Rating: 
Summary: The Personal Reagan
Review: "A Different Drummer" doesn't aspire to be the definitive book about the life of Reagan, but it completely succeeds at what it does set out to do, which is to give us a funny, touching account of one man's life with Ronald Reagan. Deaver knew the President better than perhaps any of the others who have written about him with the possible exception of Nancy Reagan. Probably no one has as many revealing anecdotes to share. If you have a mini-collection on Reagan, "A Different Drummer" deserves to share the shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Touching
Review: A touching book by someone very close to one of our countries greatest presidents.
Rating:
Summary: In the wake of Ronnie's death, indispensable
Review: After the massive disappointment of Edmund Morris' "Dutch", I thought I would give up on outside accounts of the Reagan legacy. Mike Deaver's book, however, brought me out of the disappointment of "Dutch" and in this week of mourning, has brought this reader many smiles. Let not the slimness of this volume dissuade you: Deaver, having been close to Reagan from before the Governorship of California, understands his subject in a way that completely eluded Morris' bloated opus and what emerges from these pages is a picture of an introverted extrovert. One sees a complex Reagan - but where "Dutch" seemingly gives up and fails in trying to understand the complexity, "Drummer" seems to draw a picture of a man who simply wanted to share his very personal life with Nancy - and respects him for it. I also salute Deaver's work for its assessment of Reagan as bringing about the end of the Cold War, for the little-trumpeted Reagan reaction (or lack thereof) to the shooting down of Korean Air flight 007, thereby isolating the Soviets further. Hopefully, history will follow Deaver in marking this as the non-shot that saved the world from a nuclear winter. I highly recommend buying this book now; it will become _the_ definitive Reagan assessment in the years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Character Beyond Reproach
Review: An outstanding look at the man without spin doctors' commentary. Deaver's account is of a man without political ambition, only the ambition to make the US that utopia, that "shining city on the hill", for all Americans. If any doubts still existed about Reagan's work ethic, intelligence or character, this book lays them to rest. You can't help but feel connected to him after reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: an unfocused memoir
Review: Deaver's short memoir of his years with Ronald Reagan jumps forward and back in time frequently so if you don't like that narrative style you won't enjoy the book. It's a little too worshipful and is far too sweet and is a good argument for why the best biographies tend to be written years after the subject's death. Deaver is so deep under the Reagan spell that the book reminds me more of an old 1940s MGM biopic. It's glossy, heroic and there are no warts. I found Peggy Noonan's book What I Saw At the Revolution to be much more realistic.
Rating:
Summary: Reagan. From a man who knew him well.
Review: Few people ever really knew Ronald Reagan. He was a very private person. This fact led to Edmund Morris writing a semi-fictional biography of Reagan, because he just couldn't understand his psychology. Thankfully, longtime Reagan friend, Mike Deaver, decided to offer a personal memoir of his time with the ex-president. Deaver goes way back. Back to California when no one thought Reagan could be elected governor. He spent a total of 20 years with Reagan the public figure. In those 20 Years, he understood the private Reagan and his devoted marriage to Nancy. Reagan didn't need anyone else but her. He liked and even loved others, but if they drifted in and out of his life he didn't fret. She filled his every void. Deaver tells the story of a very involved president who read through stacks of position papers and briefings. It was Reagan's mother who told him that if he learned to love reading, he would never feel alone. The intellectuals have never understood Reagan. They have always been willing to dismiss his substance as play acting for the camera. But Reagan had the kind of vision that is rare for a leader. He saw the shining city on a hill long before the rest of us. He had the humility to think of himself as a regular guy. He felt as comfortable with laborers as he did with Prime Ministers. This was ultimately the reason he could connect with the American people. After reading more than one account of the distant Ronald Reagan, I was very happy to read a telling that was reminiscent of the man I grew up with in my adolescent years. When Reagan spoke, I heard the voice of a calm experienced captain that was taking the ship to port. It was my misfortune, maybe, that I was too young to know how important he really was at the time. I remember the last public speech he gave in 1993, where his ad-lib humor was a great reminder of what's been missing in politics ever since. Michael Deaver helped me to remember the great man once more.
Rating: 
Summary: Reminds me of the commercial: Where's the beef ?
Review: First off, Mike Deaver's admiration for his boss shines throughout this book. He successfully convinces us there was much more to The Great Communicator than what we may have previously thought. Unfortunately, there is no depth to Deaver's story. The book is simply a bunch of short (ok, very short) anecdotes about the Gipper. I am a huge fan of Ronald Reagan and was hoping to gain even more insight into one of our greatest presidents. Alas, I was disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: First, this book doesn't take long to read. You can sit down and read this book in several hours. Which is probably the amount of time Deaver took to write (or dictate) the book. This book has no depth of any kind. Reagan-lovers will find there are no "new" stories, nor unexpected revelations. Reagan-haters will find the book utterly devoid of any meaningful content. I am quite fond of Reagan, and was disappointed there was not more here.
Rating: 
Summary: The Gipper Deserves Better
Review: For the millions of us who admire Ronald Reagan -- the man and the leader -- this book is deeply disappointing. On a macro level, it offers no new insights and dwells only on the conventional, well-trodden wisdom of why Reagan was perceived as aloof and mysterious. It is superficial and self-serving. On a more micro level, the book is nothing more than pedestrian. It has no coherent structure or inner logic. It has no thesis. The writing is lame. Sentence structure is poor. There are even misspelled words -- even in Mrs. Reagan's foreword! -- and punctuation errors. Both the author and his publisher should blush. Clearly, the Gipper deserves better!
Rating:
Summary: Lessons from the Master
Review: For twenty years, Michael Deaver had the best job in the world (second only perhaps to Ronald Reagan himself): standing by the side of probably the most important, most inspiring leader of the American Century. A Different Drummer gives us a close-in look at our 40th President, and accomplishes what the biographers-of-record only struggled at: explaining Reagan the man. For years, frustrated Reaganologists like Edmund Morris have told us Reagan's mind was too hard to penetrate. Getting "close" to the private man was very difficult for most people. That Reagan possesed a genius for leadership that hasn't quite been approximated is probably what made them try so hard. Deaver's central message is that Reagan was really a simple man who was utterly and completely confident in who he was, and in the greatness of his countrymen. This self-assuredness could explain his supposed lack of introspection so obsessed over by the historians. The outward self-pity of presidents like Johnson, Nixon, Carter and Clinton have made for abundant and fascinating psychological profiles of these men. Not so with Reagan. Reagan knew who he was, and had no time for self-doubt. Regretably, Deaver's volume is all too slim. But his memories of Ronald Reagan are gripping, and will give you a more complete picture of the whole Reagan than will the works of the often confused historians.
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