When Character Was King

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Summary: The Case For Why Ronald Reagan is a Unique, Loved Leader
Review: Peggy Noonan was a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and has long been a commentator on American society and politics. Her words have been etched into the memory of many Americans through the tones of others, including Ronald Reagan's short, but profound, words on the Challenger tragedy. (Something recently resurfaced in light of the Columbia event. God be with them.) However, Noonan has brought a touching tribute to us through this work: When Character Was King.

Noonan does not become overly focused on any one part of Reagan's life and let you become lulled into thinking Reagan's life was anything but extraordinary. She begins with a brief but profound look at a meeting of current Presidents, including a man who reflects Reagan - George W. Bush - and a pathetic "man" who disgraced the office and nation Reagan so adored - Willie Clinton. Noonan journeys back into Reagan's family's heritage and introduces us to the future statesman and great President in a most unlikely place - one of the poorest families of the early 20th century, lead by an abusive, alcoholic father and a devout, Godly woman. Reagan was not born into great circumstances, but, even in his youth, he showed he was born great. Noonan does a tribute to the American Dream by accurately chronicling its best salesman and future King. (The irony of the title is that Reagan was a servant and private hero - someone who would have blushed at being called a king.)

Noonan covers all periods with an energetic pace: his history as a child trying to survive, as a student struggling to achieve and as a young man searching for his purpose. She documents Reagan's careers: announcer, actor, union leader, corporate spokesperson, reluctant governor, and president.

Noonan does not only rely upon her own understanding of the man, but she does a superb job of including the insight, memories and stories of people throughout Reagan's life. In particular, the accounts of the assasination attempt and how quickly events unfolded are excellent, including the inclusion of Nancy's, the Secret Service and other's accounts. She does not hide the flaws of the man - as a son struggling with his father's life (something he always carried with him), as a father himself and as an extremely private man with few deep friendships. He clearly struggles with the desire to serve and lead and the sacrifices he must make to do these effectively. The story offers humor, reflects Reagan's pains, and provides us with what few others were ever able to see - a look into the private Reagan. His domestic and global political triumphs are detailed, but not in so much depth that it bores the reader or distracts from the man. You are left knowing why Reagan is so loved and wondering why there cannot be more people like him. I am personally thankful for Noonan's telling of the story and (unlike some biography authors) for not having the author get in the way of letting Reagan's life speak for itself.

Rating:
Summary: Moving and thoughtful
Review: This was a beautifully written book, though the copy editor must have been asleep at the wheel. An in depth look at Reagan, who will be considered one of the greatest Presidents in our history. But aside from Presidential documentary, this book shows why Reagan is one of the greatest men in our history. Excellent accounting of what happened through the author's eyes, and a wonderful conclusion (though heartbreaking in many ways). I got this book from my wife for Christmas, one of the best material gifts I have ever received.

Even if you didn't admire Reagan, this book is compelling and informative.

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Summary: "When Character Was King" hit the mark!
Review: Having experienced first-hand many of the events in Ronald Reagan's career as a delegate and campaign worker that Peggy Noonan recounts, I have to say that her book really is dead-on.

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Summary: Reagan at Reykjavik
Review: In Reykjavik Iceland in 1986, President Ronald Reagan walked away from a Soviet offer to eliminate ballistic missiles and other nuclear delivery systems coupled with strict verification processes because the USSR insisted on one thing: that Reagan give up his plans to research the Strategic Defense Initiative.

During the 1970's and 1980's Reagan was the preeminent champion of the idea of looking into a system that would protect the United States missile attacks. The opposition was furious from both the Soviets and his domestic critics even though Reagan offered publicly to share the technology throughout the world. In the 1984 election, the Democrats ran commercials accusing Reagan of taking the arms race to space. In 1986, old and at the end of his career, he could have made a deal that would have been hailed the next day as historic, probably ensuring him a Nobel Peace Prize. He rejected the offer because he did not feel that it was in the best interests of the United States.

He walked away from the table and both the USA and the USSR went on as before. Well, actually that's only half-right. The USSR was unable to keep up the military costs that it was trying to get out of at Reykjavik and quite literally went out of business in five years, throwing-off seventy years of totalitarianism. (In the decades ahead another former President, Jimmy Carter, got a Nobel Peace Prize for, among other initiatives, persuading the North Koreans to give up nuclear weapons development. Sure glad that worked out.)

"When Character was King" by Peggy Noonan is a fine book that describes Reagan's personal development so typified at Reykjavik. Consider:

1. Reagan's family of origin was the poorest of any modern American President. (Page 17)

2. Reagan had the mind and background of an artist. His writings are only now being discovered in that his articles and radio-show scripts appear in his own handwriting. (Pages 38-39) (This got me to thinking. Much of President John F. Kennedy's reputation as an intellectual was based on his published writings. Maybe someday the Kennedy Library will show early drafts of "When England Slept" or "Profiles in Courage" in JFK's own hand. However, I doubt it.)

3. Reagan's political skills, were honed at the bargaining table and in union meetings. (Pages 54 - 62)

4. His turn toward conservatism was not opportunistic, but came at a time when the society was going in the opposite direction. (Page 85)

5. In his professional life before politics, Reagan was much more of an entrepreneur than any modern President. (Page 164)

6. The assassination attempt was a harrowing near-miss that changed his life. (Pages 167-181)

There is honest criticism or Reagan in this book. Reagan's family problems and his role in Iran-Contra are not glossed over. But there is also the testimony of history. Just two examples:

Natan Sharansky, a prisoner of the Soviets during the 1980's, and now a cabinet officer in Israel, refers to hearing about Reagan in the Gulag from the guards. (Page 200)

In 2002, President George W. Bush said, "I watched him a lot.... Look, obviously I love my dad, but...I do think Ronald Reagan was one of the great presidents and for a lot of reasons...." (Page 302-303)

Reagan is known for his soaring rhetoric. One simple statement, however, that also typifies him and all he did for the world should be recalled from Reykjavik in 1986 when he walked away from a great deal in order to get something better. He told the Communist Party boss, "This meeting is over." (Page 295).

These four words sealed the Soviets' fate.

Rating:
Summary: Character, yes. History, no.
Review: This book does an excellent job of describing how Reagan's upbringing, life experiences, and ideals shaped some of his policies. At times it is well-written, and at times it is so saccharin you could nearly vomit (Growing up, Reagan used to have dreams, which he could never understand, of living in a big, white house...) Noonan contrives a means to explain how Reagan got involved in the Iran-Contra scandal by saying he was too much of a "romantic," just like Ollie North. Um. Yeah. Exactly. I disagree with a reviewer who says Noonan was not captivated by her blind love for Reagan. It is exactly this captivity that allows her the perspective she takes, but the wise reader will understand this inherent and very strong bias, and take it for what it is. The book attempts to address how character shapes leadership, and that it does; however, it does so with a taint of historical revisionism by an author who turns a blind eye to Reagan's humanity, which must have been fallible at some point or another (though the reader would never guess it from reading the book).

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Summary: A Must for Anyone Who Loves Reagan
Review: I must admit that I am a bit biased because I am a fan of President Reagan. But I have also read many books on President Reagan, and this is one of the best I have read. I appreciate most the books written by those who really knew Reagan. This book is written by Peggy Noonan, who served as Reagan's speechwriter for several years. This is a must-read for any reagan fan. The best book I have read on Reagan is Michael Deaver's book "A Different Drummer," in which he traces his 30 years as Reagan's "right hand man."

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Summary: Tales of a Terrorist Sponsor
Review: Without a doubt, good riddance to the Soviet Union. It certainly was an empire and its rulers certainly were evil. But do we really need to be calling Ronald Reagan a hero?
Reagan referred to Nicaragua as a "Communist tyranny," when the Nicaraguan people's only crime was being under a government that cared about them for the first time since Columbus arrived. This provided the justification for a massively funded terrorist campaign (waged by the Contras) against Nicaragua, which eventually brought the nation back under a government acceptable to American businesses. The Sandinistas were not communists (the capitalists kept their capital, for one thing.)
In El Salvador, Reagan's government provided aid to a brutal regime that tortured and killed thousands upon thousands of people involved in basic charity work, much of it faith-based. Once again, the justification was anti-communism.
Reagan referred to the daily doses of napalm inflicted upon Vietnamese civilians, and the pointless throwing away of thousands of young Americans as "that noble cause." He claimed that my heroes, the anti-fascists of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, fought on the wrong side in the Spanish Civil War!
He opposed sex education, claiming that those who have the knowledge will use it. Never mind how The Netherlands has the lowest rates of teen pregnancy and STD's in the First World. The list goes on and on. This man is no hero.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful portrait of a great president
Review: Peggy Noonan loves Mr. Reagan and makes no apology for it. This is not a unbiased review of his administration, but a close look at the characteristics that propelled him onto the world stage. It was not raw ambition, or a win-at-any-cost mind set, or a desire for a legacy that motivated him, and that is why he is so interesting and remarkable.

His enemies will knash their teeth and will invent lies to try to discredit him, but the irony is this: he never cared what they said or thought about him. He was authentic and comfortable in his own skin, and those not blinded by partisan hatred can see it.

This is a touching account, including his flaws, of the man well researched by someone who was a witness at the revolution. I frequently weep while reading it because he was such a rare person in politics: an honest and guileless man.

Rating:
Summary: Tough book to put down
Review: Once you start reading this book you won't want to put it down. A friend of mine recommended it to me for which I'm grateful. Peggy's style of writing is fluid and easy. She's capable of capturing the initmate details that bring her character, Ronald Reagan, to life. The book describes the character of the man, and is a refreshing insight into the politics the man. For skeptics and cynics this is a must read. To know that character does exist, that good guys with determination and character do finish first sometimes makes it worth the reading. But the insight into Reagans character and personality are educational and uplifting in a way that you will never forget.

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Summary: Doubtless, Noonan can write.
Review: I shy away from ideological tracts, left or right. They tend to such nonsense, hyperbole, worst case scenarios. In short, there's no balance.

What's hard for me to believe is that people take this volume seriously! True, it's well written. But there's films with good scripts that I wouldn't let kids see. Indeed, if a teacher required this for a class as "history," I'd be inclinded to challenge the teacher's tenure. Because the volume is so transparently ideological as to be useless in any educational sense.

As to Ronnie Reagan's "character," the author covers nothing about the biggest peacetime military buildup in history (rationalized later in a simpleton fashion as the "reason for the decline of the "evil empire.") She mentions nothing about his taking more vacations than spending time working. And, of course, there's nothing about the Reagan accolytes who, after the end of the administration, sang "mea culpa" until we were sick of hearing it. There are scores of volumes--over and above the ideological ones--which describe those, and countless other Reagan administration gaffe's, with far greather historical accuracy.

Sure, this is a great "feel good" volume, sort of like a coffee table book about a pope or Mother Teresa. But as history, it's more an example of what a skilled propagandist can do than it is of historical value.