Reaganland

America's Right Turn 1976-1980

By: Rick Perlstein

Narrated by: Samantha Desz, Jonathan Todd Ross, Jacques Roy, Gabra Zackman

Length: 45 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times notable book of 2020

From the best-selling author of Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge comes the dramatic conclusion of how conservatism took control of American political power.

Over two decades, Rick Perlstein has published three definitive works about the emerging dominance of conservatism in modern American politics. With the saga's final installment, he has delivered yet another stunning literary and historical achievement.

In late 1976, Ronald Reagan was dismissed as a man without a political future: defeated in his nomination bid against a sitting president of his own party, blamed for President Gerald Ford's defeat, too old to make another run. His comeback was fueled by an extraordinary confluence: fundamentalist preachers and former segregationists reinventing themselves as militant crusaders against gay rights and feminism; business executives uniting against regulation in an era of economic decline; a cadre of secretive "New Right" organizers deploying state-of-the-art technology, bending political norms to the breaking point - and Reagan's own unbending optimism, his ability to convey unshakable confidence in America as the world's "shining city on a hill". Meanwhile, a civil war broke out in the Democratic party. When President Jimmy Carter called Americans to a new ethic of austerity, Senator Ted Kennedy reacted with horror, challenging him for reelection. Carter's Oval Office tenure was further imperiled by the Iranian hostage crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, near-catastrophe at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant, aviation accidents, serial killers on the loose, and endless gas lines.

Backed by a reenergized conservative Republican base, Reagan ran on the campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" - and prevailed. Reaganland is the story of how that happened, tracing conservatives' cutthroat strategies to gain power and explaining why they endure four decades later.

©2020 Eric S. Perlstein. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

they bleep out a bunch of words

this is one of the best books I've read. however, some of these politicians said bad things, and instead of showing this they bleep it out

Very strong finish to this 4-volume series

Riveting and informative. I think the weakest of this series was the third volume, although it was overall quite good. This last volume was excellent--a sobering examination of how Reagan won the 1980 election. There were multiple readers, all very good.

Great but held back by the actual history

Another great entry but not quite as good as the previous entries of Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge, largely because the scope of the story focuses so much on the cultural war issues of busing, LBGTQ rights, and abortion.

This is no fault of the author as it is simply reporting on the decisive issues of the day, but such issues are (and remain) much more morally draining to listen to than the other issues outlined in previous books (Vietnam vets infighting, the gold standard, price controls, the Moonies, labor unions, Watergate Babies, the ERA, the and more).

Best highlights: The rise and fall of the consumer protection movement, the consistent misfunctionings of the "Georgia Mafia" under Carter and their conflicts with fellow Democratic compatriots, and the in-depth look at Jimmy Carter's soul-searching and media disappearance that pre-empted the infamous "Crisis of Confidence" speech.

Least great highlights: Ronald Regan himself is actually quite boring. He appears to be a fairly vapid individual blessed with charisma and divine mission to be the vector of the conservative right. In practice, he ended up riding the tide more than causing the tide it appears.

Overall, this was good, but I reckon Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge were both better, with The Invisible Bridge being my favorite in the series that started with Before the Storm (which I have not read). Your mileage may vary.

Fascinating Looking Glass

It’s much easier to understand how we arrive at our current state after listening to this. Excellent deep dive.

Excellent

Just filling in the blanks of my youth. I was living in Hawaii and in the Navy. Seems I missed a lot. This is an excellent history and fits with what I remembered. I voted for John Anderson too.

Exemplary and Informative

So much of this story has never been told, and this book tells it in an engaging fashion.

essential

once again, essential reading for understanding the world today. Perlstein's fly on the wall history let's you feel right in the moment

70s politics

This book told the story of the politics of the 1970s. The main story was the 1980 election. I liked the diversity and the parts of the events of the 70s.

good book

I disliked that they used two seperate narrators. both were good, but it was jarring to go back and forth.

Brilliant

Ronald Reagan doesn’t come off well in this book, to put it mildly. It’s hard to take him seriously as a hero, politician, or President after reading it. His intellectual grasp of issues was limited, and his view of the world was simplistic and schematic. Yes, he was a great storyteller, but as it turns out many of the stories he told, even about himself, were badly remembered or simply made up.

He’s not the only one who comes off badly. I’ve been a big fan of Jimmy Carter all my life, but Perlstein’s account of his Presidency has forced me to rethink much of that. One of his most frequent blunders, according to Perlstein, was going public with a policy without consulting any of the Democrats in Congress first — finding out only after the fact that most of them were opposed. Or, flipping the coin, suddenly abandoning a policy after finally getting Congressional leaders to get behind it — and letting them find out about his change of mind from the news media. Carter’s administration did not play well with others.

It was a turning point in American politics, a period when opposing sides on various issues — from taxes to gay rights — hardened into moral crusades. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Phyllis Schlafly, and the NRA all date their growing national influence to this period. Perlstein’s brilliance as a reporter is to go deeply into well-researched and meticulously documented detail and yet still maintain the momentum of the overall narrative. I’ve read the other three books in this series, and now I want to read them all again.

There are four narrators, one for each year — 1977-1980 — each year being a separate section in the book. All are good, and the variety helped, given the length and the detail of the narrative.

As someone who lived and voted his way through this period, I can say with conviction: if you want to know what it was like — or you want to be reminded what it was like — read this book. Better still, read all four books in the series: you will come away with a better understanding of American conservatism and the people who have made it such a dominant force in our national life in the 21st century.