The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989
by Steven F. Hayward
The Age of Reagan (2)
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“Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.” –President Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981 Hero. It was a word most Americans weren’t using much in 1980. As they waited on gas and unemployment lines, as their enemies abroad grew ever more aggressive, and as one after another their leaders failed them, Americans began to believe the country’s greatness was fading. Yet within two years the recession and gas shortage were over. show more Before the decade was out, the Cold War was won, the Berlin Wall came crashing down, and America was once more at the height of prosperity. And the nation had a new hero: Ronald Wilson Reagan. Reagan’s greatness is today widely acknowledged, but his legacy is still misunderstood. Democrats accept the effectiveness of his foreign policy but ignore the success of his domestic programs; Republicans cheer his victories over liberalism while ignoring his bitter battles with his own party’s establishment; historians speak of his eloquence and charisma but gloss over his brilliance in policy and clarity of vision. From Steven F. Hayward, the critically acclaimed author of The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, comes the first complete, true story of this misunderstood, controversial, and deeply consequential presidency. Hayward pierces the myths and media narratives, masterfully documenting exactly what transpired behind the scenes during Reagan’s landmark presidency and revealing his real legacy. What emerges is a compelling portrait of a man who arrived in office after thirty years of practical schooling in the ways of politics and power, possessing a clear vision of where he wanted to take the nation and a willingness to take firm charge of his own administration. His relentless drive to shrink government and lift the burdens of high taxation was born of a deep appreciation for the grander blessings of liberty. And it was this same outlook, extended to the world’s politically and economically enslaved nations, that shaped his foreign policy and lent his statecraft its great unifying power. Over a decade in the making, and filled with fresh revelations, surprising insights, and an unerring eye for the telling detail, this provocative and authoritative book recalls a time when true leadership inspired a fallen nation to pick itself up, hold its head high, and take up the cause of freedom once again. show lessTags
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Steven F. Hayward calls Ronald Reagan's Berlin Wall speech “a perfect microcosm” of Reagan’s political career, highlighting two important things about Reagan. The first is Reagan’s insight and imagination—the way he thought about issues on a large scale. The second is the extent to which Reagan had to battle against “the conventional reflexes of much of his own party and staff” as well as the Democrats and adversarial media.
Hayward examines both aspects of Reagan’s statecraft, focusing on the second, in the long-awaited second volume of his definitive Reagan biography. While it stands alone as a history of Reagan’s presidency, The Age of Reagan (Vol. II): The Conservative Counterrevolution, 1980 - 1989 takes up where show more Volume I, The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, 1964-1980, leaves off—Reagan’s first Presidential election.
Hayward is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, so it is no surprise that he approaches his subject from the right. Reagan fans will no doubt enjoy it more than Reagan detractors. But Hayward’s work is definitely biography, not hagiography. The Age of Reagan deserves a spot on any serious historian’s book shelf.
Full review posted on Rose City Reader. show less
Hayward examines both aspects of Reagan’s statecraft, focusing on the second, in the long-awaited second volume of his definitive Reagan biography. While it stands alone as a history of Reagan’s presidency, The Age of Reagan (Vol. II): The Conservative Counterrevolution, 1980 - 1989 takes up where show more Volume I, The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, 1964-1980, leaves off—Reagan’s first Presidential election.
Hayward is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, so it is no surprise that he approaches his subject from the right. Reagan fans will no doubt enjoy it more than Reagan detractors. But Hayward’s work is definitely biography, not hagiography. The Age of Reagan deserves a spot on any serious historian’s book shelf.
Full review posted on Rose City Reader. show less
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ThingScore 88
Steven Hayward, with a natural feel for both the politics of the era and the conservative mind, helps bring Reagan and his ideas alive. This is not the last word on the Reagan years, but as historians continue to tease out the complexities of one of the most significant presidencies of the 20th century, they will be wise to consult The Age of Reagan.
added by Shortride
In The Age of Reagan, Steven F. Hayward offers a splendid narrative history of Reagan's two terms in the White House—a period (1981-89) that amounted to what he calls a "counterrevolution," reversing so much of what had spiraled downward in the late 1970s. Along the way, he supplies a keen analysis of just how much Reagan succeeded in changing America's self-image, often by reasserting core show more principles.
One of Mr. Hayward's many insights is that Reagan's foreign and domestic outlook were unified more than we realize. Reagan believed that both the Soviet Union and Big Government at home represented threats to America's future. . . . In the end, the Soviet Union turned out to be the weaker foe. . . .
Reagan came to realize how much work he had left undone and began promoting an Economic Bill of Rights, a package of constitutional reforms that included a federal spending limit and a requirement for a two-thirds majority in Congress for tax hikes. It was too little too late. Such initiatives were doomed to be ignored by Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush.
Still, the accomplishments remain. Free-market ideas are a robust part of the mainstream policy debate—even if they have lost some traction recently. Traditional social norms, articulated so well by Reagan, have held their own in the continuing "culture wars." Reagan's abolition of the Fairness Doctrine paved the way for the diverse media universe we now take for granted. In his 1989 farewell address, Reagan described his record by saying: "Not bad. Not bad at all." The foreign-policy achievement is easily measured but should not obscure everything else. Mr. Hayward closes by quoting Gary McDowell, a former Reagan official: "Domestically Ronald Reagan did far less than he had hoped . . . less than people wanted—and a hell of a lot more than people thought he would." show less
One of Mr. Hayward's many insights is that Reagan's foreign and domestic outlook were unified more than we realize. Reagan believed that both the Soviet Union and Big Government at home represented threats to America's future. . . . In the end, the Soviet Union turned out to be the weaker foe. . . .
Reagan came to realize how much work he had left undone and began promoting an Economic Bill of Rights, a package of constitutional reforms that included a federal spending limit and a requirement for a two-thirds majority in Congress for tax hikes. It was too little too late. Such initiatives were doomed to be ignored by Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush.
Still, the accomplishments remain. Free-market ideas are a robust part of the mainstream policy debate—even if they have lost some traction recently. Traditional social norms, articulated so well by Reagan, have held their own in the continuing "culture wars." Reagan's abolition of the Fairness Doctrine paved the way for the diverse media universe we now take for granted. In his 1989 farewell address, Reagan described his record by saying: "Not bad. Not bad at all." The foreign-policy achievement is easily measured but should not obscure everything else. Mr. Hayward closes by quoting Gary McDowell, a former Reagan official: "Domestically Ronald Reagan did far less than he had hoped . . . less than people wanted—and a hell of a lot more than people thought he would." show less
added by TomVeal
Author Information
16+ Works 819 Members
Steven F. Hayward is a visiting scholar at the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He has previously taught at Pepperdine University and Ashland University and was the inaugural visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He holds a Ph.D. in American show more Studies and an M.A. in Government from Claremont Graduate School. Hayward has written for many publications including National Review, Reason, the Weekly Standard, the American Spectator, the Claremont Review of Books, Policy Review, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of The Real Jimmy Carter; Greatness: Reagan, Churchill, and the Making of Modern Statesmen; and Patriotism Is Not Enough. show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Ronald Reagan
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Biography & Memoir, Politics and Government, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 973.927 — History & geography History of North America United States 1901- Cold War, Vietnam War, Digital Age (1953-2001) Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) Reaganomics, Cold War Escalation, Iran-Contra Affair
- LCC
- E876 .H39 — History of the United States United States Later twentieth century, 1961-2000 Reagan's administrations, 1981-1989
- BISAC
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- Reviews
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- English
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- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
