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This book attempts to debunk what the author calls the “Reagan Myth” which he claims has been built by those who have created an image of Reagan very different from the real one to build political advantage. “The legend of Ronald Reagan…has not only flourished but has grown quite separate from Reagan himself who…died in 2004…” (P 7) He tells us of “The legend of RR…small town lifeguard…becomes a movie star…undergoes a 180 degree political conversion and becomes a fiery, reactionary public speaker, then a governor, and then…the president of the worlds’ greatest superpower. And not just any president but the noblest commander in chief of the postwar era, a man who won an ideological war at home – reversing a half century of growing government and rising taxes – and then won a cold war abroad…” (P 8)

He states that “Politicians – mostly Republicans – routinely run for office claiming that they will be another Reagan, often by promising things that were the exact opposite of what the 1980s president accomplished, or didn’t…” (P 13) “Despite being championed as a fiscal conservative, our debt increased by about $2 trillion under Reagan, while federal spending, and the federal payroll rose also.” The author shows how the Republicans who ran in the 2008 Republican presidential primary tried to outdo each other in claiming that they were the real inheritors of Reagan’s legacy, although most of them opposed Reagan in many ways when he was actually president. The author also claims that the neo-Reagans of today give their mentor credit for many things that would have happened anyway, such as an economic recovery and the fall of the Soviet Union.

Perhaps most importantly the author points out that Reagan was devoted to his principles, but his political career was often braced by compromise. Despite his reputation as a tax cutter, Reagan signed numerous tax increases into law as he was confronted by a leaping growth in the federal deficits after his initial 1981 tax cut. We went from being the world’s largest creditor nation to the largest debtor during his watch. Millionaires increased dramatically as did those below the poverty line. Although concerned about risking American lives, Reagan funded para-military groups around the world to combat terrorism. He eased the rules on the financial industry “with disastrous consequences” – the S&L scandal erupted seven years after he left office which was, up until that time, the largest bailout in American history ($160B).

Reagan also had real concerns about the image of America as bully in the world…and stated that losing American lives in going after terrorists would be an “act of terrorist itself”. Despite tough talk he negotiated a nuclear arms reduction with the Soviets. He also was not as popular during his presidency as people now believe he was: in 1987 a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 62 percent of Americans though that ‘things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track.” Time magazine, writing after the 1987 crash on Wall Street wrote “what crashed was more than the market. It was the Reagan illusion: the idea that there could be a defense buildup and tax cut without a price, that the country would live beyond its means indefinitely.” (P 95) After the Iran Contra affair, in which we sold weapons to Israel which resold them to Iran, and the money ended up helping Nicaraguan insurgents, Newt Gingrich stated: “He is not going to regain our trust and our faith easily.” (P 95)

Over the eight years of his presidency, Reagan’s average approval rating in the Gallup poll was 53 percent, placing him squarely in the middle of the pack…lower than FDR, Eisenhower, and Kennedy.” (P 98) Crime also rose during the Reagan years, when there were considerable cuts in aid to law enforcement. Also, many objected to “…fiery right-wind appointees James Watt at Interior and Anne Burford at the Environmental Protection Agency and their efforts to dole out drilling and mining leases on public lands and water town toxic waste polices…” (P 113) “But choosing [Anthony] Kennedy [Supreme Court], albeit under pressure from Senate Democrats, was just one of the ways that an increasingly pragmatic Reagan moved toward the center toward the end of his presidency.

“In 1990, the American economy moved into a recession…Reagan’s policies…swelled the debt to nearly $3 trillion while raising the government’s interest payments to $260 billion…” (P 129)