What do you think?
Rate this book
The Judge: William P. Clark, Ronald Reagan's Top Hand
The most important biographical record of the Reagan years--from the Reagan governorship to the 40th President's period in the White House--had not been written, until it is the story of Ronald Reagan's indispensable man, confidant, and single most important William P. Clark, known to many as simply The Judge. With his record, resumé, and the respect he earned from so many quarters, why did Bill Clark never pen an autobiography? Why did he never write memoirs, even while less influential advisors advanced their stories in the 1980s, proclaiming theirs to be the authoritative "insider's account" of the Reagan presidency? Why did Clark not write that story as everyone--from top Reagan officials such as Cap Weinberger to authoritative Reagan biographers such as Lou Cannon--urged him to do?
Bill Clark's reluctance to promote himself stopped him from picking up pen and paper. Instead, at long last, he acquiesced to the writing of this biography. Paul Kengor did the convincing, and Pat Clark Doerner worked with Clark painstakingly to review the manuscript. Kengor and Doerner together wrote this fascinating account of one man's life, from a ranch house to the White House and then, again, back to the ranch--to what Ronald Reagan called the "sunset of life".
Reagan biographers such as Edmund Morris and major publications like the New York Times Magazine and Time all Bill Clark was Ronald Reagan's single most trusted aide, perhaps the most powerful national security advisor in American history. His close relationship with Reagan allows special insight into the President as well as other close friends from the earliest Reagan Lyn Nofziger, Cap Weinberger and Bill Casey. Also featured are the exquisite Clare Boothe Luce; the elegant Nancy Reagan; the mercurial Alexander Haig; Britain's "Iron Lady", Margaret Thatcher; France's wily François Mitterrand, the saintly Pope John Paul II, and an anxious Saddam Hussein, among others.
With Reagan, Clark accomplished many things, but none more profound than the track they laid to undermine Soviet communism, to win the Cold War. As this book shows, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clark, two ranchers, a President and his top hand, truly changed history. At long last, over two decades after that significant accomplishment, Bill Clark shares the details of that extraordinary effort, many of which--as readers of this book will learn--have never before been reported.
Bill Clark's reluctance to promote himself stopped him from picking up pen and paper. Instead, at long last, he acquiesced to the writing of this biography. Paul Kengor did the convincing, and Pat Clark Doerner worked with Clark painstakingly to review the manuscript. Kengor and Doerner together wrote this fascinating account of one man's life, from a ranch house to the White House and then, again, back to the ranch--to what Ronald Reagan called the "sunset of life".
Reagan biographers such as Edmund Morris and major publications like the New York Times Magazine and Time all Bill Clark was Ronald Reagan's single most trusted aide, perhaps the most powerful national security advisor in American history. His close relationship with Reagan allows special insight into the President as well as other close friends from the earliest Reagan Lyn Nofziger, Cap Weinberger and Bill Casey. Also featured are the exquisite Clare Boothe Luce; the elegant Nancy Reagan; the mercurial Alexander Haig; Britain's "Iron Lady", Margaret Thatcher; France's wily François Mitterrand, the saintly Pope John Paul II, and an anxious Saddam Hussein, among others.
With Reagan, Clark accomplished many things, but none more profound than the track they laid to undermine Soviet communism, to win the Cold War. As this book shows, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clark, two ranchers, a President and his top hand, truly changed history. At long last, over two decades after that significant accomplishment, Bill Clark shares the details of that extraordinary effort, many of which--as readers of this book will learn--have never before been reported.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 2007
1 person is currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Paul Kengor
35 books143 followersPaul G. Kengor is an author and professor of political science at Grove City College and the senior director of the Institute for Faith and Freedom, a Grove City College think tank. He is a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. Kengor has focused much of his work on Ronald Reagan, faith and the presidency, conservative politics, the Cold War, Communism, and Catholicism.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 16, 2019
It is very encouraging to learn that there are people like The Judge,
A person a 100% loyal to God and also loyal to his country, The United States of America, his president, Ronald Reagan and his family and friends. He and his interests were always at the end of the list. The world would be very different with people like him.
He is probably unknown outside of the USA because he was very humble and far away of self-promoting. Unfortunately he was an endangered specie.
He always produced gestures of goodwill and that was appreciated by republicans and democrats alike.
He received nays from the congress and the senate in the voting for his positions but when he resigned, the yeas and the nays alike regretted his departure.
His achievements did not go to his head because God was his priority.
Excellent reading.
A person a 100% loyal to God and also loyal to his country, The United States of America, his president, Ronald Reagan and his family and friends. He and his interests were always at the end of the list. The world would be very different with people like him.
He is probably unknown outside of the USA because he was very humble and far away of self-promoting. Unfortunately he was an endangered specie.
He always produced gestures of goodwill and that was appreciated by republicans and democrats alike.
He received nays from the congress and the senate in the voting for his positions but when he resigned, the yeas and the nays alike regretted his departure.
His achievements did not go to his head because God was his priority.
Excellent reading.
January 20, 2024
Since politics was something I did not pay attention to during my school years, I found this very interesting. The image of him riding a white horse early in the mornings in Washington is reminisce of Our Savior in scripture. Apparently he lived this out in his actions and also rode off in the sunset by leaving before Reagan’s was over. The Cold War ended and this explains how these two men tipped the scale against communism. ThankYou God!!!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews