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Reagan: His Life and Legend
In this “monumental and impressive” biography, Max Boot, the distinguished political columnist, illuminates the untold story of Ronald Reagan, revealing the man behind the mythology. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred of the fortieth president’s aides, friends, and family members, as well as thousands of newly available documents, Boot provides “the best biography of Ronald Reagan to date” (Robert Mann).
The story begins not in star-studded Hollywood but in the cradle of the Midwest, smalltown Illinois, where Reagan was born in 1911 to Nelle Clyde Wilson, a devoted Disciples of Christ believer, and Jack Reagan, a struggling, alcoholic salesman. Boot vividly creates a portrait of a handsome young man, indeed a much-vaunted lifeguard, whose early successes mirrored those of Horatio Alger.
And contextualizing Reagan’s life against American history, Boot re-creates the world in which Reagan transitioned from local Iowa sportscaster to budding screen actor.
The world of Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1950s would prove significant, not only in Reagan’s coming-of-age in such classics as Knute Rockne and Kings Row but during the twilight of his film career, when he played opposite a chimpanzee in Bedtime for Bonzo, and then his eventual emergence as a television host of General Electric Theater, which established his bona fides as one of the leading conservative voices of the time. Indeed, the leap to California governor in 1966 seemed almost preordained, in which Reagan became a bellwether for a nation in the throes of a generational shift.
Reagan’s 1980 presidential election augured a shift that continues into this century. Boot writes not as a partisan but as a historian seeking to set the story straight. He explains how Reagan was not only an ideologue but also a supreme pragmatist who signed pro-abortion and gun control bills as governor, cut deals with Democrats in both Sacramento and Washington, and befriended Mikhail Gorbachev to help end the Cold War. A master communicator, Reagan revived America’s spirits after the traumas of Vietnam and Watergate. But Boot also shows how Reagan was armored in obliviousness. He traces Reagan’s opposition to civil rights over forty years, reveals how he neglected the exploding AIDS epidemic, and details how America experienced a level of income inequality not seen since the Gilded Age.
With its revelatory insights, His Life and Legend is no apologia, depicting a man with a good-versus-evil worldview derived from his moralistic upbringing and Hollywood westerns. Providing fresh examinations of “trickle-down economics,” the Cold War’s end, the Iran-Contra affair, as well as a nuanced portrait of Reagan’s family, this definitive biography is as compelling a presidential biography as any in recent decades.
“This is a timely and fascinating book, just what we need to understand, and perhaps transcend, our current age of political paralysis and polarization. Understanding Reagan is key to understanding our politics today.”—Walter Isaacson, author of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs
The story begins not in star-studded Hollywood but in the cradle of the Midwest, smalltown Illinois, where Reagan was born in 1911 to Nelle Clyde Wilson, a devoted Disciples of Christ believer, and Jack Reagan, a struggling, alcoholic salesman. Boot vividly creates a portrait of a handsome young man, indeed a much-vaunted lifeguard, whose early successes mirrored those of Horatio Alger.
And contextualizing Reagan’s life against American history, Boot re-creates the world in which Reagan transitioned from local Iowa sportscaster to budding screen actor.
The world of Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1950s would prove significant, not only in Reagan’s coming-of-age in such classics as Knute Rockne and Kings Row but during the twilight of his film career, when he played opposite a chimpanzee in Bedtime for Bonzo, and then his eventual emergence as a television host of General Electric Theater, which established his bona fides as one of the leading conservative voices of the time. Indeed, the leap to California governor in 1966 seemed almost preordained, in which Reagan became a bellwether for a nation in the throes of a generational shift.
Reagan’s 1980 presidential election augured a shift that continues into this century. Boot writes not as a partisan but as a historian seeking to set the story straight. He explains how Reagan was not only an ideologue but also a supreme pragmatist who signed pro-abortion and gun control bills as governor, cut deals with Democrats in both Sacramento and Washington, and befriended Mikhail Gorbachev to help end the Cold War. A master communicator, Reagan revived America’s spirits after the traumas of Vietnam and Watergate. But Boot also shows how Reagan was armored in obliviousness. He traces Reagan’s opposition to civil rights over forty years, reveals how he neglected the exploding AIDS epidemic, and details how America experienced a level of income inequality not seen since the Gilded Age.
With its revelatory insights, His Life and Legend is no apologia, depicting a man with a good-versus-evil worldview derived from his moralistic upbringing and Hollywood westerns. Providing fresh examinations of “trickle-down economics,” the Cold War’s end, the Iran-Contra affair, as well as a nuanced portrait of Reagan’s family, this definitive biography is as compelling a presidential biography as any in recent decades.
“This is a timely and fascinating book, just what we need to understand, and perhaps transcend, our current age of political paralysis and polarization. Understanding Reagan is key to understanding our politics today.”—Walter Isaacson, author of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs
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First published September 10, 2024
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About the author
Max Boot
13 books221 followersMax Boot is a historian and biographer, best-selling author, and foreign-policy analyst. He is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a weekly columnist for The Washington Post.
Max Boot’s biography of Ronald Reagan, Reagan: His Life and Legend, is his third New York Times bestseller. It was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2024 by the New York Times, and also made best-of-the-year lists from The New Yorker, The Washington Post and The Economist. It has been acclaimed as a "landmark work" (The New York Times), the "definitive biography" (The New Yorker), “magisterial" (The Washington Post), and “enormously readable and scrupulously honest” (The Sunday Times). Max Boot’s previous biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, was also a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in biography.
Max Boot’s biography of Ronald Reagan, Reagan: His Life and Legend, is his third New York Times bestseller. It was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2024 by the New York Times, and also made best-of-the-year lists from The New Yorker, The Washington Post and The Economist. It has been acclaimed as a "landmark work" (The New York Times), the "definitive biography" (The New Yorker), “magisterial" (The Washington Post), and “enormously readable and scrupulously honest” (The Sunday Times). Max Boot’s previous biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, was also a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in biography.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 327 reviews
November 20, 2024
I really hate writing about politics. People have very strong feelings, and I'm just a history nerd trying to make it in this crazy world. I knew Reagan by Max Boot would test my abilities to write a comprehensive review without getting dragged into endless online discourse. In order to make my life easier, I am going to first tackle Reagan purely as a book and then I'll discuss Boot's approach to Ronald Reagan's politics and legacy. I don't think I need to provide much of an introduction to the Gipper, so let's get to it!
As far as a book, Reagan is really good! Boot's prose flows easily and the book never drags. It is a hefty tome (over 700 pages of actual narrative), but I never felt the need to skip sections because it didn't add to Reagan's overall story. From a construction perspective, I would say Boot's introduction is a bit too detailed about what he intends to highlight about the former president. It means there is a bit too much of a repetition in themes that Boot references directly and with the same language. These are very small sections and, as I said, don't bog down the narrative. However, you do notice when you see the same phrase. If you don't have a dog in the fight of, "How good of a president was Reagan?" then I highly recommend it.
Now the part I hate. How does Boot handle his subject from a political perspective? Simply, if you have strong feelings about Reagan either way, then I think you will be upset. Boot does not call Reagan a terrible human being and world leader. He also doesn't deify Reagan. If pressed, I would say that Boot criticizes Reagan more than he compliments him. After long passages, Boot will use phrases like, "To be fair to him" or "To give him credit". These phrases usually indicate you just finished a criticism of someone and are now trying to add context. I felt in a couple of specific instances that Boot did extrapolate a bit too much in his criticisms, but this is far from a hit piece of the subject.
Boot does highlight Reagan's positive attributes while leveling some harsh words on his legacy. The final chapter would delight Reagan fans, though. Boot spends most of this section putting a finer point on Reagan's accomplishments and the positive attributes which made so many people love him.
Other reviewers mentioned this, so I should probably as well. Yes, Donald Trump does come up a few times. It's not often or for very long. Yes, you can tell how Boot feels about him. It doesn't ruin anything else about the book, but it does feel badly placed. You could cut these sections out (again, they are very short references) and the book would not suffer at all.
In the end, a biography is supposed to help you understand the subject better. I definitely feel more intelligent about the entire life of Reagan even if I disagreed with Boot's conclusions here and there. This is worth a read if you are willing to disagree with the author and still respect the work they put in.
(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)
As far as a book, Reagan is really good! Boot's prose flows easily and the book never drags. It is a hefty tome (over 700 pages of actual narrative), but I never felt the need to skip sections because it didn't add to Reagan's overall story. From a construction perspective, I would say Boot's introduction is a bit too detailed about what he intends to highlight about the former president. It means there is a bit too much of a repetition in themes that Boot references directly and with the same language. These are very small sections and, as I said, don't bog down the narrative. However, you do notice when you see the same phrase. If you don't have a dog in the fight of, "How good of a president was Reagan?" then I highly recommend it.
Now the part I hate. How does Boot handle his subject from a political perspective? Simply, if you have strong feelings about Reagan either way, then I think you will be upset. Boot does not call Reagan a terrible human being and world leader. He also doesn't deify Reagan. If pressed, I would say that Boot criticizes Reagan more than he compliments him. After long passages, Boot will use phrases like, "To be fair to him" or "To give him credit". These phrases usually indicate you just finished a criticism of someone and are now trying to add context. I felt in a couple of specific instances that Boot did extrapolate a bit too much in his criticisms, but this is far from a hit piece of the subject.
Boot does highlight Reagan's positive attributes while leveling some harsh words on his legacy. The final chapter would delight Reagan fans, though. Boot spends most of this section putting a finer point on Reagan's accomplishments and the positive attributes which made so many people love him.
Other reviewers mentioned this, so I should probably as well. Yes, Donald Trump does come up a few times. It's not often or for very long. Yes, you can tell how Boot feels about him. It doesn't ruin anything else about the book, but it does feel badly placed. You could cut these sections out (again, they are very short references) and the book would not suffer at all.
In the end, a biography is supposed to help you understand the subject better. I definitely feel more intelligent about the entire life of Reagan even if I disagreed with Boot's conclusions here and there. This is worth a read if you are willing to disagree with the author and still respect the work they put in.
(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)
December 25, 2024
The first 3/4 of the book is so good. It does falter toward the end. Mainly because Boot refuses to contextualize any of Reagan's policies on American culture. He glosses over racism and AIDS in favor of tons of text on Ruso-American relations. Even that he doesn't fully make clear what it all means instead he just recites information. Reagan was apparently hard to get to know, but after spending 32 hours with his book I don't feel like I have a better sense of the man. It is a good biography because it is an interesting way to look at the history of American but the ending is so abrupt and let me wanting
October 23, 2024
No issues with the authors writing style. It was fluid and easy to read.
My main issues with this were that it eventually felt like Boot had an axe to grind with Reagan and would stop at nothing to point out every hypocrisy in Reagans life. Whether it was a major incident or a private conversation from Reagans childhood, if it conflicted with any other part of his life Boot was sure to bring it up. I eventually began to wonder what parts of Reagans life were being left out as they may paint him in a better light.
I also took issue with the authors mentioning of President Trump at least 10x throughout the book. This convinced me that Boot was writing this with a very particular audience in mind and not for history.
Some examples of issues I found with things Boot mentioned (alot that added nothing of value to the text). Eventually Boot just came off as mean spirited (repeatedly calling Reagan a washed up actor). While I fully acknowledge Reagan was not perfect and may be over “worshipped” by conservatives he is nowhere near the aloof racist that Boot portrays him as.
Author implies Reagan is racist for calling MLK immoral, disregarding the disdain Reagan held for adulterers.
Says Reagan is anti civil rights because he didn’t support bussing even though only 32% of African Americans supported it at the time.
Seemed like Boot could spend pages discussing something just to drop in a couple unrelated sentences at the end to paint Reagan as racist - like Reagan golfing at Augusta when they didn’t have black members.
No section of this book is devoid of accusations of Reagan being a racist (It eventually became tiring).
Reagan used the sentence “Restrain the DARKER impulses of human nature” - again supposedly racist.
Author makes the assertion w/ both Goldwater and Reagan, they hold political opinions that some racists also hold so therefore they must also be racist.
To discredit one of Reagans speeches, Boot uses the incredible source of “a graduate student” that studied the speech. That student found many false, exaggerated or unconfirmed statements.
While discussing Gerald Ford, Boot writes that Ford was a college football star while Reagan could barely make the Eureka Varsity squad. This had already been noted and seems like it was added again as a feeble attempt to belittle Reagan. Apparently making varsity is not good enough for Max Boot.
Apparently using the term “strapping young buck” is racist.
Boot asserts that Reagan was foolishly worried about war w/ the Soviets. They weren’t that big of a threat because after a first strike the US could strike back and destroy every major Soviet city. I guess Boot assumes that the first strike that hits us would be insignificant and when the Soviets saw our massive responsive they wouldn’t launch more missiles.
Boot blames Reagan that in 1980 59% of Americans belonged to the middle class while in 2020 that percentage dropped to 50. Boot does not mention any other changes in society during that time like the tech boom, shrinking of manufacturing and auto industry and the growing reliance on the welfare state.
Reagan had advocated publicly for the Berlin Wall to come down but then in a private conversation in 1988 Reagan said he would be satisfied if the two parts of Berlin could just work together. Boot somehow makes this out to be hypocrisy on Reagans part, he would have rather had Reagan aim small from the get go rather than set a lofty goal (which eventually came to fruition).
My main issues with this were that it eventually felt like Boot had an axe to grind with Reagan and would stop at nothing to point out every hypocrisy in Reagans life. Whether it was a major incident or a private conversation from Reagans childhood, if it conflicted with any other part of his life Boot was sure to bring it up. I eventually began to wonder what parts of Reagans life were being left out as they may paint him in a better light.
I also took issue with the authors mentioning of President Trump at least 10x throughout the book. This convinced me that Boot was writing this with a very particular audience in mind and not for history.
Some examples of issues I found with things Boot mentioned (alot that added nothing of value to the text). Eventually Boot just came off as mean spirited (repeatedly calling Reagan a washed up actor). While I fully acknowledge Reagan was not perfect and may be over “worshipped” by conservatives he is nowhere near the aloof racist that Boot portrays him as.
Author implies Reagan is racist for calling MLK immoral, disregarding the disdain Reagan held for adulterers.
Says Reagan is anti civil rights because he didn’t support bussing even though only 32% of African Americans supported it at the time.
Seemed like Boot could spend pages discussing something just to drop in a couple unrelated sentences at the end to paint Reagan as racist - like Reagan golfing at Augusta when they didn’t have black members.
No section of this book is devoid of accusations of Reagan being a racist (It eventually became tiring).
Reagan used the sentence “Restrain the DARKER impulses of human nature” - again supposedly racist.
Author makes the assertion w/ both Goldwater and Reagan, they hold political opinions that some racists also hold so therefore they must also be racist.
To discredit one of Reagans speeches, Boot uses the incredible source of “a graduate student” that studied the speech. That student found many false, exaggerated or unconfirmed statements.
While discussing Gerald Ford, Boot writes that Ford was a college football star while Reagan could barely make the Eureka Varsity squad. This had already been noted and seems like it was added again as a feeble attempt to belittle Reagan. Apparently making varsity is not good enough for Max Boot.
Apparently using the term “strapping young buck” is racist.
Boot asserts that Reagan was foolishly worried about war w/ the Soviets. They weren’t that big of a threat because after a first strike the US could strike back and destroy every major Soviet city. I guess Boot assumes that the first strike that hits us would be insignificant and when the Soviets saw our massive responsive they wouldn’t launch more missiles.
Boot blames Reagan that in 1980 59% of Americans belonged to the middle class while in 2020 that percentage dropped to 50. Boot does not mention any other changes in society during that time like the tech boom, shrinking of manufacturing and auto industry and the growing reliance on the welfare state.
Reagan had advocated publicly for the Berlin Wall to come down but then in a private conversation in 1988 Reagan said he would be satisfied if the two parts of Berlin could just work together. Boot somehow makes this out to be hypocrisy on Reagans part, he would have rather had Reagan aim small from the get go rather than set a lofty goal (which eventually came to fruition).
October 5, 2024
Well written balanced commentary on Ronald Reagan.
December 11, 2024
This feels like it's been written at great length and then edited down to bitesize chunks. There's nothing wrong with that per se. Writing a one-volume history of an American president - especially one like Reagan who had careers in both politics and Hollywood - is extremely tricky given all the detail you have to include. Boot does a good enough job providing the essentials. And he's not afraid to correct the record and criticise. You get a good understanding of Reagan's personality, which
wasn't as egregious as Goldwater's or Trump's. But his rhetoric - especially on civil rights, tax cuts for the rich and 'big government' - was the usual rightwing claptrap. The original MAGA-man, he even had his own culture wars when he was governor of California in the '60s (Berkeley Riots, Black Panthers, college shootings), and was happy to raise campaign funds by 'frightening the faithful about purported Democratic plots to destroy America' and by appealing to white bigotry. Plus ca change. 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' helped win him the presidency in 1980 (like it did Trump in 2024), but by undercutting union bargaining power he helped bring in long-term income stagnation for blue collar workers and a widening of income inequality. A legacy still being felt - and exploited by his old party - today.
wasn't as egregious as Goldwater's or Trump's. But his rhetoric - especially on civil rights, tax cuts for the rich and 'big government' - was the usual rightwing claptrap. The original MAGA-man, he even had his own culture wars when he was governor of California in the '60s (Berkeley Riots, Black Panthers, college shootings), and was happy to raise campaign funds by 'frightening the faithful about purported Democratic plots to destroy America' and by appealing to white bigotry. Plus ca change. 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' helped win him the presidency in 1980 (like it did Trump in 2024), but by undercutting union bargaining power he helped bring in long-term income stagnation for blue collar workers and a widening of income inequality. A legacy still being felt - and exploited by his old party - today.
August 5, 2024
I debated if I wanted to read this book or not, but decided to request it, and I am so glad I did.
The author, Max Boot, said he was an Independent, and as I read the book, he was. He told the Reagan story, through facts, about Ronald Reagan, the man, the history, and it just flowed, making reading such a delightful experience. If we could only have history books like this in school. There was a lot of history being made at that time.
I received an ARC from Liveright through NetGalley.
The author, Max Boot, said he was an Independent, and as I read the book, he was. He told the Reagan story, through facts, about Ronald Reagan, the man, the history, and it just flowed, making reading such a delightful experience. If we could only have history books like this in school. There was a lot of history being made at that time.
I received an ARC from Liveright through NetGalley.
September 22, 2024
https://wp.me/p302YQ-6ac
For a modern president who loomed so large in his time, relatively few compelling, comprehensive biographies of Ronald Reagan have been written. Boot, a Russian-born naturalized American and self-identified conservative, has long been fascinated by Reagan and his presidency.
In 2013 he began a quest to assess Reagan's life and legacy, tapping nearly every possible source of information including previous biographers' personal notes, interviewing nearly 100 people from Reagan's orbit and reviewing recently declassified documents. What resulted is a thoughtful, reflective and surprisingly critical tome.
Organized chronologically, "Reagan: His Life and Legend" successfully covers every important aspect of Reagan's personal and professional lives. The author's writing style is consistently easy to follow, but it does tend to oscillate between an elegant, lucid prose and the critical, no-nonsense syntax one might expect from a skilled lawyer.
Rather than fully de-coding the enigmatic Reagan - a challenge that has eluded even the best of his biographers - Boots settles on two seemingly unremarkable tenets: that on a personal level Reagan was inscrutable due to the circumstances of his upbringing and, in the political arena, his actions could be explained by his strong tendency towards pragmatism.
But if this "revelation" underwhelms most readers, the book does contain numerous redeeming elements. The Prologue and Introduction are each quite engaging, Boot does a very nice job reviewing the American Midwest during Reagan's childhood, and a chapter devoted to Reagan's summit with Gorbachev in Geneva will intrigue and entertain almost any reader.
In addition, Boot's willingness to directly confront the countless contradictions posed by Reagan is both refreshing and valuable. Finally, the narrative is unusually dexterous in analyzing and explaining many of the foreign policy issues that confronted the Reagan administration.
But for all its merit this biography possesses its share of shortcomings. The publisher promises nothing less than a "definitive biography" which is "as compelling a presidential biography as any in recent decades." Against such a towering standard this biography certainly falls short.
Boots identifies early signs of "Trumpism" during the build-up of Reagan's political career; his first mention of this appears just a few pages into the biography. Unfortunately, the strange peculiarities of the Trump phenomenon infiltrates the narrative in a way that evolves from somewhat intriguing...to oddly intrusive. This is, after all, a biography of the 40th president, not the 45th.
And while Boot's objectivity is invaluable, he sometimes spends more time fact-checking Reagan than he devotes to creating the context and color of his subject's time and place. A president's supporting cast of advisors and surrogates provides the biographer with a rich opportunity to weave layers of interpersonal texture into a narrative. Boot fails to take full advantage of the possibility.
Finally, although an eloquent summary is provided in the books opening pages, this biography lacks the methodical, meticulous conclusory review of Reagan's legacy which a definitive biography so richly deserves and which Boot, after more than a decade of consideration, is uniquely able to offer.
Overall, Max Boot's "Reagan: His Life and Legend" is a welcome addition to the body of work devoted to the life and legacy of Ronald Reagan. This biography adds a unique voice to Reagan's biographical library and offers much to the curious reader. But someone seeking a uniquely-compelling presidential biography, or even just the definitive biography of Reagan, will find it doesn't quite live up to its promise.
Overall Rating: 4 stars
For a modern president who loomed so large in his time, relatively few compelling, comprehensive biographies of Ronald Reagan have been written. Boot, a Russian-born naturalized American and self-identified conservative, has long been fascinated by Reagan and his presidency.
In 2013 he began a quest to assess Reagan's life and legacy, tapping nearly every possible source of information including previous biographers' personal notes, interviewing nearly 100 people from Reagan's orbit and reviewing recently declassified documents. What resulted is a thoughtful, reflective and surprisingly critical tome.
Organized chronologically, "Reagan: His Life and Legend" successfully covers every important aspect of Reagan's personal and professional lives. The author's writing style is consistently easy to follow, but it does tend to oscillate between an elegant, lucid prose and the critical, no-nonsense syntax one might expect from a skilled lawyer.
Rather than fully de-coding the enigmatic Reagan - a challenge that has eluded even the best of his biographers - Boots settles on two seemingly unremarkable tenets: that on a personal level Reagan was inscrutable due to the circumstances of his upbringing and, in the political arena, his actions could be explained by his strong tendency towards pragmatism.
But if this "revelation" underwhelms most readers, the book does contain numerous redeeming elements. The Prologue and Introduction are each quite engaging, Boot does a very nice job reviewing the American Midwest during Reagan's childhood, and a chapter devoted to Reagan's summit with Gorbachev in Geneva will intrigue and entertain almost any reader.
In addition, Boot's willingness to directly confront the countless contradictions posed by Reagan is both refreshing and valuable. Finally, the narrative is unusually dexterous in analyzing and explaining many of the foreign policy issues that confronted the Reagan administration.
But for all its merit this biography possesses its share of shortcomings. The publisher promises nothing less than a "definitive biography" which is "as compelling a presidential biography as any in recent decades." Against such a towering standard this biography certainly falls short.
Boots identifies early signs of "Trumpism" during the build-up of Reagan's political career; his first mention of this appears just a few pages into the biography. Unfortunately, the strange peculiarities of the Trump phenomenon infiltrates the narrative in a way that evolves from somewhat intriguing...to oddly intrusive. This is, after all, a biography of the 40th president, not the 45th.
And while Boot's objectivity is invaluable, he sometimes spends more time fact-checking Reagan than he devotes to creating the context and color of his subject's time and place. A president's supporting cast of advisors and surrogates provides the biographer with a rich opportunity to weave layers of interpersonal texture into a narrative. Boot fails to take full advantage of the possibility.
Finally, although an eloquent summary is provided in the books opening pages, this biography lacks the methodical, meticulous conclusory review of Reagan's legacy which a definitive biography so richly deserves and which Boot, after more than a decade of consideration, is uniquely able to offer.
Overall, Max Boot's "Reagan: His Life and Legend" is a welcome addition to the body of work devoted to the life and legacy of Ronald Reagan. This biography adds a unique voice to Reagan's biographical library and offers much to the curious reader. But someone seeking a uniquely-compelling presidential biography, or even just the definitive biography of Reagan, will find it doesn't quite live up to its promise.
Overall Rating: 4 stars
December 19, 2024
I don’t know if it’s a good idea to write a review on a divisive political figure!? 😂😂
I saw some reviews that felt the author was too biased and I didn’t necessarily feel that way. Especially because I felt the author was very upfront from the beginning about his own experience growing up loving Reagan and eventually having more complicated feelings. The book does mention Donald Trump in the context of Reagan’s legacy but it didn’t bother me but might offend people who really love Trump. I think it’s a fair thing to consider.
I didn’t have a lot of super passionate feelings about Reagan which as probably the best way to go into this book I grew up with parents who really loved him (they’re more ambivalent now) and that’s really the bulk of what I knew. I definitely lean more liberal and would consider myself a centrist democrat but I try to be fair and reasonable. I am not afraid to admire and praise someone from the other party if I feel they are deserving and I’m also not afraid to criticize my party.
All that to say I personally enjoyed this book. It took me on a roller coaster ride haha! One second I was all for Reagan and the next I was super frustrated and angry. To me that says the author was doing their job.
Reagan is very interesting and complicated. On one hand he was a big part of the red scare in Hollywood and went behind colleagues backs to turn them in. At the same time he was incredibly conflict adverse and was so scared of hurting feelings that he didn’t even say anything mean about his would be assassin in his autobiography.
Reagan was passionate about individuals and would go above and beyond for people who wrote him about difficult life situations. On the other hand when he was confronted with groups of people who were struggling he could often be callous. The author says he had lots of sympathy but struggled with empathy.
He advocated for the family unit but his own nuclear family was incredibly dysfunctional. To the point that at his own funeral he had children who were not allowed to ride with the family to the cemetery.
He could be incredibly pragmatic about guns, abortion, and immigration. But he also could be very uninvolved in his administration to the point of letting aides fight it out over his positions.
So I guess the point is that he was a human. There’s good and bad. He has a complicated legacy. But I know I will too (though I don’t think anybody is going to be writing 880 page books about me hahaha!) I do think political leaders should be held to a different level of scrutiny and my general consensus is that some people love him and idolize him too much and others probably don’t give him enough credit.
I saw some reviews that felt the author was too biased and I didn’t necessarily feel that way. Especially because I felt the author was very upfront from the beginning about his own experience growing up loving Reagan and eventually having more complicated feelings. The book does mention Donald Trump in the context of Reagan’s legacy but it didn’t bother me but might offend people who really love Trump. I think it’s a fair thing to consider.
I didn’t have a lot of super passionate feelings about Reagan which as probably the best way to go into this book I grew up with parents who really loved him (they’re more ambivalent now) and that’s really the bulk of what I knew. I definitely lean more liberal and would consider myself a centrist democrat but I try to be fair and reasonable. I am not afraid to admire and praise someone from the other party if I feel they are deserving and I’m also not afraid to criticize my party.
All that to say I personally enjoyed this book. It took me on a roller coaster ride haha! One second I was all for Reagan and the next I was super frustrated and angry. To me that says the author was doing their job.
Reagan is very interesting and complicated. On one hand he was a big part of the red scare in Hollywood and went behind colleagues backs to turn them in. At the same time he was incredibly conflict adverse and was so scared of hurting feelings that he didn’t even say anything mean about his would be assassin in his autobiography.
Reagan was passionate about individuals and would go above and beyond for people who wrote him about difficult life situations. On the other hand when he was confronted with groups of people who were struggling he could often be callous. The author says he had lots of sympathy but struggled with empathy.
He advocated for the family unit but his own nuclear family was incredibly dysfunctional. To the point that at his own funeral he had children who were not allowed to ride with the family to the cemetery.
He could be incredibly pragmatic about guns, abortion, and immigration. But he also could be very uninvolved in his administration to the point of letting aides fight it out over his positions.
So I guess the point is that he was a human. There’s good and bad. He has a complicated legacy. But I know I will too (though I don’t think anybody is going to be writing 880 page books about me hahaha!) I do think political leaders should be held to a different level of scrutiny and my general consensus is that some people love him and idolize him too much and others probably don’t give him enough credit.
February 4, 2025
This book is not for the faint of heart. Not just because it’s almost 900 pages but times it’s very policy heavy. I think the author did a fantastic job telling a really important story of American history while not making it read like a textbook.
I learned so much about Ronald Reagan. Not just about where he came from but about who he really was, the entirety of the man, and how that affected his presidency … and in turn, the World.
He truly is a polarizing figure in American politics but as a man, he was beloved my most, and that says a lot 40 years after the end of his presidency. Born at the beginning of his presidency, I’ve always known OF Reagan and I thought I knew about him but what I knew was just the tip of the iceberg. As everyone is, he was an incredibly complex human being with deep rooted belief systems from his upbringing that drove his presidency and morality, which conflicted at times. He was much more of a pragmatist than most make him out to be.
I’m impressed with how well a job Max Boot did summing up this historic figure in World History. I can’t imagine the work it took to not only bring all this information together but to articulate it so thoroughly. Incredibly impressive.
Everyone’s gonna have opinions about who he was and what he did. That’s impossible to avoid but I think Boot remains a neutral figure in relaying the nuances of a life lived mostly in the (VERY BRIGHT) spot light.
I learned so much about Ronald Reagan. Not just about where he came from but about who he really was, the entirety of the man, and how that affected his presidency … and in turn, the World.
He truly is a polarizing figure in American politics but as a man, he was beloved my most, and that says a lot 40 years after the end of his presidency. Born at the beginning of his presidency, I’ve always known OF Reagan and I thought I knew about him but what I knew was just the tip of the iceberg. As everyone is, he was an incredibly complex human being with deep rooted belief systems from his upbringing that drove his presidency and morality, which conflicted at times. He was much more of a pragmatist than most make him out to be.
I’m impressed with how well a job Max Boot did summing up this historic figure in World History. I can’t imagine the work it took to not only bring all this information together but to articulate it so thoroughly. Incredibly impressive.
Everyone’s gonna have opinions about who he was and what he did. That’s impossible to avoid but I think Boot remains a neutral figure in relaying the nuances of a life lived mostly in the (VERY BRIGHT) spot light.
Read
May 13, 2025Very informative and def learned a lot. Did not know he was the og maga but that tracks
October 1, 2024
Max Boot started off great in Reagan. At first this felt like an object look at the life and legacy of the former President . However, the book took a definite turn toward, “Raegan was a liar, he lied about everything,” with a lot of “he made that up, he exaggerated, that’s not really what happened.”
I believe in honest critiques, I believe in perspectives that shed light on who a person really is, but this eventually felt like an 880-page vendetta.
I believe in honest critiques, I believe in perspectives that shed light on who a person really is, but this eventually felt like an 880-page vendetta.
May 27, 2025
880 pages. 36 hours of listening. Wow.
I wanted to learn more about Ronald Reagan—the first president I remember from my childhood in the 1980s. During a recent conversation with my mother about politics, I asked if she liked Reagan. Her response was immediate: “Absolutely not.” That left me curious. I wanted to understand why.
Thanks to Boot, I now understand. He paints a clear picture of Reagan's presidency, one that makes it easy to see why my mother wasn't a fan. After going through it all, I’d say Reagan marked the beginning of what would eventually become the MAGA movement.
Boot did a good job with the history of Ronald Reagan. I don't dislike or like it; he is a part of history.
I wanted to learn more about Ronald Reagan—the first president I remember from my childhood in the 1980s. During a recent conversation with my mother about politics, I asked if she liked Reagan. Her response was immediate: “Absolutely not.” That left me curious. I wanted to understand why.
Thanks to Boot, I now understand. He paints a clear picture of Reagan's presidency, one that makes it easy to see why my mother wasn't a fan. After going through it all, I’d say Reagan marked the beginning of what would eventually become the MAGA movement.
Boot did a good job with the history of Ronald Reagan. I don't dislike or like it; he is a part of history.
November 3, 2024
I bought this book after seeing the movie Reagan as the movie is supposedly based on this book The author begins in the prologue by stating that he wrote a “nonpartisan” history of Reagan’s life and presidency. I cannot stress how untrue that is . Mr Boot is a respected author and historian- I would suspect one that has a major issue with Reagan and his legacy.
Other reviewers have summed this alll up nicely - the way the author portrays Reagan as a rascist, homophobic, not very bright guy whose success was really just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Boot gives him ZERO credit for any accomplishment during his life and presidency - other than being a genuinely nice man who looks on the positive side of every situation
The best way I can tell you how this book comes
Across is to tell you to enjoy a nonpartisan biography of Donald Trump if it was written by Rachel Maddow or Joy Behar . In my opinion this book should be recategorized as fiction. I absolutely hated it and felt myself growing more and more frustrated - listened for 30 hours hoping for a shred of truly non biased “reporting”. Boot does mention that historians rank Reagan as the 9th most effective President in history - above him are the likes of Truman, Jefferson, Lincoln, Eisenhower and Kennedy. Mr Boot clearly disagrees as he spent 800 pages exercising his right of free speech. Just don’t call it historically accurate.
Other reviewers have summed this alll up nicely - the way the author portrays Reagan as a rascist, homophobic, not very bright guy whose success was really just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Boot gives him ZERO credit for any accomplishment during his life and presidency - other than being a genuinely nice man who looks on the positive side of every situation
The best way I can tell you how this book comes
Across is to tell you to enjoy a nonpartisan biography of Donald Trump if it was written by Rachel Maddow or Joy Behar . In my opinion this book should be recategorized as fiction. I absolutely hated it and felt myself growing more and more frustrated - listened for 30 hours hoping for a shred of truly non biased “reporting”. Boot does mention that historians rank Reagan as the 9th most effective President in history - above him are the likes of Truman, Jefferson, Lincoln, Eisenhower and Kennedy. Mr Boot clearly disagrees as he spent 800 pages exercising his right of free speech. Just don’t call it historically accurate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2024
Max Boot has apparently put together the first "definitive" biography of President Reagan. In his introduction, he frames Reagan's legacy as being wrapped up in Donald Trump, and asks to what extent is Trump the product of Reagan. He also cautions that neither Reagan's adoring fans nor his detractors will likely be satisfied with the book, as it takes a myth-dispelling approach to the former President. Nonetheless, the biography seems to have made a more corrective effort than typical hagiographies, emphasizing the realistic (and realistically bad) over the lionized version of Reagan's life. Boot's book does this in an extremely compelling manner, telling well-sourced and interesting stories about Reagan's life that amount to more than a history book and more than a character study. He weaves the threads of Reagan's career together in a very fulfilling way, showing a simple, generally decent man who seemed "unchanged" by the 8 years he spent in the White House.
I came away from this book with a negative impression of Ronald Reagan. His whole life and career seem to have been characterized by his three most defining traits: Geniality, Haplessness, and Callousness. In the concluding chapter, when describing Reagan's farewell address, Boot runs through a list of Reagan's accomplishments and failures. The positive comments are focused on vibes, such as his stoic and charming recovery from being shot and for his support for democratic transitions in semi-authoritarian US Allies like the Philippines. The negatives run much longer, including a ballooning deficit, a catastrophic response to the AIDS crisis, the Iran-Contra Affair, and a "hollowing out of the middle class." These negatives seem to far outweigh the positives.
Genial: The greatest thing about Reagan is encapsulated in his nickname "The Great Communicator." He has a talent for charming those who meet him and for putting a soft touch on his messages. He was well known for his quips, many of which can be attributed directly to him, rather than his speech writers. Whether debating Jimmy Carter, strategizing with Margaret Thatcher, negotiating with Mikheil Gorbachev, or answering constituent calls and letters in Sacramento, Reagan had an affability that disarmed his opponents and enthralled his supporters. He was manifestly kind and considerate to those around him, though he was aloof and self-serving in most cases. The book repeatedly described how he would fail to get to know his aides and even his children. At the same time, most people came away with a sense of charm and enchantment thanks to Reagan's masterful skills as a communicator, actor, and politician.
Hapless: I can't help but feel that Reagan failed upward his whole life. He was a mediocre student and football player who became a mediocre actor and then a governor who exceeded low expectations and a President who muddled his way through. He seems to have lacked a strong vision for what he wanted for the country--avoiding conflict would lead him to making pragmatist compromises with opposition leaders in Sacramento, Washington, and Moscow. He took little interest in policy details, a feature that likely saved him from serious consequences in the Iran-Contra Affair due to his extremely plausible deniability. His disinterest led him to walk away from the governorship, having become bored with it. It is hard to understand his motivations beyond wanting to be liked and win life's popularity contest.
Callous: Like many politicians, especially those on the right, Reagan demonstrated a lack of macroempathy throughout his life. This creates a contradiction with his personal empathy that he held for individuals. Boot describes a pair of impoverished sisters who wrote him while he was governor and whom he would assist throughout his life, without seeking plaudits for his charity and consideration. At the same time, he was decrying "welfare queens" in Chicago and failing to understand why people couldn't just pursue his dreams, as he had, as if all you needed to become a Hollywood star was a strong work ethic. In the White House, his lack of imagination allowed the AIDS pandemic to spiral nearly out of control. He spared no thoughts for HIV's early victims, really waking up to the severity when one of his wealthy, white, straight Hollywood colleagues contracted the virus and passed it along to her infants through breastfeeding. Reagan couldn't (or wouldn't) easily see the humanity of those unlike him, but could feign interest until an issue struck home with someone he resonated with.
I'm ignoring many of the more salacious elements of Reagan's career, such as his flirtation with white supremacists and his recorded remarks disdaining African nations' accession to the UN, because they distract from the main image of the President as someone who is highly regarded almost wholly because of his good vibes term in office. He gave America its groove back, but at the cost of empowering some of the most divisive elements of American society today. The wealth gap, the overturning of Roe v Wade, the re-rise of muscular Christianity, the polarization of media, all these and more are Reagan's legacy.
Oh, and he helped Americans feel good about themselves throughout the 1980s. I guess that's something.
I came away from this book with a negative impression of Ronald Reagan. His whole life and career seem to have been characterized by his three most defining traits: Geniality, Haplessness, and Callousness. In the concluding chapter, when describing Reagan's farewell address, Boot runs through a list of Reagan's accomplishments and failures. The positive comments are focused on vibes, such as his stoic and charming recovery from being shot and for his support for democratic transitions in semi-authoritarian US Allies like the Philippines. The negatives run much longer, including a ballooning deficit, a catastrophic response to the AIDS crisis, the Iran-Contra Affair, and a "hollowing out of the middle class." These negatives seem to far outweigh the positives.
Genial: The greatest thing about Reagan is encapsulated in his nickname "The Great Communicator." He has a talent for charming those who meet him and for putting a soft touch on his messages. He was well known for his quips, many of which can be attributed directly to him, rather than his speech writers. Whether debating Jimmy Carter, strategizing with Margaret Thatcher, negotiating with Mikheil Gorbachev, or answering constituent calls and letters in Sacramento, Reagan had an affability that disarmed his opponents and enthralled his supporters. He was manifestly kind and considerate to those around him, though he was aloof and self-serving in most cases. The book repeatedly described how he would fail to get to know his aides and even his children. At the same time, most people came away with a sense of charm and enchantment thanks to Reagan's masterful skills as a communicator, actor, and politician.
Hapless: I can't help but feel that Reagan failed upward his whole life. He was a mediocre student and football player who became a mediocre actor and then a governor who exceeded low expectations and a President who muddled his way through. He seems to have lacked a strong vision for what he wanted for the country--avoiding conflict would lead him to making pragmatist compromises with opposition leaders in Sacramento, Washington, and Moscow. He took little interest in policy details, a feature that likely saved him from serious consequences in the Iran-Contra Affair due to his extremely plausible deniability. His disinterest led him to walk away from the governorship, having become bored with it. It is hard to understand his motivations beyond wanting to be liked and win life's popularity contest.
Callous: Like many politicians, especially those on the right, Reagan demonstrated a lack of macroempathy throughout his life. This creates a contradiction with his personal empathy that he held for individuals. Boot describes a pair of impoverished sisters who wrote him while he was governor and whom he would assist throughout his life, without seeking plaudits for his charity and consideration. At the same time, he was decrying "welfare queens" in Chicago and failing to understand why people couldn't just pursue his dreams, as he had, as if all you needed to become a Hollywood star was a strong work ethic. In the White House, his lack of imagination allowed the AIDS pandemic to spiral nearly out of control. He spared no thoughts for HIV's early victims, really waking up to the severity when one of his wealthy, white, straight Hollywood colleagues contracted the virus and passed it along to her infants through breastfeeding. Reagan couldn't (or wouldn't) easily see the humanity of those unlike him, but could feign interest until an issue struck home with someone he resonated with.
I'm ignoring many of the more salacious elements of Reagan's career, such as his flirtation with white supremacists and his recorded remarks disdaining African nations' accession to the UN, because they distract from the main image of the President as someone who is highly regarded almost wholly because of his good vibes term in office. He gave America its groove back, but at the cost of empowering some of the most divisive elements of American society today. The wealth gap, the overturning of Roe v Wade, the re-rise of muscular Christianity, the polarization of media, all these and more are Reagan's legacy.
Oh, and he helped Americans feel good about themselves throughout the 1980s. I guess that's something.
February 10, 2025
I picked this up to learn more about Reagan and the similarities to the current administration. The book was clearly really well researched with a lot of detail while still being easily digestible for the average person, my biggest complaint is the length.
I mostly wanted to learn about his presidencies and roles in government, but i felt like by the time i reached it I was fatigued. The portion about him being in government felt short in comparison. I was hoping to learn more about the policies of trickle down economics and its affect on America today. Instead it focused more on like interpersonal relationships in the government, which was still somewhat interesting but just not what i was hoping for.
I learned a lot about his early and personal life which was interesting in shaping him as a president. I feel like the first half of the book could’ve been a fraction of the size while still getting the intended points across. Basically where I felt he really expanded, i would’ve preferred it more condensed, and where he condensed i wish he expanded. There are a lot of similarities but even more differences than i would expect. You can see where Trump took inspiration but Trump is by far more unhinged.
I mostly wanted to learn about his presidencies and roles in government, but i felt like by the time i reached it I was fatigued. The portion about him being in government felt short in comparison. I was hoping to learn more about the policies of trickle down economics and its affect on America today. Instead it focused more on like interpersonal relationships in the government, which was still somewhat interesting but just not what i was hoping for.
I learned a lot about his early and personal life which was interesting in shaping him as a president. I feel like the first half of the book could’ve been a fraction of the size while still getting the intended points across. Basically where I felt he really expanded, i would’ve preferred it more condensed, and where he condensed i wish he expanded. There are a lot of similarities but even more differences than i would expect. You can see where Trump took inspiration but Trump is by far more unhinged.
October 12, 2024
Although this author has written a number of books. This is my very first time reading anything by this author and I am very impressed by what he has written. He did a great job with the research of the subject of the book.
September 17, 2024
I'm left feeling conflicted after reading Max Boot's Reagan: His Life and Legend. It was long, and in some ways thorough. I thought repeatedly about how authors of history are compelled to inject their personal biases despite trying not to. Several times when Boot couldn't find people or documents to support a point he was making, he supplied Reagan's private thoughts (by jumping to a conclusion). Boot regularly mentioned that Reagan didn't or couldn't remember people's names. It sounded to me like prosopagnosia. I wondered if Boot considered that possibility. Surely when he was criticizing the Reagan's spending on the White House, he remembered the Kennedys doing the same thing. Both the Kennedys and the Reagans raised the money for their White House improvements through private donations. I enjoyed learning about Reagan's early years; I was unfamiliar with his childhood and journey to Hollywood. Reagan seemed like an affable fellow, and his polite demeanor served him well in Hollywood and in politics.
May 20, 2025
Part of my quest to read a book about every president!
This is a very new biography of Reagan that, while enjoyable in many ways, fell a bit short for me overall.
I loved that the author colored his story of Reagan with rich detail from the time: He drives the scenes and moments with culture like movies, news, song lyrics and what was talked about during that period, painting a vivid picture of the world around an iconic man.
This book spans his childhood to his death, his unlikely path from a small town lifeguard to sports announcer to actor to governor to president. It tracks his trajectory and the formative moments that served as a foundation for the viewpoints and politics that are still being discussed today.
It's fatal flaw, however, may be its judgement of a man from the past by the standards of today. It almost seems to me that the author set out to dispel the argument that Reagan was a truly great man or president at the expense of everything else and using a rubric from this day and age. His thesis seems to be: "You want to give Reagan credit for this, let me tell you why that's not true."
While he purports to be peeling back the curtain on a mythical figure, I don't think he succeeded. The problem to me is he seems to be doing a recitation of what happened vs what really good biographers do, which is really going deep into the why, the inner workings, the psychology and what truly makes a person tick.
You almost come away with the feeling of—well, maybe his presidency just wasn't that interesting? The author spends soooo much time discussing budgeting and economic stuff, which of course was a huge part of his presidency, but it actually becomes painful. Surely there's more to discuss? For example, I was looking forward to learning more about Reagan's controversial handling of AIDS, among other social things, but a scant few pages are dedicated to this. The bulk, and I mean BULK, of this book, is about A) the minutiae of economics in the Reagan admin and B) Reagan's stance (or attempt to find one) on the Soviet Union. How many ways can the same the be told over and over? Max Boot is attempting to find out. He's going to tell you until he's blue in the face how Reagan was caught between pragmatic aides and hardliners.
There's quite a bit of contradiction in here too. He refers to him as the great compromiser, but then argues at other points that he was just wishy washy because he didn't know enough. He then also says Reagan's mind was impossible to change once made up, then depicts numerous other times later in the book where that wasn't the case, saying he was more open to changing his mind than any other president. He lauds his pragmatism over his dogma, but then says its because he was weak. When Reagan is aloof on some things, its evidence of his personality. When he's aloof on others, its evidence of his extreme bias and prejudice. The author is really all over the place.
My favorite parts of this book were about his family: I was super surprised by the fractured relationships with his kids and the real look at what Nancy Reagan was like to others.
I was also struck by the many parallels to today: the mobilization of resentment against ivory tower elitists that drove the electorate, the precursors to the DOGE of today, etc.
I did not come away from this book with a good sense of the man himself. You would basically think Reagan's one strength was public relations, and I'm left wondering, if this account is accurate, why did people at the time and afterward love him so much and vote him in a second time in a landslide? Or is the author just so focused on "dispelling the myths" that that's ALL he focuses is. To me, Max Boot missed the forest for the trees and did an academic takedown at the expense of everything else. Reading this book, I have no idea why Reagan has been so canonized, so focused is the author on the modern-day perspective.
This is a very new biography of Reagan that, while enjoyable in many ways, fell a bit short for me overall.
I loved that the author colored his story of Reagan with rich detail from the time: He drives the scenes and moments with culture like movies, news, song lyrics and what was talked about during that period, painting a vivid picture of the world around an iconic man.
This book spans his childhood to his death, his unlikely path from a small town lifeguard to sports announcer to actor to governor to president. It tracks his trajectory and the formative moments that served as a foundation for the viewpoints and politics that are still being discussed today.
It's fatal flaw, however, may be its judgement of a man from the past by the standards of today. It almost seems to me that the author set out to dispel the argument that Reagan was a truly great man or president at the expense of everything else and using a rubric from this day and age. His thesis seems to be: "You want to give Reagan credit for this, let me tell you why that's not true."
While he purports to be peeling back the curtain on a mythical figure, I don't think he succeeded. The problem to me is he seems to be doing a recitation of what happened vs what really good biographers do, which is really going deep into the why, the inner workings, the psychology and what truly makes a person tick.
You almost come away with the feeling of—well, maybe his presidency just wasn't that interesting? The author spends soooo much time discussing budgeting and economic stuff, which of course was a huge part of his presidency, but it actually becomes painful. Surely there's more to discuss? For example, I was looking forward to learning more about Reagan's controversial handling of AIDS, among other social things, but a scant few pages are dedicated to this. The bulk, and I mean BULK, of this book, is about A) the minutiae of economics in the Reagan admin and B) Reagan's stance (or attempt to find one) on the Soviet Union. How many ways can the same the be told over and over? Max Boot is attempting to find out. He's going to tell you until he's blue in the face how Reagan was caught between pragmatic aides and hardliners.
There's quite a bit of contradiction in here too. He refers to him as the great compromiser, but then argues at other points that he was just wishy washy because he didn't know enough. He then also says Reagan's mind was impossible to change once made up, then depicts numerous other times later in the book where that wasn't the case, saying he was more open to changing his mind than any other president. He lauds his pragmatism over his dogma, but then says its because he was weak. When Reagan is aloof on some things, its evidence of his personality. When he's aloof on others, its evidence of his extreme bias and prejudice. The author is really all over the place.
My favorite parts of this book were about his family: I was super surprised by the fractured relationships with his kids and the real look at what Nancy Reagan was like to others.
I was also struck by the many parallels to today: the mobilization of resentment against ivory tower elitists that drove the electorate, the precursors to the DOGE of today, etc.
I did not come away from this book with a good sense of the man himself. You would basically think Reagan's one strength was public relations, and I'm left wondering, if this account is accurate, why did people at the time and afterward love him so much and vote him in a second time in a landslide? Or is the author just so focused on "dispelling the myths" that that's ALL he focuses is. To me, Max Boot missed the forest for the trees and did an academic takedown at the expense of everything else. Reading this book, I have no idea why Reagan has been so canonized, so focused is the author on the modern-day perspective.
January 12, 2025
I enjoy biographies and I understand that they take a lot of research. Therefore, they almost always start with two stars for me. Unfortunately, this book is an exception.
This is less of a biography and more of an Op-Ed piece. A good biographer makes the subject the primary focus, not their opinion, biases, and prejudices. This book is about Max Boot.
I have read several biographies of Reagan. All of them have highlighted both his strengths and weaknesses. So, halfway through this book, I stopped and wondered why I was taking offense to what Max Boot called his unbiased writing on Reagan. The answer is clear. Max may kid himself into believing this is an impartial book by occasionally putting in a compliment (usually a backhanded one and saying he is independent), but the reality is that anyone who reads this book will see his bias.
I would avoid this book. Instead, I'd recommend one of these other books on Reagan.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
This is less of a biography and more of an Op-Ed piece. A good biographer makes the subject the primary focus, not their opinion, biases, and prejudices. This book is about Max Boot.
I have read several biographies of Reagan. All of them have highlighted both his strengths and weaknesses. So, halfway through this book, I stopped and wondered why I was taking offense to what Max Boot called his unbiased writing on Reagan. The answer is clear. Max may kid himself into believing this is an impartial book by occasionally putting in a compliment (usually a backhanded one and saying he is independent), but the reality is that anyone who reads this book will see his bias.
I would avoid this book. Instead, I'd recommend one of these other books on Reagan.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
December 29, 2025
An entire term reading this book but definitely a walk through the most important events that happened in the 20th century. Reagan lived in an era in which his personal character was a perfect fit to where voters were.
I began to read the book because my own knowledge of Regan was limited and restricted to what I learned in classes on drug policy and the Cold War. These brought me to the conclusion that his presidency was in fact extremely controversial and consequential. I missed more of this cultural placement in the final chapters of the book. Although it is already an immense book, I wished the author reflected more on the cultural and economic relevance of Reagan’s policies nowadays—since we have the luxury of being away from when they were first introduced.
My encounter with Reagan the man was extremely interesting. I did not expect him to be such a conflict-averse and hands-off person. The writer describes how Reagan would avoid at all costs firing someone in his team or disciplining his children. Despite being charismatic, he did not forge deep connections with basically anyone but Nancy Reagan. I feel like the author successfully portrayed a man that was not only complex but also hard to get close to. Even his diary entries showcase how much he did not spend a lot of time in introspection—would his success come from a lack of overthinking and high levels of quiet confidence? His close aides and friends repeatedly mentioned in the book how they felt that they did not really know Reagan.
Moreover, his personality deeply intrigued me—maybe because I saw traits that I wished I had more of. It was apparent that he indeed did not take haters seriously and brushed off criticism quickly when it was not substantive. This might have been what allowed him to continue to have his conservative base while opting for a more pragmatic approach. Reagan’s optimism reminded me a lot of Obama’s own reflection and made me think that success in politics most often might require a strong commitment to maintaining optimism because it fuels resilience. And “courage is grace under pressure,” which after being shot Reagan had lots of.
The way he carried himself in the world was perhaps what made me most impressed about him. In an agreement with the author’s own assessment, “his greatest achievement of all was that, no matter how far or fast he climbed, he never lost his trademark dignity, modesty, and grace or forgot the Midwestern ethic he learned growing up”.
From a political and policy standpoint, Reagan exists far from me in the political spectrum as I expected. His lack of evidence-based leadership shocked me. He was not a genius or particularly competent when it came to developing policy— once again his hands off management demonstrated how he left SO MUCH in charge of his team (who was at times not formed by experts either). I will continue to reflect on the question of how realistic it is to expect that a politician’s biggest strength be her policy intelligence or overall intellect. When I think about the most successful politicians, it appears that their biggest talent tends to be something else.
When it came to Reagan’s presidency, here is a list of what I considered the biggest failures and successes:
Failures: war on drugs policies that drastically shifted from seeing addiction as a health issue to a criminal one, not effectively solving the issue.
Inaction when facing the AIDS epidemic, racial tensions during the Civil rights movement (and broadly recognizing the challenges faced by Black people), and the Apartheid regime. Also, he did raise taxes and implement policies that benefited the wealthy and increased inequality.
Accomplishments: instrumental role in expanding diplomatic channels with USSR. He understood really well the threat of a nuclear war and was pragmatic when it came to dealing with it. He did (although because of pressures) had an important role in democratic transitions in Chile, El Salvador, Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea. Appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court.
Ps: Crazy how many presidents have been shot — another example of how gun policy hasn’t been working for a while…
I began to read the book because my own knowledge of Regan was limited and restricted to what I learned in classes on drug policy and the Cold War. These brought me to the conclusion that his presidency was in fact extremely controversial and consequential. I missed more of this cultural placement in the final chapters of the book. Although it is already an immense book, I wished the author reflected more on the cultural and economic relevance of Reagan’s policies nowadays—since we have the luxury of being away from when they were first introduced.
My encounter with Reagan the man was extremely interesting. I did not expect him to be such a conflict-averse and hands-off person. The writer describes how Reagan would avoid at all costs firing someone in his team or disciplining his children. Despite being charismatic, he did not forge deep connections with basically anyone but Nancy Reagan. I feel like the author successfully portrayed a man that was not only complex but also hard to get close to. Even his diary entries showcase how much he did not spend a lot of time in introspection—would his success come from a lack of overthinking and high levels of quiet confidence? His close aides and friends repeatedly mentioned in the book how they felt that they did not really know Reagan.
Moreover, his personality deeply intrigued me—maybe because I saw traits that I wished I had more of. It was apparent that he indeed did not take haters seriously and brushed off criticism quickly when it was not substantive. This might have been what allowed him to continue to have his conservative base while opting for a more pragmatic approach. Reagan’s optimism reminded me a lot of Obama’s own reflection and made me think that success in politics most often might require a strong commitment to maintaining optimism because it fuels resilience. And “courage is grace under pressure,” which after being shot Reagan had lots of.
The way he carried himself in the world was perhaps what made me most impressed about him. In an agreement with the author’s own assessment, “his greatest achievement of all was that, no matter how far or fast he climbed, he never lost his trademark dignity, modesty, and grace or forgot the Midwestern ethic he learned growing up”.
From a political and policy standpoint, Reagan exists far from me in the political spectrum as I expected. His lack of evidence-based leadership shocked me. He was not a genius or particularly competent when it came to developing policy— once again his hands off management demonstrated how he left SO MUCH in charge of his team (who was at times not formed by experts either). I will continue to reflect on the question of how realistic it is to expect that a politician’s biggest strength be her policy intelligence or overall intellect. When I think about the most successful politicians, it appears that their biggest talent tends to be something else.
When it came to Reagan’s presidency, here is a list of what I considered the biggest failures and successes:
Failures: war on drugs policies that drastically shifted from seeing addiction as a health issue to a criminal one, not effectively solving the issue.
Inaction when facing the AIDS epidemic, racial tensions during the Civil rights movement (and broadly recognizing the challenges faced by Black people), and the Apartheid regime. Also, he did raise taxes and implement policies that benefited the wealthy and increased inequality.
Accomplishments: instrumental role in expanding diplomatic channels with USSR. He understood really well the threat of a nuclear war and was pragmatic when it came to dealing with it. He did (although because of pressures) had an important role in democratic transitions in Chile, El Salvador, Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea. Appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court.
Ps: Crazy how many presidents have been shot — another example of how gun policy hasn’t been working for a while…
August 25, 2024
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Thanks to Liveright and NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
If you want to know why American society is the way it is today, it begins with the Reagan Revolution. The first in-depth biography of the 40th President of the United States since 2015, this book does a good job of showing how Reagan began his finely-honed B.S. machine, starting when he was under contract to Warner Brothers. Anyone that is anyone that has followed the history of Hollywood and the studio system knows how they created fictions for their more popular performers, glossing over indiscretions in a star’s life. Reagan really leaned into this and started to believe his own press and the stories he fabricated.
When Reagan began his political career, he used a series of stump speeches, where he told the same old tall tales that mentioned statistics or “facts” that would be shown to be down-right falsehoods. As his son, Ron, would mention in a 2020 CNN documentary, he would be hit with incontrovertible facts and would push back, saying, “All I know is…” and refused to listen to people once his mind was made up. The press at the time just thought he was such a likeable guy that they let all this stuff slide, just as they would for countless politicians, from FDR to JFK.
Flash forward past Reagan’s 8 years as governor of California and his run for the presidency. After coming so close to taking the nomination away from Gerald Ford in 1976, he ran again in 1980. By now, post-Watergate world, the press didn’t play along as well as they used to. Reagan would spew “facts” and tales that when fact-checked, showed he was full of falsehoods. Some brave reporters called him out on it, but in general, the population didn’t care, because Reagan seemed like such a “nice guy.” His slogan was “Make America Great Again.”
Reagan’s policies and performances from his two terms in office are still being felt by U.S. citizens today. “Reaganomics” turned out to be an utter failure and was the beginning of the long, slow attack on the middle class, making the wealthy even wealthier, and putting the tax burden on the average voter. The deregulations of TV and radio stations opened up the door for Rupert Murdoch in the United States and the creation of the Fox network and led to the rise of a slew of conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh, who also played fast and loose with facts. That led to Newt Gingrich, the Tea Party, and on and on.
This book does a great job of exploring Reagan’s life in great detail, and it shows exactly how the “Moral Majority” ended up taking over the Republican Party by following Reagan’s lead, who talked a great deal about having great faith, but rarely went to church, and in his quest for smaller government, hurt instead of helped people, in a very un-Christian way. Modern Republican politicians invoke the legacy of Reagan and now embrace a man who doesn’t live like a Christian in any way. At the end of the book, as one would suspect, the author compares and contrasts the similarities and differences between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. There are some differences, but the similarities are stunning.
Thanks to Liveright and NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
If you want to know why American society is the way it is today, it begins with the Reagan Revolution. The first in-depth biography of the 40th President of the United States since 2015, this book does a good job of showing how Reagan began his finely-honed B.S. machine, starting when he was under contract to Warner Brothers. Anyone that is anyone that has followed the history of Hollywood and the studio system knows how they created fictions for their more popular performers, glossing over indiscretions in a star’s life. Reagan really leaned into this and started to believe his own press and the stories he fabricated.
When Reagan began his political career, he used a series of stump speeches, where he told the same old tall tales that mentioned statistics or “facts” that would be shown to be down-right falsehoods. As his son, Ron, would mention in a 2020 CNN documentary, he would be hit with incontrovertible facts and would push back, saying, “All I know is…” and refused to listen to people once his mind was made up. The press at the time just thought he was such a likeable guy that they let all this stuff slide, just as they would for countless politicians, from FDR to JFK.
Flash forward past Reagan’s 8 years as governor of California and his run for the presidency. After coming so close to taking the nomination away from Gerald Ford in 1976, he ran again in 1980. By now, post-Watergate world, the press didn’t play along as well as they used to. Reagan would spew “facts” and tales that when fact-checked, showed he was full of falsehoods. Some brave reporters called him out on it, but in general, the population didn’t care, because Reagan seemed like such a “nice guy.” His slogan was “Make America Great Again.”
Reagan’s policies and performances from his two terms in office are still being felt by U.S. citizens today. “Reaganomics” turned out to be an utter failure and was the beginning of the long, slow attack on the middle class, making the wealthy even wealthier, and putting the tax burden on the average voter. The deregulations of TV and radio stations opened up the door for Rupert Murdoch in the United States and the creation of the Fox network and led to the rise of a slew of conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh, who also played fast and loose with facts. That led to Newt Gingrich, the Tea Party, and on and on.
This book does a great job of exploring Reagan’s life in great detail, and it shows exactly how the “Moral Majority” ended up taking over the Republican Party by following Reagan’s lead, who talked a great deal about having great faith, but rarely went to church, and in his quest for smaller government, hurt instead of helped people, in a very un-Christian way. Modern Republican politicians invoke the legacy of Reagan and now embrace a man who doesn’t live like a Christian in any way. At the end of the book, as one would suspect, the author compares and contrasts the similarities and differences between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. There are some differences, but the similarities are stunning.
June 23, 2025
Max Boot did a splendid job portraying Ronald Reagan in the most honest context that one could read about our 40th President. He did not set out to blow up the myth of Ronald Reagan but related truths he discovered by a decade of in depth research. I left this book still admiring Ronald Reagan the person but also understand we are not perfect beings.
July 8, 2025
A very well written biography. It is fair, praising Reagan when appropriate but not hesitating to be critical. I hesitated to read the biography because I have never been a big fan of Reagan but I am glad I did read it. And I recommend it.
July 17, 2025
This is a very comprehensive story about the most influential POTUS in the last fifty years. We all know that he was a movie star before becoming governor of California and POTUS. What I did not know was that he grew up as a near sighted youth in a small Midwestern town whose confidence skyrocketed when he got glasses and that he was an introvert with few close friends. His ability to take direction and remain amiable served him well. Great read.
November 12, 2025
There was so much I didn’t know about Ronald Reagan, and so much legend that Boot brought back to reality. This seemed like a fair trial, taking the nostalgia of the good old days to court do what it actually was and acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of a man who held the highest office. It’s helpful to me as well to map on historical events through one persons’s life— he not only lived through the late 1900s but made much of it. These events are close enough to today’s politics to see the thread and development.
June 17, 2025
I liked this. It felt comprehensive without getting lost in minutiae, and also felt fairly even-handed, pointing out both virtues and shortcomings of its subject. Reagan was president for a lot of my young life. It was illuminating to read as an adult about history I vaguely remember through a child's eyes. Like any biography, it makes choices of focus. But I came away with a greater understanding of Reagan, which is what I want from a bio.
May 2, 2025
Max Boot writes a real tour de force on Ronald Reagan’s entire life. He neither demonizes, nor venerates the former President as many often do. This tome shows the complicated legacy of Reagan’s life. At certain points I was quite angry at decisions made by the President while simultaneously feeling largely sympathetic to the man.
Ronald Reagan was President when I was born and I will always have a fascination with his Presidency because of that, this book gives me the clearest insight I think I will ever have into the decisions made by American leaders into the world I was born. I would highly recommend this book (just not if you have a deadline to read it in!)
Ronald Reagan was President when I was born and I will always have a fascination with his Presidency because of that, this book gives me the clearest insight I think I will ever have into the decisions made by American leaders into the world I was born. I would highly recommend this book (just not if you have a deadline to read it in!)
January 18, 2025
Reagan was a puzzle. He was a fabulous public speaker using prepared text, but a disengaged President. He had little depth of knowledge on issues and avoided making hard decisions at all costs because he hated confrontation and never wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings. As a result, he was an enigma to the American public. He could motivate and enthrall listeners with his rhetoric, while being oblivious to the plight of the poor, minorities, infirm, and unethical subordinates in his administration. He’s looked on as a success more for being in the right place at the right time (strong economic recovery and the ending of the Cold War under Mikhail Gorbachev) than for any great deeds beyond his ability to move people with scripted talks. Boot does an exceptional job of capturing all the strengths and foibles of Reagan and is not afraid to call out some of his most glaring shortfalls.
January 5, 2025
A bit too long, but insightful. This book did not hold back on Nancy Reagan.
September 27, 2025
This is the latest biography of the 40th president, published in 2024 and written by historian Max Boot, who proclaims early on that he grew up a real fan of the man. But this book is about as even-handed a presentation as one could hope to get about a man whose legacy is still being debated. Boot's book takes the reader all the way back to the early 20th century, as he does a very nice job of describing the world that Reagan was born into. The book shows how his experiences as a child and young man growing up in small town Illinois was a fitting reflection of many of the transformations the nation was experiencing, although my one real "critique" is that in these early pages the author strains a bit to make connections with the big events of the day. It seems a little forced at times. But once Reagan got to Hollywood, the book truly becomes a very engaging narrative of both the man and his times, as he was part of the war effort (albeit in very much a "supporting role"), he was at the center of the McCarthy "Red Scare" activities in Hollywood, and then he became a very popular speaker touting an increasingly conservative ideology. And once Reagan was elected governor of California in 1966, he really moved into the center of American life and at that point the examination of his life is an examination of American history. And that connection obviously increases exponentially once he became president in 1981. The book really does a thorough job of looking at the Reagan presidency, both its highlights and lowlights. The author does not hesitate to point to the criticisms of Reagan as chief executive: his reluctance to make difficult decisions, his superficial understanding of many of the important issues of the day, among others. But the book points to the impressive accomplishments of his two terms, noting that Reagan was lucky to have Paul Volcker as the Fed chair and Gorbachev as the leader of the USSR during his second term. Details are provided about events that have tended to "fade" from public memory: the Bork nomination, the tremendous speech after the Challenger explosion, Iran-Contra. Even if one is not a great fan of Reagan the president, this book is a worthwhile read. It's long and it's dense, but reading it is time well spent.
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