Right Turn: American Life in the Reagan-Bush Era, 1980-1992

by Michael Schaller

An entire generation has passed since the election that installed Ronald Reagan into the White House. This brisk narrative fills a significant gap in the literature on recent U.S. history, making use of diverse memoir material, journalistic accounts, biographies, and specialized policy studies, including those produced recently.
Rather than focusing solely on the Reagan and Bush administrations or presidencies, Right Turn addresses the various policy, cultural, social, economic, and technological issues that made the 1980s and early 1990s such an interesting product of the events that proceeded it--and such a vital force in American life that followed. Beginning in the late 1970s and concluding in the early 1990s, this book examines how conservative ideas and organizations reemerged from the shadows of the Great Depression and the New Deal. It describes national politics and public policies implemented by conservative Republicans, the dramatic climax of the Cold War, and the ways in which economic, legal, social, and cultural developments affected ordinary Americans in all their diversity. Featuring numerous photographs throughout and detailed guides to specialized readings at the end of each chapter, Right Turn is ideal for history and political science courses that cover post-1945 America as well as the
1980s and 1990s.

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 2006

About the author

Michael Schaller is Regents Professor of History at the University of Arizona. A specialist in twentieth-century American politics and foreign policy, he earned his bachelor's degree from SUNY Binghamton in 1968 and his master's (1969) and doctorate (1974) degrees from the University of Michigan.

Reviews

[Savanah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt it was too rushed and jumped around a lot. The author was trying to fit a 300 page book in 180 pages.

[Niki]

A decent overview of the Reagan era, placing it in the context of the rise of conservatism. You'll have to look elsewhere to figure out what happened to liberalism in this era. There's a throw-away chapter on culture at the end that isn't really integrated into the book, but I don't know a good book on eighties culture (maybe Ehrman's The Eighties) so this will suffice.

Actually, this book isn't that different from Ehrman's book, with the exception of a somewhat greater focus on conservatism and a deeper look at Bush I.

[Daniel Pasternak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a great deal from this book. Any conservative or moderate independent should give it a read. If you are a liberal progressive it will probably just piss you off because it exposes the liberal belief system for what it is. In a nutshell it explains why the vast majority of Americans turned to strong conservatism in the late 1970's.