When Character Was King

Rating:
Summary: A True American An Icon
Review: This book is a celebration of the man and the legend. It is impressive on a grand scale of inspiration for goals that are possible. Ronald Reagan was a man of integrity and honor. He lived his live by the principles he whole heatedly believed in. Character in a man is such a rare thing these days. This book by Peggy Noonan keeps the exemplary qualities that distinguish one of the greatest presidents of the last half-century alive and in the psyche of all who read this inspired work..

Rating:
Summary: Before spin had a name-
Review: Interesting to a point. The inside information does add a nice new facet to what we know of RR. But the unabashed love fest of the life and "character" of RR gets sickening. It is amazing to me that any reviwer could read more than one account of RR's life and still think he was an exemplar of character. OTOH, it makes sense if you work for him, and are secretly (or not so secretly as the case may be) in love with him. You might think seeing his crook friends would clue one in, figuring that one who has friends who are crooks would most likely be a crook himself. But, that doesn't seem to be the accepted viewpoint. His character must be due to spin, since it cannot be shown by actual evidence. Goodness, if muddy thinking and lying are what we are all supposed to aspire to, I am afraid for the future of the country.

Rating:
Summary: Fully Kreusened Noonan on Reagan
Review: Noonan has come into her own on the topic of Reagan in this book. Her earlier "What I Saw at the Revolution" was not as insider-ish, as seen in her distance from Nancy Reagan disclosed at that time. Now Nancy is her lunch partner and confidante as this is written, showing Noonan the very notes Ronnie scribbled to Nancy as he was coming out of anesthesia in the recovery room at George Washington Medical Center.

Some of Noonan's intervening essays on Reagan (meeting him with her now-adolescent son) which previously appeared in the Wall Street Journal are also here, more seasoned, better developed, or twice kreusened, let's say.

Her description of the Reagan ranch is better than Edmund Morris's, and goes into way more detail than the PBS 2-tape set on Reagan. The incisive look at Nancy reminds me of the Vanity Fair piece written by another author several years ago, but also goes way beyond it. There are the same close knit businessmen and real estate developers whose wives became the core of Reagan's social universe, but again, Noonan plays it forward to today, unlike the Vanity Fair analysis which stopped on the tailgates of the station wagons as this group happily picnicked together in California in the 50's.

Reagan's pivotal speeches early on in his first term are interspersed, especially in the Russia chapter, in a way that does them more justice than the alarmed truncated versions we got from the liberal hand-wringing reportorial establishment at the time.

This book finds its place naturally in the top shelf of anyone's library of Reagan literature, but I have to give it only 4 stars because nowhere do we hear of how David Stockman cycled in and out of the Reagan Revolution, and somehow I find that omission material. Stockman exemplified many of us who were dedicated to Reagan's goals in the early 1980s, and as a result of the carnage Stockman either encountered or caused, I find it hard to say that Reagan was wholly successful in achieving his goals. It is much easier to stand back and still be warmed by the sunset of Reagan's character, and even be illuminated by it. The details at the time were much more messy and disorganized. But maybe Peggy says enough of that. I just wish she had worked the Stockman relationship to tease out another layer of Reagan.

Rating:
Summary: Unconscionable
Review: Ronald Reagan once claimed that my heroes, the 3,000 Americans who volunteered to risk their lives (900 died) to defend democracy from Franco in the Spanish Civil War, fought on the wrong side.
His administration supported right-wing dictatorships and terrorist organizations in Central America, resulting in some of the most horrific human rights abuses of our time.
He once referred to the American involvement in the Vietnam War as "that noble cause." I think he was serious.
The Soviet Union did not want war. What would they have to gain by trying to conquer hundreds of millions of unwilling Western Europeans? The USSR feared attack by the US, thus they were forced to spend like mad to try and keep up a comparable military, resulting in economic disaster. The US didn't fare too much better, we've got some of the First World's worst schools, highest levels of violence, and other assorted social ills.
Now precisely what KIND of character was king?

Rating:
Summary: Character?
Review: Reagan certainly had admirable character traits, but this book turns a blind eye to his obvious lapses in character -- from personal issues, such as his divorce and indifferent parenting, to political ones, such as his administration's countless scandals and his own dissembling in the Iran-Contra fiasco. A true look at presidential character would take in the bad as well as the good.

Rating:
Summary: Style over Substance
Review: Peggy Noonan is clearly a gifted writer, but a horrible historian. This book is an unthinking and uncritical work of near-sighted hero worship. Anyone who simply wants to be told that Ronald Reagan walked on water and cured the lame will certainly enjoy this book. But anyone interested in a more balanced, and more thoughtful, account of the Reagan years should check out Lou Cannon's Role of a Lifetime

Rating:
Summary: Great read about a Great Man
Review: The first book of Peggy Noonan's that I read was "What I saw at the Revolution," the story of what brought her to the White House and what she experienced during her tour of duty. How appropriate that she would now write a book about the man she went to work for and shaped her political career.

While "Revolution" is now looked at as THE definitive book on the inner workings of the Reagan White House, "When Character was King" is a short biography told in a series of stories about Reagan himself.

Noonan doesn't claim to have been the closest to Reagan or to have presented the most thoroughly researched biography of the 40th President. She is an admirer and now one of the chief preservers of the Reagan legacy.

Academics who despise Reagan will dismiss this as the biased view of an insider, but they still cling to the myth that history can be presented in a completely objective fashion (for those of you who still believe that myth, please revisit the controversy surrounding "Dutch," a Reagan biography by Edmund Morris).

What Noonan has done with "When Character was King" is present a great biography of a great president that's extremely readable. She makes it relevant to today in one of her later chapters which discusses the influence that the Gipper had on Dubya. For those of you who follow Noonan in the pages of the Wall Street Journal and enjoy her writing, do yourself a favor and order this book.

Rating:
Summary: Reagan was a better man than I will ever know
Review: In this easy to read book Peggy Noonan writes beautifully and simply to tell of Ronald Reagan, the man himself. If only the history books were written by Ms. Noonan, would Reagan get the respect he truly deserves for being the greatest leader and maybe the greast man who has held office in the 20th century.

Also recommend Ronald Reagan, how an ordinary man became and extraordinary leader by Dineash D'Sousa

Rating:
Summary: A great book about a great American
Review: This is a great book about a great American. The author doesn't do a whitewash job - she lets the facts speak for themselves. She doesn't gloss over Reagan's failed marriage to Jane Wyman or even his involvement in his greatest political mistake: Iran-Contra. Yet she also gives him the credit he so richly deserves for the good that he accomplished.

Noonan tells Reagan's story from his earliest years growing up in Illinois, through his college years, through his Hollywood career, his determination to fight Communism, how he was persuaded to run for governor of California and how he decided to run for president. She relates details of events from his early years and shows how they contributed to the leader that he became. She conducted careful interviews with family (such as wife Nancy and daughter Patti), friends, and even a few political rivals (such as Dan Rostenkowski). What emerges is a story of a man who overcame adversities with irrepressible optimism, confidence, faith, courage, and a genuine love for America.

Especially valuable are Noonan's careful, balanced, and detailed accounts of the Iran-Contra affair and Reagan's dealings with the Soviet Union.

Noonan demonstrates that Reagan was not simply a great leader, but also a great man.

Rating:
Summary: A Lesson in How to Assess Political Figures
Review: Peggy Noonan reminds us that behind every political figure - whether beloved or despised - is a human being. Politics - in its purest form - is problem solving. Different political philosophies may espouse divergent solutions to the same problem, but disagreeing with one's approach to resolving an issue does not preclude the possibility that the person on the other side is a decent human being. Clearly, Reagan was a good man - principled, honest, honorable, and it is possible to respect his character and his method of leadership without agreeing with his politics. I think Peggy Noonan wants everyone to realize that in Reagan, America had a president possessed of all the personal qualities a good leader should have. It's perfectably acceptable to disagree with his ideas, but he has earned respectful disagreement. Respectful disgreement - if only humankind could practice it, then politics, the legal profession, racial and ethnic differences wouldn't be so treacherous.

And to those who would say that Peggy Noonan has penned nothing more than a paean, one should note that she is not alone. Mike Deaver and David Gergen have done the same. Those who knew him - even those who were not especially close to him - were devoted to him. That is more than most political leaders can say, so the man must have had something special. Even Bob Woodward in his book, Shadow, concluded that Reagan alone of all the modern presidents had learned the lesson of Watergate and confronted scandal in his administration head on. However, I think his willingness to step up to the plate and accept responsibility had less to do with the desire to avoid a Watergate-like scandal and more to do with who he was.

Peggy Noonan's book should be required reading not only for history buffs but for school children seeking a lesson in character and honor.