When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan

This is a love letter to a dying man. While that might make the entire biography sugary and sentimental, it in fact makes for a tribute to a man maligned in his time for his "faults", who actually lived up to his promises and literally made the world safer for democracy.Reagan was the son of an alcoholic father and a quiet mother. The family moved a lot. It took him years to realize he needed glasses just to see the world. He talked his way into a college football scholarship at a time when few people finished high school and only a fraction of them went on to college. He missed a "big" job at Montgomery Ward and landed with an even better one as a broadcaster.Using his baseball broadcast connection, he traveled to spring training in California and quickly landed a studio contract as the "next Robert Taylor". By then, much of his character had already been formed. His concern for others, for equality (before "civial rights" was much of a term), and, most importantly, his staunch stand against communism, led him to the presidency of the Screen Actors Guild. And all this time he thought -- we thought -- he was a liberal.Marrying, divorcing, struggling, working for General Electric, he made his political mark speaking for Goldwater in 1964. Almost retired from his film career, he was pulled into politics. Quickly, surprisingly and easily elected governor of California, he eventually became the alternative to America's slide towards mediocrity, the antidote to detente and to Carter's well-intentioned but spineless policies. The rest, they say, is history.Reagan was a man of ideas and ideals, including a basic belief in God, in fairness, and in the old-fashioned American way. Laughed at by liberals, he won his elections, produced the demise of the Soviet Union, built the basis for amazing economic growth, and earned recognition from all the people in later years. They ranked him America's best president, ahead of Kennedy and Lincoln. He was an executive, not a legislator, and a tough negotiator, not a compromiser. Having avoided national politics for the first fifty years of his life, he had not sold out his personal or political beliefs to the party.No glad hander. No professional politician, Reagan found good people to work for him and, other than for the Contragate mess, used delegation effectively. Decribed by pundits as a dunce, a simpleton, and a doddering, senile old man, he proved them all wrong with his persistent attention to the big details, to values and to demonstrating his character rather than by pandering to the people or claiming to be "working as hard as I can" (results, not efforts, matter most).Noonan writes with verve and admiration. She truly loves the man. Nancy Reagan's public personna as a cold, domineering wife is carefully reviewed and revised. This is not a voluminous, definitive biography. Of greatest value is its role in painting a man of principle who protected millions of people by his bold, stubborn, consistent policies delivered before a highly sceptical mainstream media. As a conservative, he had to make and use a very powerful government to return more power to the people, rather than centralize it in an all-powerful Washngton. This is a fine line to walk and he did it successfully.

I knew this man and I recommend this book to confirm my opinion!

Much has happened in America since Peggy Noonan published her carefully researched story of our 40th. president, nine years ago.Ronald Reagan died in 1994. Today would have been his 100th. birthday. I watched with pride and appreciation as the events unfolded at his presidential library today. Nancy, age 89, looked frail and so happy to be with family and friends, listening to the speeches, the uplifting music, and the picture screen.Back to this thrilling book. I read it from beginning to end - couldn't put it down - laughed and even cried a bit - learned a lot I didn't know but thought I did, and appreciated her writing style.Peggy Noonan knew the president personally since she worked in the White House as a speech writer during his term. Along with everyone else, of either party, this president was really loved. He knew the art of compromise. He loved his wife and his children (even when they disagreed in public with him) and his rise to fame and fortune is an amazing story.This is THE book to read if you like American history. It is about a man and his character, his philosphy and his work ethic, his delightful humor (lots of jokes and stories in this book), his strong attachment to his parents, his love of swimming and riding horses. Peggy even takes us thru a tour of the famous "ranch".The book is based on interviews - lots and lots of interviews. As history unfolded during Reagan's eight years in the White House, Peggy recounts how the president reacted. She does not gloss over the Iran/Contra affair either.In my opinion, everyone, especially the younger generations, will benefit from reading this book and comparing Reagan with other presidents. More than ever we need to elect our leaders with character in mind. Begin some good conversations with your friends and family about what character means.

I bought this book soon after it was printed and I passed it along to several friends, because it made all those points that so many who admire him struggled to say.Ms. Noonan is from a background a world away from President Reagan's and yet this book proves what President Reagan knew all along, that his message that American values and the divine call of freedom are universal, appeals to all classes, all nations.Those were very hard times when Reagan took office, but you would never have known it, judging from his manner. He had that flame of optimism that has lit every inspirational soul that has ever walked the earth. He was endearing, honest, without guile. He was that corny thing, a good man with a wonderful heart and the ability to see the big picture. America loves that corny quality and we revel in it when we see it.Ms. Noonan deftly manages to include both her ardent admiration and the very substantial reasons for the basis of that admiration. And she would be warmed to know that she does share a gift with President Reagan, a story telling style that is warm and accessible to everyone.I was inspired and I was heartened after reading this and it's a book that reminds us that his legacy will not be forgotten by the American people, because his legacy is that which has belonged to every American since our country was founded. We are a wonderful nation and he was proud of that and so should we be, humbly, gratefully and with a dedication to our responsibility.

Exactly what I looked for in a Reagan biography, only fewer details and more highlights.