The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I might. I've read a good deal about WW II, and thus already knew nearly all that Brinkley was showing us here. I've also read something about Ronald Reagan, especially many of his letters, because he was a great correspondent. What I didn't know anything about was the speechwriting of Ronald Reagan. Did I know that he had speech writers. Of course. Did I understand how that worked in his administration. No. And I found it surprisingly fascinating. I also liked the confluence of the two studies and thought it was quite an original idea for a book; at least original to me. A very good read.

History of a D-Day assault on a highly defended point that needed to be taken for the overall success of the landing, intertwined with the history of Ronald Reagan’s speech commemorating the incident on the fortieth anniversary of the landing. They were brave men indeed; Brinkley argues that the speech was an important part of creating the image of “the greatest generation,” who until then had been largely silent about their WWII experiences.

Not what I expected. First, let me note that there narrator was excellent. Ok so... content...

The actual story of the landings is just a summary. I suppose in re-reading the title I could have guessed that since "Reagan" is in the title and what he had to do with the actual landings was... absolutely nothing. OK, so the fact that the landings description was essentially an article-length summary, that gets a pass.

The true "plot" of this story was: apparently Brinkley was ga-ga for Reagan and simply felt he couldn't hold those feelings in. He writes as if he simply won't feel better until he gushes about how incredible, how patriotic, how downright "home-y" Reagan was.. a beautiful soul... dear ol' Reagan couldn't do no wrong!. Ummmmm... show more I lived thru this, I remember Reagan, I can't believe what a farce this book is. Not only does Brinkley drool over his own recounting of his hero - he grabs individuals to back him up. Now, I fully support those individuals right to believe that Reagan was the godly creature they felt him to be - and those stories were actually wonderful to hear. I never knew that Reagan had groupies but, sure enough, he was a rock star . But Brinkley, he was a newscaster, a journalist, supposedly able to critically think about world events and knew better... but I guess even love-sick puppies can become journalists.

So, you think Reagan was the greatest thing since sliced bread? Read this book, Brinkley is right there with ya. He even includes the actual tapes of Reagan's speeches. Now, actually, that was cool just to have as a reference, because during the entire story I kept thinking "what drugs is this guy on? I heard Reagan's P.d.H speeches and WTF is he talking about?"; so it was good to actually hear the speeches so that I didn't think my memory was failing. show less

A look at how Ronald Reagan choose to honor a group of Rangers who scaled Pointe Du Hoc a little known aspect of D-Day. The speech he gave set a frame work for his own reelection campaign, while giving these men their moment in the sun. The book gives a description of what the men did during D-Day. The book also shows how the speeches were crafted and and Reagan's ability to deliver the speech. I was never a Reagan fan but I must admit that it is amazing to see how a speech is crafted. the nice thing about now is that one can go to You Tube and see the speeches that are dealt within this book.

This book chronicles the history of the 2nd Ranger Battalion (drawing heavily on other more definitive sources in that regard), Ronald Reagan's views of WWII through his acting roles at the time, then chronicles the writing of the two 40th anniversary of D-Day speeches Reagan delivered in 1984.
I have to say this book was pretty boring. The mini bios of Peggy Noonan and others involved in the writing of Reagan's speeches and the minute details of how these speeches developed were a little much for me. The backstories and glossing over of politics of the time were only somewhat interesting to me.

The speeches were considered to be among Reagan's most powerful and memorable. If you're a huge Reagan fan then this book is for you, if not then show more read something else. Most interesting to me was Reagan's admiration of and sometimes emulation of FDR. He wasn't exactly the Goldwater conservative that liberals like to remember him as.

Recordings of the two speeches are included after the epilogue (here's one reprinted).

2 stars out of 5. show less

So, I purchased this book thinking it was going to be about the actual action at Point du Hoc, but instead got a sentimental political account comparing the attitude of the 2nd Ranger Battalion's men to the politics of Ronald Reagan. Not that I don't agree and admire, it was just a bit of a disappointment. I have been to the site and have yet to find an accurate account of the action even though this battle is covered in all the major books on Normandy and featured in the Longest Day. A optional read at best.

A book which lives in the shadow of its subject.