Rating: 
Summary: Cheerful homage to people's favorite president
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Accurate, moving portrait
Review: Thank you Peggy Noonan for such an accurate, moving portrait of former President Reagan. All my life my father has preached to me the greatness and heroism of Ronald Reagan. Only after reading this book have I come to fully understand what a truly great man he is. While showing he was certainly not perfect, the author clearly shows he has character. From facing Communism in Hollywood to Communism in the Soviet Union, President Reagan stood firm in his beliefs. His desire for the truth was unquestionable. I am so affected by his strength of character. In a world with few true role models, I will impress upon my own children the wisdom of following President Reagan's example.
Rating: 
Summary: A worthy successor to 'What I Saw'
Review: Peggy Noonan tackles the formidable task of distilling the life of President Reagan into 300 pages. A very fast read -- she gives us the essential landmarks along the timeline from Tampico to St Cloud; she gives us insight into RR's parents (dad, an alcoholic and mercurially tempered Catholic; mom, an optimistic evangelical whose sunny hope-filled Protestantism was adopted by the future President); she gives us insight into the ideological wars in Hollywood during the 1940s and '50s, and the malice of certain folk on the Soviet-friendly left. His view of statism as threat led him to endorse Barry Goldwater in 1964, and to give a televised speech of support which magnetized conservative Republicans and caused them to ask: Could Reagan be our standard-bearer in a political contest? In the 1966 California governor's race, first-time candidate Reagan defeated Pat Brown (Jerry's father), whose condescension toward his challenger did not help his own cause. As early as 1968, Reagan was seen as presidential timbre, but it took 1976, and Gerald Ford's decent but uninspiring presidency, to give Reagan the impetus to jump in the race for real. (Noonan encapsulates Ford's foreign policy vis-a-vis the Soviets: he was "not a forcer of international progress, but a manager of international stress.") The four years of Jimmy Carter -- malaise, inflation, hostages & the metric system -- made Reagan's presidency a virtual necessity. The two chapters dealing with Hinckley's assassination attempt ("Grace Under Pressure," et seq.) are essential reading. Based on interviews with Secret Service, and journalists who were quite close to the President when Hinckley fired -- Noonan's writing makes this event ineluctably vivid. The dauntless humor and strength of spirit of the wounded septuagenarian comes through even during his difficult convalescence -- in the notes he'd jot to nurses, aides and other visitors on medical stationery. Told that "the government is running as usual," Reagan writes, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" There are no photographs in Noonan's book, but her prose fills the bill -- painting an enticing picture of the Western White House, the ranch that was Reagan's retreat throughout and before his Presidency. (The chivalry of Reagan: he would always begin his Yuletide vacations on the 26th or 27th of December, so as not to pry Secret Service agents from their Washington-based families on Christmas Day itself.) Although this reader borrowed "Character" from the library, it is a book to own, surpassed only by Noonan's rambunctious crackle-&-snap memoir of her days in the White House, "What I Saw at the Revolution" (1990), with chapters entitled "George Raft" and "Ich Bin ein Pain in the Neck." Both of Peggy's Gipper books: highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Thank You Peggy Noonan!
Review: Ms. Noonan has written a book which confirms what we instinctively knew about Ronald Reagan; that he was honest, good, strong, likeable, highly intelligent, yet humble, patriotic and he prayed. Her simple eloquence confirms for us what we knew in our hearts; that he would always be remembered as a great man and one of our great presidents. Democrats and Republicans alike should be able to appreciate this book because it celebrates the career of a good American who did his best for his country. Having been inspired in 1964 by his wonderful speech supporting Senator Barry Goldwater, I became, as had so many others, moved to support to Mr. Reagan as well. The world can use heroes like him. Peggy Noonan's tribute was so warmly conversational that I felt as if I had had the honor of knowing the great man personally. I will treasure this book, always.
Rating: 
Summary: A presidential scholar
Review: Ronald Reagan restored a sense of pride in America after Watergate and the ho-hum administrations of Ford and Carter. He made us proud to be Americans as he dipped into our pockets with his Reaganomics. George Bush, while campaigning against Reagan in 1980 called Reagan's economic policies "voodoo economics". Maybe he was on to something. During the Reagan-Bush years we had the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression. We had more banks fail than at any time except the Great Depression. The crime rate was up the budget deficit was the highest ever. The trade deficit was the highest it has ever been. Yes, Reagan was a great president if all this is great. Reagan's charisma sold us a bill of goods except on patriotism to the point of jingoism and if you believe they tore down the Berlin Wall because he told Gorbechev to tear it down I have a bridge for sale.
Rating:
Summary: AT LAST---THE REAL RONALD REAGAN!
Review: "He would walk into the hospital as President of the United States."
--Peggy Noonan, describing Ronald Reagan after getting shot in WHEN CHARACTER WAS KING. Forget about Edmund Morris' myography, DUTCH, PEGGY NOONAN'S WHEN CHARACTER WAS KING IS THE REAL RONALD REAGAN! Here are the 3 best parts of the book: 1. Pages 112-117 with Reagan security man Dennis LeBlanc. THIS IS THE BEST CLOSEUP ACCOUNT OF RONALD REAGAN I'VE EVER READ!
LeBlanc tells Noonan what Ronald Reagan was really like--at the ranch, in the White House, at breakfast, at dinner, and when Gorbachev came over to visit! 2. Pages 167-181 GRACE UNDER PRESSURE! This is a dynamite chapter about President Reagan getting shot, surviving, and recovering, with terrific details about the work of the Secret Service and the George Washington University staff to save the President! 3. Page 297 "Doverjai, no proverjai--trust but verify."
This is Reagan's favorite Russian proverb! Noonan even tells how Reagan wasn't close to his kids, and the only flaw in the book is that she couldn't find anyone who remembers Reagan having Alzheimer's while he was in office, something even a Reagan idol worshipper like me won't believe!
Plus, there are lots of terrific interviews with BEST FIRST LADY EVER, Nancy Reagan, Presidents George and George W. Bush--who makes the interesting observation that people think Reagan was President for a long time when he got shot, when he had only been in office for about 4 months--and a sensational description of Reagan's handling of the 1981 Air Traffic Controller's Strike! WHEN CHARACTER WAS KING IS THE REAL RONALD REAGAN!
Rating:
Summary: didn't read the book
Review: P>Reagan is one of the greatest Presidents in history and the same man who ended the cold war without firing a shot. Noonan goes in depth about Reagan's upbringing and his road to the oval office. This is an autobiography of Reagan from a woman who was one of his speech writers and it's wonderful to hear the story about such a remarkable man. If you liked Reagan as a President (And according to polls, a large majority did) you will like this book. If you're a left-winger you will probably trash the book without reading it..Like quite a few did
Rating: 
Summary: JUNK!
Review: This book is junk. More propaganda than history about the most incompetent individual to ever sit in the Oval Office.
Rating:
Summary: Character or Criminal?
Review: More of the same from a leading Reagan apologist. Noonan has made a career out of defending Reagan's administration (whose members created countless scandals and earned 29 criminal convictions) and defaming the Clinton administration (a grand total of 1 conviction). Only read this book if you're interesting in more of the same.
Rating:
Summary: The True Value Of This Book
Review: Some of the other readers say "When Character Was King" by Peggy Noonan is simply a paean to Ronald Reagan. Perhaps they're right. Nevertheless, along the way, it's a great book to teach children the practical aspects of character. I think THAT is its true value. And, by the way, some of the other readers have mentioned "West Point: Character Leadership Education.....Thomas Jefferson" by Norman Thomas Remick for that reason as a good companion book to Peggy Noonan's "When Character Was King". I can subscribe to that recommendation. It was really very good.
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