Rating: 
Summary: Sheer Pleasure for Reagan supporters
Review: Ms. Noonan clearly loves Ronald Reagan, and her book should be seen as a tribute to him and a contribution to his legacy. Readers who share this love of President Reagan, or at least understand the book for what it is, will love it. If you're searching for a critical look at President Reagan's political life-one that examines his policies and ideology from multiple viewpoints, you won't find it here. But for those of us who view Mr. Reagan as a hero and wish to join in this celebration of his life and Presidency, this book is sheer pleasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredible Book with some organization problems
Review: Ms. Peggy Noonan is an idealist, and all of her writing is backed up by hard facts. She is very careful in keeping high levels of objectivity - even at the cost of saying she was wrong! I think the book starts very slow, and it would have been much better to put the "March 2001 re-union" at the end. It would have made it easier to focus on the characters and see how time and the Reagan era has changed them. This book is about the truth and the real meaning of leadership. It has inspired me and made me understand in a deep manner two, deceivingly, simple concepts. The first NEVER judge people based on what you hear or read on the mass media, and the importance of courage and humility. I started reading this book wanting to understand a leader I did not understand. After I finished the book I have no doubts that President Ronald Reagan will be judged by history to be one of the best leaders of the last two thousand years. Thank you so much, Ms. Noonan.
Rating:
Summary: The master on the master
Review: Reagan was called the great communicator. This was in part due to Peggy Noonan's excellent speechwriting. Peggy provides an excellent biography on Reagan, and Peggy also has an excellent voice for audio books.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the read
Review: Even if you don't have a high opinion of the man as President (I will confess right here to being an unabashed fan of the Gipper), this book is well worth the read. Some who judge Reagan's presidency come to believe that he was crafting an image for public consumption rather than displaying himself as he really was. "This man is too much like an old-time movie hero to be real." Well, as Peggy Noonan shows, he really was that hero. What we saw in the White House was the real Reagan. Whether we chose to believe it or not reflects more on us than on Reagan. Some were skeptical because that real Reagan seemed to be a man out of his time. A man perhaps more representative of the Greatest Generation, but not a man of the modern political arena in which he was so successful. Ms. Noonan illustrates that he was in fact a man 'out of his time' - a man of a previous age that brought some of the good things of that age forward to us. Ms. Noonan is at her best when exploring the memories and impressions of the people around Reagan, including herself and Mrs. Reagan. (The occasion for some of the reminiscense is the reunion of former Reagan associates accompanying the christening of CVN-76 Ronald Reagan, the only US Navy ship named for a living individual.) And her narrative can be riveting; the assassination attempt and aftermath will have you on the edge of your chair. This is the third biography of Reagan that I've read, and it is my favorite because it is most successful at leading the reader to an understanding of the man. President Reagan's terms in office (for those with short memories) were witness to the most vicious and personal attacks that the office has seen since Lincoln, and in some quarters they continue today. Those with a low opinion of Ronald Reagan would do well to read this book. Everyone will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Stow your Ideology for a moment...
Review: Its a shame that the USA is so politically polarized. Regardless of a man's stature, those on the other side of his politics find it very hard to give credit. Well this was an outstanding book. It shows the background and motivation of the Man who won the Cold War. I grew up in the 70s, where school children routinely considered the inevitibility of nuclear war with the USSR. This book shows why a young and LIBERAL Ronald Reagan changed his stripes, and how he succeeded in winning the Cold War. Anyone who remembers the general malaise in this country in the late 70's owes gratitude to this great president. The book shows that he was NOT the simpleton that he is/was often made to be.
Rating:
Summary: At first disappointing, but it satisfies in the end
Review: Peggy Noonan - who really does write "like an angel" as someone once said - would no doubt argue that to understand Ronald Reagan's character one must know in considerable detail about his origins. The first half or more of her book is a biographical chronicle of Reagan's rise from childhood to presidency. It is only sparsely salted with illuminating stories as it carefully recounts the progression of a life that was, until later, not extraordinary. It leaves us wanting more. However the book delivers more in its later chapters as Noonan recounts less-known stories from her own and others' experience with Reagan as candidate and president. She knits them together with insight and astute observations to illuminate a fine man. The book in the end adequately depicts Reagan's strong convictions in his principles and sense of ethics, his respect for people of all stripes and his extra gentleness for the powerless and ordinary, his often self-deprecating humour, his love of nature and physical work, his seemingly-boundless optimism and other cornerstones of his character and his success. Ultimately, the book fails in only one respect: it does not show much of the steely edge which most people experienced in politics would believe that Reagan must have had to make it to the Oval Office. Not showing this part of the man's character makes Ms. Noonan's picture less complete. However it is certainly not the one-sided deification that a few one-star reviews by obvious flaming liberals have claimed, and is well worth the time in reading.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!
Review: Peggy Noonan did a fantastic job of detailing Reagan's life. There's no way I can do this book justice in this review; this is my all-time favorite book on Reagan. A great book on an oustanding man and president.
Rating:
Summary: Character in truth telling
Review: I was a high school freshman when Reagan was elected. Only after entering early adulthood, once he left office, did I begin to get an appreciation for the effects of his legacy on my life and my family. I'm grateful for Noonan's forthrightness--she criticizes Reagan for his irresponsibility of Iran-Contra, and Nancy for being a Republican (where it's about big money) and not conservative (where it's about great ideas). She includes her own early and unflattering impressions of the former president, too. Yes, she is a sympathetic writer, but she succeeds in delivering truth, in a way that will be more gracious and balanced and transcendent than the Information Age warriors of this generation (Buckley, Limbaugh, Coulter, and Bill O'Neill come to mind). She sees things more relationally, while most of the male species will see things competitively. This suits me better, now that I'm middle-aged--relationships over contests--which is a subtheme of Noonan's retrospective. For me now, more than fifteen years later, I can begin to appreciate the imperfect yet heroic Reagan, even more personally so because of this book. I've been both englightened and betrayed by life experience--and such basic institutions as university, church, NY Times, and our federal government--pretty much my fellow citizenry. Affecting change beyond fleeting fashion trends is not easy, and Reagan engineered enormous and constructive change for the good of the world. Unfortunately, we seem to be reverting to mediocrity again since his leaving the Oval Office. It is interesting, the connection that Noonan draws between Reagan and George W., too. We'll see which way things go from here. Like Reagan, I appreciate that our government is a solution for many basic problems; yet it is also a problem factory. Some of the resources allocated to government would be more efficiently utilized in creating and innovating, rather than protecting otherwise fading constituencies and obsolete traditions under a burgeoning bureaucracy where the legislature retains its power through confusing and uneven legislation. I'm glad that Reagan figured this out while I was still in diapers--my family is a lot better off for it. For example, I didn't know that, when Reagan took office, the top 2 marginal tax brackets were 90% and 78%--this even offended the sensibilities a colleague who is a disciple of Paul Krugman! Above all, I appreciate Noonan's connecting Reagan's leadership with the formative years he spent in Hollywood, negotiating with tough studio chiefs, and fighting against communism from within the industry. I also appreciate the melancholic ironies she presents us, like the drunken, abusive father who gives up alcohol after seeing his son's redemptive life; contrasted with the redemptive leader, fading away with the fog of Alzheimer's disease. Well worth the time and money, and also the application of lessons learned and proven.
Rating:
Summary: One for the book shelves
Review: What an awesome book. It read like a novel and gave insight into where President Reagan came from to his final days in the White House up until the present. My reason to buy it in the first place was based on the fact he will be known as one of the greatest US Presidents. I wanted to know why. The other reason was because I was one of those whose "first" thought was "he was an actor". This book enlightened me on how his being and actor and the President of the Screen Actors Guild prepared him for being one of the best Governors of CA and one of the best Presidents we will have - both morally, ethically and politically. I wish I would have payed more attention in the 80's when he was in office. Then I could truly appreciate the history I witnessed. Again - excellent book. THANK you Ms. Noonan for writing it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not true to Reagan
Review: Let's get this straight: I voted for Reagan both times, but not because of his 'character'. I voted for him because he got the job done at any cost. If I wanted 'character' I would have voted for Carter! Carter honesty got us into too many messes, remember? Reagan was a 'do it his way' kind of guy. That's why we liked him! Noonan tries to re-invent Reagan as a simple, honest guy. Sweet, but not true. Reagan brought in tough guys who got it done. More of his people went to prison than any other President. Nixon and Clinton put together had fewer convictions of senior officials. But you know what? Ron brought down the Soviet Union and he got America on it's feet. And if he broke a few laws doing it, we didn't care. That's the real Ron Reagan we should honor. Not this make believe cozy Grandpa from Noonan's weird dreams.
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