Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House--1911 to 1980

by Bob Colacello

A first volume of a definitive portrait based on the author's unique access to the Reagan family and their friends shares previously undisclosed information about the marriage between Ronald and Nancy, Ronald Reagan's modest childhood in rural Illinois, and Nancy Reagan's carefully cultivated social connections. 50,000 first printing.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Presidents, Autobiography, American History

608 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Clayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though it took me longer than anticipated to finish this book, I have to say that I did enjoy it. There were some downsides, obviously but there were a lot of things that I frankly did enjoy. It was nice to see more of Ronnie and Nancy's relationships, lives before meeting and connectioj to one another.

What truly shocked me was just how close these two were to meeting. There were several connections and events that occurred where the two of them could have easily met before they did. It's clearly a sign that God brings people into our lives at the exact time they are supposed to be there. Speaking of God intervening in their lives, you can definitely say that and a lot of the things that happened throughout this book that really highlights the courses of their life and the people who were there to help build them up and put them in the places that they were supposed to be. It really gives a different look and who they were (as people, as performers, as parents, and as politicians) and what they valued in life.

Now as for the downsides, I have to say that the relationships and connections with other people are frankly what bogged this book down. For example the book would typically introduce someone who did something for Ronald or Nancy, then give background on this person for several pages before going back to what was happening. I understand why the author may have chose to do this but frankly I think it detracts from the premise of the book that was set to focus on Nancy and Ronald rather than the people in their lives.

I've seen some people on Goodreads complain about how this book had a lot of abbreviations for groups such as SAG (screen actors guild) of whatever else there were. Honestly there really weren't that many. Nothing at the author rights really feel bogged down other than the fact that there was a lot of backstory for other people involved, which is truly the most frustrating thing.

On top of that, I guess my next biggest complaint would be the fact that the author does rely on Edmond Morris' book, Dutch, for some research despite Morris' book being unreliable. Get the author does balance that out quite nicely with his personal connection to Nancy Reagan and the interviews that he conducted with her.

[Andy Reeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m torn in rating this book as there were a lot of things I really liked about it but as a whole I can’t say it was a great book. In the introduction, the author explains his background with the Reagans. And his perspective is a unique one in the sense that he covers more of the social lives and influences of the Reagans more than any Reagan biographer (and I have read many Reagan biographies.) But when you’re discussing Reagan and his rise to power with Nancy at his side, you really need to understand the politics of the time and have a grasp on writing it well. This author cannot measure up politically to the works of Lou Cannon and others that have written great works on the Reagan era policies. But it is one of the better personal looks into Reagan’s life and especially Nancy’s. Most alarming of all though is that the author a couple of times in this book makes mention of a second volume but he never wrote it! How disappointing…if I could give it three and a half stars I would.

[Bernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Well-researched and interesting. I didn't expect to learn so much about Hollywood/Los Angeles history as well, which was a nice boon.

[Kathleen DuVall · Rating 2 out of 5]

At some point I may go back and read the rest of this book but after 100 pages, I gave up. It was like reading a genealogy book on the Reagan and Davis families with as many quotes and names as he could squeeze onto a page. It was almost as if the author wanted to be sure to prove his research so he was sure you would believe him. When I left the book, the main characters had not made it to Hollywood yet but if he followed suit, those chapters would just be a series of name-dropping and quotes, with little feeling or story behind them. Sometimes I wish I had read an excerpt from the book before buying it and that is certainly the case here.

[Mary-alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an easy, insightful read into the personalities of Ronnie and Nancy Regan. Whatever your politics, you would enjoy the story of their early lives without and with each other ( ends with the Presidential election).

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will be straight up on this, Reagan is one of my least favorite presidents. I hate most of his policies, trickle down economics is one of the worst scams this country has ever seen, and his 'good 'ol boy' attitude infected just about every Republican afterward. However, this book actually made me kinda like Reagan as a person. I will admit that I didn't know a whole lot about Reagan before he became POTUS. I know he used to be an actor and didn't trust the Russians. This book taught me a lot and now it would seem as though Reagan was, at least at one point, a decent human being. That seemed to be one of the strengths of this book, that it focused on Reagan the person, stopped before his presidency, and touched very little on his politics. It went into a great deal of detail on his time as SAG president and I have a great deal of respect for him for not falling into the McCarthy hysteria.

At the same time, I would expect a presidential biography to go into their policies and political career as well and not just glaze it over. It seems like this is the first half of like a two part biography. I guess I'll have to get a copy of the second half and go from there.

One other thing I did really like about this book was how it explained the relationship between Ron and Nancy. The feud between Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford was super interesting. I also admire how she was a fierce ass bitch when it came to sticking up for her hubby. She had his back all the way and played the dutiful wife in front of the camera and mastered the same political games he did behind the scenes. I also liked how the beginning shifted back and forth between Ron's early history and Nancy's. Honestly, I'm really interested in her now and am gonna start trolling for Nancy bios. Please let me know if you have any recommendations on this front.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In general, this was just not enjoyable to read. I appreciate biography and history when the story is well-told. I especially disliked the author's habit of analyzing other biographical accounts, as if he wanted to prove or justify how certain events were told elsewhere. I also found it boring to wade through the background and extra information about many other people and marginal events.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of Colacello's two biographical books about Ronald Reagan. This one covers his birth and growth to the Hollywood years, to meeting Nancy and how they won the White House. Reading it won't change your life, but it is an interesting foray into recent history.

[Natalie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, not quite a page turner but only because of so many facts and names to try and remember throughout the book.
Lots of facts otherwise not known to me were revealed and kept the motivation going to complete this novel.
A long read but well worth the time.