Potus Geeks Book Review: Ronald Reagan (American Presidents Series) by Jacob Weisberg
The American Presidents Series are a collection of brief (usually around 150 pages) essay-style biographies of each of the presidents, published by Times Books. The series was edited by former JFK aide Arthur Schlesinger Jr. until his death in 2007, followed by former New Republic editor Sean Wilentz. Past volumes in the series have been written by distinguished historians such as H. W. Brands, Robert Remini or John Eisenhower. In recent years, the series has turned away from academics in favor of journalists as authors of the biographies, and sometimes this has resulted in the failure to appreciate the distinction between history and politics.
The most recent biography in this series, a biography of Ronald Reagan is a good example of this. The assignment of writing this volume was given to Jacob Weisberg, a former New Republic and Vanity Fair reporter. Weiserg is no fan of Ronald Reagan and does little to hide his dislike for his subject. For example, almost every chapter ends with some disparagement of the book's subject. The first chapter quotes a former girlfriend of Reagan's as claiming that he had "an inability to distinguish between fact and fantasy." Later chapters accuse Reagan of fabricating anecdotes in his speeches without knowing whether or not this is so, and other chapters accuse him of other fabrications. Weisberg blames Reagan's misunderstanding of Lebanon as the reason why US Marines were attacked there. Weisberg's description of Reagan's economic policy is really a debate in which the author expounds on his own opinion as to why Reagan was wrong, while acknowledging that the nation experienced a drop in inflation and interest rates. He gives the credit for this to Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. This isn't to suggest that Reagan isn't deserving of blame for the rise in government debt and deficits on his watch, but rather that as historian, this author ought to have approached the issue more objectively, such as was done by historian H. W. Brands in his recent bio Reagan: The Life.
This pattern continues in later chapters as the author infers that the end of the cold war was really the fluky result of a combination of the Russians' belief that the SDI defense weapon was real and because of Mikhail Gorbachev's role as a new style of Russian revolutionary. The author delights in recounting how Reagan nodded off during a speech given by the pope, and mocks Reagan's desire to end the nuclear threat, writing "but then Reagan was shot and woke up possessed of the idea that God had saved him for the purpose of preventing nuclear war." This is what passes for history in this volume. The author's final chapter blames Reagan for a variety of problems including the economic crash of 2008, which occurred 20 years after Reagan's last year in office and four years after his death.
The line between politics and history can sometimes blur, but in this volume the author takes great license in substituting his opinions for any sort of objective historical account. Reagan had his imperfections, and he certainly deserves to be called out of his failure to reign in the size of government and of the debt and deficit after promising fiscal responsibility. But he also deserves credit for easing and ultimately ending cold war tensions, and for transforming a nation that had low morale and high inflation and interest rates at the commencement of his term into one of greater economic security. There is a reason why subsequent political generations seek to imitate and emulate Reagan, something that this author recognizes, and it's not because of a lack of significant accomplishments.
It is disappointing to see such an esteemed institution like the American Presidents Series produce such a skewed account of the life and record of one of its subjects. Its reputation for fairness and historical objectivity has been tarnished in the process.
The most recent biography in this series, a biography of Ronald Reagan is a good example of this. The assignment of writing this volume was given to Jacob Weisberg, a former New Republic and Vanity Fair reporter. Weiserg is no fan of Ronald Reagan and does little to hide his dislike for his subject. For example, almost every chapter ends with some disparagement of the book's subject. The first chapter quotes a former girlfriend of Reagan's as claiming that he had "an inability to distinguish between fact and fantasy." Later chapters accuse Reagan of fabricating anecdotes in his speeches without knowing whether or not this is so, and other chapters accuse him of other fabrications. Weisberg blames Reagan's misunderstanding of Lebanon as the reason why US Marines were attacked there. Weisberg's description of Reagan's economic policy is really a debate in which the author expounds on his own opinion as to why Reagan was wrong, while acknowledging that the nation experienced a drop in inflation and interest rates. He gives the credit for this to Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. This isn't to suggest that Reagan isn't deserving of blame for the rise in government debt and deficits on his watch, but rather that as historian, this author ought to have approached the issue more objectively, such as was done by historian H. W. Brands in his recent bio Reagan: The Life.
This pattern continues in later chapters as the author infers that the end of the cold war was really the fluky result of a combination of the Russians' belief that the SDI defense weapon was real and because of Mikhail Gorbachev's role as a new style of Russian revolutionary. The author delights in recounting how Reagan nodded off during a speech given by the pope, and mocks Reagan's desire to end the nuclear threat, writing "but then Reagan was shot and woke up possessed of the idea that God had saved him for the purpose of preventing nuclear war." This is what passes for history in this volume. The author's final chapter blames Reagan for a variety of problems including the economic crash of 2008, which occurred 20 years after Reagan's last year in office and four years after his death.
The line between politics and history can sometimes blur, but in this volume the author takes great license in substituting his opinions for any sort of objective historical account. Reagan had his imperfections, and he certainly deserves to be called out of his failure to reign in the size of government and of the debt and deficit after promising fiscal responsibility. But he also deserves credit for easing and ultimately ending cold war tensions, and for transforming a nation that had low morale and high inflation and interest rates at the commencement of his term into one of greater economic security. There is a reason why subsequent political generations seek to imitate and emulate Reagan, something that this author recognizes, and it's not because of a lack of significant accomplishments.
It is disappointing to see such an esteemed institution like the American Presidents Series produce such a skewed account of the life and record of one of its subjects. Its reputation for fairness and historical objectivity has been tarnished in the process.