of his administration sion between Ron, Jr., and his parents too. One perennial in 1988 and January 1989 are as coherent and pithy as the flashpoint was the Secret first one when he entered the White House in January 1981. Service protection. Ron, Jr., resented the loss of privacy. Circus, the most powerful man on earth Egyptian President Anwar Sadat than Especially, after the assassination was really “impressed,” exclaiming, “It he was on Hinckley, although even attempt, Nancy was desperate for even really is the greatest show on earth.” And after that outrage, Reagan’s language more intense coverage for her loved after sustaining a near-fatal chest wound was typically subdued: “I’m trying not ones. In May 1983, while President from John Hinckley’s gun on Monday, to feel hatred for those who did this Reagan was struggling over “the budget March 30, 1981, barely two months into foul deed,” Reagan confessed on & the MX vote plus the interference the presidency, this most non-reflective, October 6, 1981, “but I can’t make it.” with Presidential authority in interna- non-process-oriented Californian report- Always staying in character, Ronald tional affairs” — meaning congressional ed, “Getting shot hurts.” Reagan truly loved his wife, okay, his sec- oversight of Reagan’s moves in ond wife, Nancy — although, in fairness, Nicaragua and El Salvador — Nancy he assassination attempt brought Reagan was shocked when his first wife called “very upset.” Ron had surprised T out other dimensions of Reagan’s Jane Wyman dissolved their marriage the Secret Service with news that he was private side. He was not a regular and always described that trauma in the popping off to Paris. “I don’t know what churchgoer, even before the blanket passive tense, saying “I was divorced.” is with him. He refuses to cooperate with Secret Service protection that followed The diary is filled with sweet nothings them,” Reagan noted, then added: “I’m him everywhere provided him with a about “my sweetheart,” including con- not talking to him until he apologizes great excuse to stay home on Sunday. fessions with a properly prudish touch for hanging up on me.” Still, Reagan had a deep, direct and that the White House “seems lonely as Reagan’s strong small government simple faith in God. “Whatever hap- h — l when I know she isn’t here.” conservative ideology emerges clearly as pens now I owe my life to God and Reagan was furious, and felt guilty, about well. After one “long Cabinet meeting will try to serve him in every way I the “bum rap” his controversial wife on policy planning,” Reagan exclaimed: can,” he wrote during his convales- endured from what Reagan termed, in a “We really found out why we came cence. As a committed Christian who rare lapse into vulgarity, “a few bitchy here. We saw and heard the impossible believed in sin and salvation, forgive- columnists.” Canadians will be particu- management structure of government. ness and repentance, Reagan struggled larly interested to discover that when the It is by any standard a cumbersome, to forgive Hinckley, the shooter. “I Reagans were “quartered at Rideau costly incompetent monster.” realized I couldn’t ask for Gods [sic] house” in Ottawa, Reagan deemed it “a Reagan believed that individuals had help while at the same time I felt truly magnificent old mansion — except personal obligations to help the poor, but hatred for the mixed up young man that Nancy & I were in separate rooms — questioned society’s collective obligation who had shot me,” he wrote in his first 1st time in our marriage.” to assist.