Reagan As President: Contemporary Views of the Man, His Politics, and His Policies

Rating:
Summary: A Balanced, Thoughtful Collection
Review: *Reagan As President* is one of the few works about Ronald Reagan that is written without bias. Though the book is a collection of close to 100 articles and essays that were written by various propents and opponents of the Reagan Presidency, its purpose is to compare different thoughts and ideas. In the beginning of each section, Paul Boyer gives a brief history on the covered topic and then allows the writers to present their views. At the time of the book's publication, Boyer was Merle Curti Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin and a senior member of the Institute for the Research in the Humanities at the school. His work is written in a scholarly manner and will undoubtedly be used as a reference for historians in the years to come. Though not written in a chronological manner, *Reagan As President* begins with Boyer's recount of the 1980 campaign and election, which is followed by the president-elect's acceptance speech at the Republican National Con! vention and Reagan's first innaugural address. The book then covers articles critiquing the Reagan Era, to include the president's persona, his second election victory, economic and tax policies, welfare and the poor, national defense, the Iran-Contra Scandal, Central America and Reagan's relationship and attitudes toward the Soviet Union. For the student of the Reagan Presidency, Paul Boyer's work will eliminate hours of research. Key issues are presented by reprints of various leading journalists and writers of many different newspapers and other media. For the interested reader, *Reagan as President* provides an exellent comprehensive one-stop reading.

Rating:
Summary: An unbiased look at President Reagan...
Review: *Reagan As President* is one of the few works about Ronald Reagan that is written without bias. Though the book is a collection of close to 100 articles and essays that were written by various propents and opponents of the Reagan Presidency, its purpose is to compare different thoughts and ideas. In the beginning of each section, Paul Boyer gives a brief history on the covered topic and then allows the writers to present their views. At the time of the book's publication, Boyer was Merle Curti Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin and a senior member of the Institute for the Research in the Humanities at the school. His work is written in a scholarly manner and will undoubtedly be used as a reference for historians in the years to come. Though not written in a chronological manner, *Reagan As President* begins with Boyer's recount of the 1980 campaign and election, which is followed by the president-elect's acceptance speech at the Republican National Con! vention and Reagan's first innaugural address. The book then covers articles critiquing the Reagan Era, to include the president's persona, his second election victory, economic and tax policies, welfare and the poor, national defense, the Iran-Contra Scandal, Central America and Reagan's relationship and attitudes toward the Soviet Union. For the student of the Reagan Presidency, Paul Boyer's work will eliminate hours of research. Key issues are presented by reprints of various leading journalists and writers of many different newspapers and other media. For the interested reader, *Reagan as President* provides an exellent comprehensive one-stop reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Balanced, Thoughtful Collection
Review: Unlike some of the popular works on Reagan, which are all too often uncritically fawning (Peggy Noonan, Dinesh D'Souza) or overly polemical and extremely critical (Haynes Johnson), Paul Boyer's collection of speeches, articles and essays presents a wonderfully balanced and fair look at Reagan. An excellent text.