Rating: 
Summary: Disconcerting
Review: Ronald Reagan is NOT a hard man to understand. He's a simple man (of great integrity) from a simple place and a simple time who became a great leader of a great country. Why do we have to plow through over 800 pages and the lives of fictionalized characters to understand this? In a biography???? So much of Ronald Reagan's time as Governor of California and President of the United States has been ignored in this book. In 1985/86 when Edmund Morris became confused about his subject, he should have begged off the project immediately and given someone else the chance of a lifetime. It's just disappointing that Mr. Morris, who was given this opportunity, has squandered it. David McCullough, where are you?
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the read because of its thought-provoking powers
Review: I believe this book is worth the read because it is so thought provoking. When I picked it up, I was well-versed in its criticism (fictional, inappropriately critical of the subject, inappropriately non-critical of the subject, etc.). I was a very young man when Reagan's presidency began, and like most, I was sweeped up in the allure and apparent majesty of the man. I grew to despise his administration (George Carlin well-named it "Ronald Reagan and his criminal gang") and his nearly permanent destruction of our domestic economy. So I was intrigued by the opportunity to judge Morris' take on the subject, and hoped that he would enlighten us all with more of the stories I had heard him tell on PBS (Reagan didn't even know his own son at his graduation, told a completely false story to M. Began about his personal involvement in the liberation of Nazi death camps, and his delusional diary entrys about events that never happened, or hadn't happened yet). Surely, I thought, this book would confirm that someone was asleep at the wheel of this country during the 1980's.I was wrong about the book. Morris provides a compelling portrait of the real Reagan, including some good and some bad character descriptions (indeed, some very good and some very bad). I put the book down with a new appreciation of RR. Morris has swayed me from some of my harshest criticism by demonstrating that the greatness of Reagan was not that he was a great or accomplished man, or a great or accomplished president, but rather that RR was a "magnet" of greatness in his time. Greatness followed Reagan, and he left accomplishment in his wake, despite his rather ordinary character, intellect and skills. Some meaningful degree of credit must be given to him for that. Thank you Morris for raising the opinion of RR in some readers, and bringing it back to earth for others.
Rating: 
Summary: Hype Masking Confusion
Review: To read this book is agony. The interjections of the "fictional author" generally annoy and never enlighten. How could a biographer spend so much time with his subject and his closest associates, with access to both his official papers and his most intimate diaries, and so fail to understand him? Perhaps Mr. Reagan is not the only one suffering mental deficits.
Rating:
Summary: Another piece of liberal propaganda
Review: Morris is obviously an arrogant liberal historian, and has obviously curried the favor of many liberals. He is fashionably coy about his liberalism.His career should take off. Let me inform the readers a few things I've observed about liberal historians and Reagan. After Reagan left office , liberals came out of the woodwork to write book, after book, after nauseating book of pure fiction about Ronald Reagan and what he did. Their motivation was to drown out the worthwhile books written by his aides and to rewrite the historical record. Reagan was a "dunce," didn't know what was going on, had Alzheimer's, was only an actor etc, etc. Liberals can't confront or admit the greatness of Reagan and all the things he did for this country; it simply takes too much courage to do such a thing, to do so is to admit that what liberals believe in is bankrupt, or as Ronald Reagan said "what they believe just ain't so." Mr. Morris, courage is the virtue which makes all other virtues possible. Mr. Morris's book is another addition to the liberal propaganda, and adds almost nothing to our collective understanding of this great man. What his book will achieve is what all good propaganda achieves ; it will divert attention from the whole truth. Like all good propaganda there is some truth to what he claims. He does concede a few points we haven't heard from other liberal historians. Reagan did win the cold war. But if your readers sincerely wish to learn something of this great president, they need to skip this mountain of crap that's been created by the liberal historians . The best book, in my opinion, written to date is Reagan's autobiography called "Reagan: An American Life."You can get it at Amazon.com. It's is incredible. All of the pathetic "theses" propounded by the liberal historians, and the liberal media are demolished. If you read any book about Reagan this is the one to read, not Morris's book. Reagan focused on the big picture and on producing results and his autobiography demonstrates this. He realized to accomplish anything, he had to prioritize. This is precisely what you want in a leader. Any one who has had any leadership role in our society ( outside of government) find such a focus to be indispensable to getting anything done! Not to the liberal historians. For these necessary qualities, liberals criticize Reagan for not knowing what was going on, and for only being interested in his own dreams. These complaints are all crap; they are red herrings. Read Reagan's autobiography. What this Morris book reveals is the rotten, sick state of the cheerleaders for liberalism. Anyone with half a brain has observed the biased, unprofessional and dishonest spinning we get from the liberal press in this country. Most people don't realize that liberal historians aren't much different, except their job is to "spin" history. Let me give an example. Not too long ago, 400 liberal historians proclaimed in the NY Times, that their liberal President, Bill Clinton, committed no crimes worthy of impeachment, because Clifton's crimes did not meet the threshold of "Bribery, Treason, and High crimes and Misdemeanors." These historians knew ,or certainly should have known, that "perjury," from the very beginning of the common law courts of England, was classified as a High Misdemeanor. Now that we've got the historical facts right, lets apply the law to the facts.The law of impeachment comes from the US constitution. "The President shall be removed from office on impeachment for , and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" Well, Mr. Morris, I don't think much of you or the rest of you liberal historians. You have not invented a new type of history, Stalin and Geobels did what you have done way before you. History is not fiction. History is facts. The facts are things which you haven't confronted, Mr Morris. Anyone who influences world events on such a massive scale, solving the most pressing problem of the 20 century, by defeating communism, is not an "airhead." Nor have you produced any facts to indicate he was an "airhead." How dare you insult us with your liberal arrogance!
Rating: 
Summary: Pulitzer prize winning fiction?
Review: The book read like Pulitzer prize winning fiction. Ambiguous and jumpy with poor communication skills yet still impressive. It is not a biography - it is something new and kind of scary. Edmund Morris proves that he is a remarkable wordsmith but is that all that it takes to be a great writer? You may want to read a chapter or two before you buy the book. If you like traditional biographies and not literature you may not like this hodge-podge of creative remembrances. Reagan lovers beware. This books is not flattering of THE PRESIDENT. The book seems designed to humiliate Dutch. Morris is very flattering of Dutch in his interviews which can mislead book buyers of his intentions. This is obviously a book written by someone who does not understand the American psychology, culture, etc... Still - with all that said. If you love Ronnie you will find some of his more endearing traits gleaming in spots throughout the book.
Rating:
Summary: save your money
Review: This book doesn't offer anything new and interesting. The "style" is ridiculous and cloying - a new literary device? I don't think so. At times it was like reading a bio of the author, not the subject.
Rating:
Summary: *Not* a history of a president
Review: This is not, in itself, a bad book. The fictional narratortakes himself far too seriously -- and putting his made up 'diary' inthe footnotes is ludicrous. But my main complaint is that it covers much less of Ronald Reagan's political life than we have a right to expect. There's almost nothing on the 1980 or 1984 campaigns, and pretty close to that on 8 years worth of domestic policy making. There are very interesting pieces on RR's relations with the USSR, and Morris writes well, even brilliantly at times, when he's not writing about himself. Somewhere in here is 40 pages of a fantastic "summing up Reagan" article trying to get out. But for anyone doing research on Reagan the president, this is not the place to go -- and it should have been.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointed. I expected much more.
Review: After reading Edmund Morris' book about Teddy Roosevelt, I looked foward to his book on Ronald Reagan. What a disappointment. It was a struggle to read the book. It was boring, self serving and in some cases down right inaccurate. Don't even bother buying the book. If you're interested in Ronald Reagan, you would be much better off reading the book by Dinesh D'Souza. I rated the book 1 star because that was the lowest option given.
Rating:
Summary: Poor, Poor Edmund: Conceit & Contradictions. Caveat Emptor!
Review: Author Edmund Morris reveals more about himself (not much of it good) in this writing than he does about the nation's 40th president. The reader is left questioning whether perhaps poor Edmund has a "slightly cracked helmet." Edmund's conceits and contradictions make "Dutch" not only a tiresome read, but his insertion of himself into the book as a character is simply bizarre. Dinesh D'Souza's "Ronald Reagan" is a far better investment of time and money. Morris is a flake and this book deserves a "pass."
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: ... Morris freely admits that there are other books betterthan his in capturing Reagan's pure historical record. But that wasnot Morris' ultimate goal. Facts can state what a man did and occasionally reveal what he felt. To know his heart and soul -- that is a harder task, especially with someone as aloof and protective as Reagan. But that is the goal of great biography, to get to that truth. Unfortunately for Morris, the facts available did not get to the heart of the matter. They only kept him away. There is a moment in the book when Morris accompanies Reagan and Nancy to the house where Reagan was born. They are led upstairs to the room where, on a small, humble bed in the corner, his mother gave birth to him so many years ago. Reagan had never seen it before. The reality of the place is such a shock that he quickly draws in his breath, hit by a sudden and deep emotion. Rather than give in to the impulse, however, he quickly recovers and immediately buries the pain by telling jokes. That was his personality in all things. And no amount of chiseling away on Morris' part was going to un-bury the real man. His only alternative was the method he adopted -- to tell the truth creatively, to be a fictional witness of true events. The result is a loving portrait of a great President, revealing his human flaws, yet celebrating his nobility. Reagan was a very noble man. In a leader, that mantle requires distancing if one is to be fair to all.
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