Reagan

The Life

De: H. W. Brands

Narrado por: Stephen Hoye

From master storyteller and New York Times best-selling biographer H. W. Brands, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, comes the first full life of Ronald Reagan since his death.

Ronald Reagan today is a conservative icon, celebrated for transforming the American domestic agenda and playing a crucial part in ending communism in the Soviet Union. In his masterful new biography, H. W. Brands argues that Reagan, along with FDR, was the most consequential president of the 20th century. Reagan took office at a time when the public sector, after a half century of New Deal liberalism, was widely perceived as bloated and inefficient, an impediment to personal liberty. Reagan sought to restore democracy by bolstering capitalism. In Brands' telling, how Reagan, who voted four times for FDR, engineered a conservative transformation of American politics is both a riveting personal journey and the story of America in the modern era.

Brands follows Reagan as his ambition for ever-larger stages compelled him from a troubled childhood in small-town Illinois to become a radio announcer and then the quintessential public figure of modern America, a movie star. In Hollywood, Reagan edged closer to public service as the president of the Screen Actors' Guild before a stalled film career led to his unlikely reinvention as the voice of General Electric and a spokesman for corporate America. Reagan follows its subject on his improbable political rise, from the 1960s, when he was first elected governor of California, to his triumphant election in 1980 as president of the United States. Brands employs archival sources not available to previous biographers and dozens of interviews with surviving members of the administration. The result is an exciting narrative and a fresh understanding of a crucially important president and his era.

©2015 H.W. Brands (P)2015 Random House Audio

Superb... And I'm not even a fan of his politics!

Reagan fans will love this, but even those who are not from as far to the right as he was will appreciate this incredible story of an actor who turned into a union leader and changed from being a Democrat to Republican then eventually President. He had an incredible life and this book honours his memory.

Better to Read This One...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I recommend this book. A wonderful, in depth look at the Reagan presidency. It is, however, long, long, long; over 31 hours. Had the narrator been better it would have been thoroughly enjoyable--but the narration made it difficult to listen. Perhaps reading this book would have been better for me.

Did Stephen Hoye do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

The narrator has a clear voice and reads well, but I struggled listening to him. He comes across as snarky; where he places emphasis on words bothered me.

Any additional comments?

Reagan's second term was dysfunctional (lots of internal power plays), I think partly because Nancy was controlling and made the staff on edge--She was getting her cue from an astrologer in California. People who believe the Reagan presidency was a Christian one are mistaken. Nancy wielded a lot of power. During his second term, people were beginning to notice faint signs of dementia. Nevertheless, Reagan knew how to communicate and inspire. He was a good morale builder and made people feel good about their country--something we could use more of today.

Great book, terrible performance

Super annoying voice of the performer, hard to get over it, does a great disservice to this super book.

Great book, well done.

This was very well done, there are some points that were not covered but overall it was extremely thorough.

A Great Listen!

A Great Listen, about a Great but Human Man! I’m great full to have served under President Reagan.

Where's the beef?

What did you like best about Reagan? What did you like least?

This bio is rich in information but scant in insight. The author had his work cut out for him – Reagan was famous for being inscrutable, even to those closest to him. Hence, this bio relies heavily on the public record as well as Reagan’s speeches and interviews for material Brands does a good job chronicling Reagan’s presidency – there is rich behind the scenes details of the Reykjavik summit in particular, but you get the sense that Reagan’s aides and confidants either weren’t interviewed for the book or weren't in the mood to talk. What you get is a detailed but superficial (though not uncritical) bio but perhaps that is the best that can be expected, especially since the right has made Reagan such a venerated, unassailable figurehead. Readers hoping for a view into what made Reagan tick, or his personal life, will likely come away disappointed.

FABULOUS!!!!

A life well lived! There are no coincidences. God brought America Reagan right when we needed him. Thank you, President Reagan! ♡

An extremely good account of an interesting life

A highly recommendable account of a most interesting life. Reagan is obe of those charming and charmed characters that inspire confidence and admiration; you want him to succeed. His optimistic outlook, his love of country and of countrymen, his ability to communicate simple principles and to navigate complex practicalities should inspire present-day politicians and, especially, their closest teams of collaborators. A wonderful book, in my opinion.

H.W. Brands does it again.

Lived througj it, but much was forgotten, and much wasn't known at the time. He was a good person for the most part. You may disagree with him sometimes, but this book is a startling reminder of what the Republican party was, and how far it has fallen 1980 to 2019 from it's ideals and convictions

More about him as the president than as the person

This book should really be titled "Reagan: The Presidency," or "Reagan: The Politician," since there are few details given about his personal and family life. Reagan's enigma is no more demystified by Brands' book than any other. The Reagan mystique continues. Where Brands really excels in this book is on his coverage of major events during the Reagan presidency: Grenada, Libya, Lebanon, the Philippines, Iran-Contra, the summits with Gorbachev, and other events. However, one gets the impression that these events were pulled from secondary sources, not interviews with people who were actually there. Still, the coverage is quite thorough.

Where Brands falls short is in his coverage of Reagan's life - especially his family. We learn more about his relationship to his parents and brother (and even that is pretty scant) than we do his relationship to his children. There's no coverage, for instance, of how his daughter, Patti Davis, openly opposed many of the things Reagan stood for as president, or the activities of his other children, Maureen, Michael, and Ron; we see no glimpse of the man as a father. We get only slightly more coverage of Michael Reagan than the other Reagan children.

Finally - and I have this complaint with most biographies I have read on late 20th century presidents (like Nixon and Ford) - the book doesn't devote a lot of coverage to the post-presidency. Often, I'm fascinated by what presidents have done when they left office. This biography of Reagan, much like the biographies (written by other authors) I've read of Nixon and Ford, disappoints in this regard as well.

In all, however, a great book and a fast read (or listen). Stephen Hoye provides an excellent narration, and listening/reading is still time well spent.