Ronald W. Reagan (Profiles of the Presidents)

Rating:
Summary: A juvenile biography of the key events in Reagan's life
Review: As one of the most recent juvenile biographies of Ronald W. Reagan, this volume by Jean Kinney Williams for the Profiles of the Presidents series is able to deal a bit more with the revelation the former President has Alzheimer's disease. Eventually historians will debate whether the disease affected Reagan during his two terms in the White House, but Williams strikes a different note in this final chapter, citing an inspirational story told by Reagan's daughter Patti Davis and reproducing the first page of Reagan's letter to the nation announcing his disease.

This ending is in keeping with the overall tone of Williams's biography, which focus on Reagan as "the Great Communicator," who was much admired, even by many of his critics. However, the emphasis is more on biographical details than political philosophy. Young readers will know the key foreign policy issues that confronted Reagan, but will not really get a sense of the Reagan brand of Conservatism, although his leadership style is considered (the closest you get is that Reagan was against Communism). Williams provides a solid introductory biography that covers the major periods of Reagan's life, and makes a point of mentioning some key films other than "Knute Rockne-All American" and "Bedtime for Bonzo" (although I am still waiting for one of these juvenile biographies of Reagan to give due consideration to his fine performance in "King's Row").

As with all of the books in this nice little series this profile of Reagan has lots of illustrations; most of them are in color but the editors make a point of often framing old black & white photographs with colored frames. The result is that these books look really nice and the print is large enough to make it easy for young readers to get through the major events in Reagan's life. There is a glossary of key words, a couple of pages that provide Ronald W. Reagan's Life at a Glance, a time line of his life and times, and an index. Along with the Our Presidents series, the Profiles of the Presidents series provides a good introduction for young readers into the lives of the presidents; I just think in this particular instance this volume comes in a close second.