The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #218

by Gil Troy

"They called it the Reagan revolution," Ronald Reagan noted in his Farewell Address. "Well, I'll accept that, but for me it always seemed more like the great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense."

Nearly two decades after that 1989 speech, debate continues to rage over just how revolutionary those Reagan years were. The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction identifies and tackles some of the controversies and historical mysteries that continue to swirl around Reagan and his legacy, while providing an illuminating look at some of the era's defining personalities, ideas, and accomplishments. Gil Troy, a well-known historian who is a frequent commentator on contemporary politics, sheds much light on the phenomenon known as the Reagan Revolution, situating the reception of Reagan's actions within the contemporary liberal and conservative political scene. While most conservatives refuse to countenance any criticism of their hero, an articulate minority laments that he did not go far enough. And while some liberals continue to mourn just how far he went in changing America, others continue to mock him as a disengaged, do-nothing dunce. Nevertheless, as Troy shows, two and a half decades after Reagan's 1981 inauguration, his legacy continues to shape American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush modeled much of their presidential leadership styles on Reagan's example, while many of the debates of the '80s about the budget, tax cutting, defense-spending, and American values still rage.

Love him or hate him, Ronald Reagan remains the most influential president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, and one of the most controversial. This marvelous book places the Reagan Revolution in the broader context of postwar politics, highlighting the legacies of these years on subsequent presidents and on American life today.

About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, American History, The United States Of America

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Gil Troy is the author of "The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s" to be published October 6 by Thomas Dunne Books of St. Martin's Press. An American presidential historian and a regular columnist for the Daily Beast, this will be his eleventh book. He is Professor of History at McGill University and will be in Washington DC this fall as a Visting Scholar at the Brookings Institution. Troy wrote The Age of Clinton on a tight deadline, speculating that Hillary Clinton just might run for President in 2016 and that Americans would be ready this fall to rethink what happened in the 1990s. He worked until 5 AM most nights, woke up at 7 (he is married with four children), jogged for an hour, then worked. He met the deadline and lost 30 pounds.

Reviews

[Wendelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

every sentence in this book, and I mean EVERY ONE, just oozes with bias. I came to this book hoping for a balanced, neutral, and removed introduction to what exactly were the concrete policies and guiding vision of the Reagan administration and got treated to a whole book of unabashed propaganda-pamphlet speak. Some choice jewels from this book:

1. [describing Reagan's campaign as governor against the civil rights movement]: "Americans needed another leader to guide them out of the dark cave of special-interest selfishness into the centrist sunshine where they could feel confident enough to perceive happiness, stability and liberty as collective accomplishments and communal adventures, not personal assets or selfish journeys." That's right folks. Grade-A poetry conceivably from Republican speeches themselves, here presentedas factual history in an introduction to people who probably have only a vague idea of Reaganism.

2. "Along with England's Thatcher and Pope John Paul II, Reagan injected a note of moral clarity into the debate. Communism's evil demanded vigilance."
Sure, the same way Bush's 'axis of evil' brought moral clarity to the war against jihadism. Isn't it annoying here how a blatant point of view-- even speaking of "Communism's evil" without distinguishing between Reagan's and the author's message- is presented as fact? In fact, it is not only annoying, but also irresponsible. This is supposed to be a respectable Oxford introduction especially packaged for the layman and it contains more opinions than supporting evidence.

3. "In preparing one defense-related speech, the president scribbled: 'what must be recognized is that our security is based on being prepared to meet any contingency.' That entailed a conventional and nuclear arms buildup- to ensure peace." Again, it presents Reagan's value-laden policies as the truth-- arms buildup entails peace, not he BELIEVED arms buildup entails peace-- without evaluating them, pursuing further the examination of this claim in light of the histoical proof of decades that have passed since.

4. "Reagan's calling the Soviet Union an 'evil empire' was a defining moment. Furious liberals called him 'primitive', 'embarassing', and unduly aggressive.
but Reagan's 'Rambo' rhetoric seized most Americans' imaginations. His musculr foreign policy resonate in Hollywood, where Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger played beefed-up and often renegade sheriffs ensuring justice the world over-- thus helping Americans overcome feelings of impotence from the crime wave back home."
LOL WHAT? Did he just construct an argument thtat defends Reagann's rhetoric by pointing out its spillover benefits in reassuring Americans psychologically vs. the crime wave? This Prof.Gil Troy is unbelievable.

5. "Most Americans felt pretty good about Reagan and thte 1980s. But great leaders make enemies as well as friends.
Those who felt ignored or marginalized, including feminists, Africa Americans, gays, union activists, and intellectuals, felt deeply rejected."
Notice the subtle wording. 'Those who felt ignored or marginalized'-- not 'those Reagan ignored or marginalized'-- shifting the responsibility to the feminists and African Americans, implying that they had a wrong perception, that they were living in an imaginary world where Reagan ignored, marginalized, and rejected them, when in fact this was not so-- neither here nor anywhere else in the book does Gil Troy examine whether Reagan did or did not do so.

And this pretty much goes for the ENTIRE book. Gil Troy devotes about 3 sentences to the Iran-contra affair which was probably one of the most memorable aspects of Reagan's administration, and in those three sentences he doesn't even discuss the nature of the Iran-contra affair-- yet he manages to sum up Reagan's character only as 'resilient'. Not manipulative, not shrewd, not illegal... RESILIENT. This man sure is good with words. In the meantime, he does not give Jimmy Carter one redemptive aspect--- not once was any good described out of Carter's presidency.

Of the few things I did learn on this book, the most important were that Reagan did not always follow up with his right-wing talk and compromised enough on the welfare state to retain some essential social services; and that the economic boom and return to prosperity of the '80s were not so much due to Reagan's policies as they were about the rise of Silicon valley and technological innovations-- which is more attributable to the '60s and'70s hipsters that Reagan campaigned against.

This book is a propaganda tract. You have to keep reminding your brain to read between the lines and exercise critical reading with every line. This takes too much time to yield a few poor factual results. Don't waste your time.

[Bojan Tunguz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not all that common that one of the university presses like OUP would publish a book that treats a conservative icon with a glowing praise, even when that book is aimed at a general audience. Even more unusual is the title of this book, which minces no words in characterizing its subject in such an uncompromising and definitive terms as "The Reagan Revolution." Ronald Reagan was one of the most significant American presidents of the twentieth century, and part of his enduring appeal stems from his willingness to portray the most important issues of the day in straightforward terms. His characterization of the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" resonates to this day.

Gil Troy gives us a very interesting and favorable portrayal of Reagan, but he manages to avoid turning this book into some kind of hagiography. He describes Reagan's early youth in Illinois, and tries to establish some of the influences on his character that remained over the years. Troy is not shy of psychoanalyzing Reagan, but for the most part these assessments have a lot of face validity and generally flow well with the image of the 40th President. We also learn quite a bit about Reagan' political career, and his climb to the top of US politics. Overall these are all very interesting bits of information.

One of the issues that I have with this book is that it spends too much time on either the background material that builds up to Reagan's presidency, including the general political trends in the US, or on the assessment of that presidency in terms of later political and social developments. Personally I would have liked if the book focused more on Reagan himself and let the presidency years speak for themselves.

Furthermore, Troy seems to be overly eager to stress the facts that Reagan was no hard-core conservative, and was in fact rather moderate in his policies. This assessment, whether justified or not, is not very likely to jive well with either the conservatives or liberals today. In fact, Troy seems to be backtracking from the very title of this book, and even suggesting that if there was such a thing as The Reagan Revolution it was both a) limited and b) over by now. This attitude almost nullifies the otherwise very favorable account of Reagan legacy. Nonetheless, this is a very interesting book and well worth the read.

[Charity Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Troy is incredibly biased. I doubted every statement in this book because he favored Reagan no matter the circumstance described.

[Theodore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be a decent account of the major events of the Reagan Presidency. Additionally, the author gives attention to Reagans personal life prior to his entering the political arena.



However, the author wasn't a fan of Reagan. On several occasions the author would be making a seriously "left" statement, just to start the next with a seriously "right" statement. While I can recognize (and appreciate) when an author uses "compare and contrast" in their writing, this simply didn't feel like that. The flow felt more like he needed to get back "on topic".



While I think the author answers all the questions he poses, I just didn't care for the style.

[Torsten Kathke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably complete treatment of the subject matter for such a necessarily short book.

The author‘s constant editorializing while swinging back and forth between praising and criticizing his subject makes for uneven reading, though. Considering this is directed at people (students, interested general readers) wanting a first overview, this becomes too distracting.

For those who have the basics in mind already and need a refresher this will probably do.

[Isaac Kerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lopsided, but compelling introduction to Reagan's presidency.

[Jesse Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those uber-compelling accounts that keeps us digging through the "Very Short Introduction" series, even though most of the volumes do not please so much. The basic accomplishment here is to sculpt a human portrait of Ronald Reagan, a president who looms ever more iconically as the years go by.

It's a study in contrast and shading. Reagan was often seen as a "dummy," but his own words display his sharp wit. (The book is packed with wonderful examples. “Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his,” quipped the candidate on the campaign trail.) Reagan had a light touch, an easy humor with an air of home-spun wisdom. Much of it was bunk, and even paradoxical, and all of it came only with great effort. "The optimism for which Ronald Reagan became famous was achieved at great effort and only by ignoring surrounding turmoil and internal anguish."

Reagan is also a rhetorical tool for Troy, a path by which he enters the conservative political episteme, and makes a devastating evaluation:

Blinded by their critique of the Left, Ronald Reagan and most conservatives proved unable to connect the dots between the capitalist resurgence they celebrated and the cultural upheaval they mourned. They failed to see how many of the policies they implemented and the corporate practices they applauded neutralized or undermined many traditional values and structures. They often used patriotism, morality, and faith as blinders to avoid seeing problems and barriers to obstruct solutions.

(We just finished watching the television show Severance, which I would argue pillories corporate practices featuring a similar "blindness.") The best we might say, in retrospect, was that Reagan used his showman skills to celebrate the small-government message inherited since the days of Jeffersonian republicanism, even though as President he remained more moderate than his conservative base wanted.

Of course, Reagan's liberal commitments, like appointing the first woman to the Supreme Court, hardly satisfied advocates for civil rights, including feminists and gay rights activists. Readers like my own husband will take a dim view, given that Troy does not mention even once the AIDS crisis.

In this telling, the main thrust of the "Reagan revolution," was the big round of tax cuts, followed by a successful campaign against the Air Traffic Controller's union, PATCO. Comparing Reagan's efforts to those by Margaret Thatcher, the conservative British Prime Minister, Troy finds Thatcher more effective at tax cuts and "opening capital markets." Reagan never reformed social security or medicare; he remained true to the heritage of FDR. It is perhaps an important lapse that Troy omits discussion of financial deregulation during the Reagan years, boiling the subject down to one mere clause in a longer sentence: "Debacles including the Iran-Contra scandal, $200 billion worth of savings and loan bankruptcies, and the $2.8 trillion budget deficit by 1989 tainted Reagan’s legacy."

Still, it's intriguing to hear Troy trace the rise of conservatism under the aegis of Reagan, from the big think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, new venues for firebrands like Pat Buchanan, and a rightward sensibility that would bend the arc of succeeding presidents, from George H. W., including very much the Clinton administration, and persisting into the Obama years. This volume clearly went to press well before the Trump campaign, though Donald Trump appears twice, as evidence of the lowered faith in government and higher valuation in the public eye for wealth and excess, an "envy epidemic," that made a celebrity of a real estate mogul.

Thus, for its hints at the complexity of the era, and relatively even-handed approach to "the Gipper" and his ilk, I rate the book a full four stars, and certainly a big success among the Very Short Introductions. I notice that the Goodreads average rating is down in the lower 3s, which I'm guessing reflects the polarizing effect this great amplifier of conservative voices is likely to have for years to come. Maybe Troy's little volume, precisely because of its even-handedness, condemns it to never break the four-star average.

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relevant today for obvious T-shaped reasons (see the quote below, which I thought was worth including in its entirety).

This book is less about the events of the Reagan presidency, and more about how and why he made an enduring impact on US politics (e.g. politics and the media, the celebrity politician, middle-class Americans in the stock market, true party polarization, a conservative Court, a conservative presence in DC, lobbying and think tanks, pressures to cut taxes, etc.).


——————


“Reagan interpreted his victory as a call for revolution, repudiating more than four decades of big government combined with the post-Vietnam War problem of a too-soft foreign policy. Even though his popularity ratings were the lowest a president-elect received since polling began in the 1930s, he buttressed his claims of a conservative mandate by pointing to the twelve Senate seats the Republicans gained, giving Republicans control of one branch of the legislature for the first time since 1954. […] In the three months between the early November elections and the president's late January inauguration, Reagan and his aides would talk so much about his "mandate" that reporters began hailing-and fearing— the "Reagan Revolution.

“Actually, Reagan's mandate was illusory. The 1980 election was mostly an ABC election-voters wanted Anybody But Carter. Reagan's Electoral College vote of 489 to 49 magnified his bare majority of 50.7 percent of popular votes cast […]. Reagan transformed these ambiguous results into a mandate for change, proclaiming in his inauguration: ‘In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.’ […]

He believed the American people had deputized him to cut government regulation, cut government taxes, and cut government programs, while restoring American pride, boosting America's defenses, and confronting the Russians. True, the American people were fed up with the status quo. True, elements of Reagan's program proved popular. True, the Senate transformation suggested the change was broader than a quadrennial White House personnel shift. Yet Americans were not ready for the sweeping changes Reagan envisioned. Just as Reagan extended a modest victory into a major mandate, he tried expanding a growing recognition that the Great Society was hobbled by great failures into a broader repudiation of the American welfare state-and that far, Americans were not yet willing to go.

“By 1980 Americans were ambivalent. They retained enough of their historic fear of executive power to dislike big government in the abstract. But after nearly fifty years of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and Harry Truman's Fair Deal, of John F. Kennedy's New Frontier and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, Americans were addicted to many of the government programs that together made their government big, their tax bills high, their bureaucracy dense. Democrats miscalculated by overlooking the growing backlash against big government and that revolt's historic roots; Republicans risked erring by overstepping and eliminating essential programs that Americans took for granted”

[Dave Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being born in the 1980s, I had very little engagement with the Reagan presidency growing up. I came to Troy's book looking for a concise but representative account of that presidency, and that is exactly what I found. Having read little about Reagan elsewhere, I can't really critique the accuracy of Troy's work or the strength of his analysis. Yet, to my critical eye, he seems to score highly in both areas. The last two chapters are especially helpful in trying to size up the influence of and reactions to Reagan's revolution. However, the 2009 publication date does limit its usefulness for current political considerations. Nevertheless, I anticipate revisiting this book repeatedly in the future.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good short summary of Reagan, his Presidency, and legacy. Ultimately he was far more moderate as President than as Governor or as a candidate, his main positive achievement was ending/winning the Cold War, and ironically GHWB and Clinton achieved more of his goals than he did directly.

On the negative side, red/blue polarization and institutionalization of a lot of the insanity of the 60s/70s were also due to Reagan, as well as the asymptotic increase in deficits and national debt. The financialization and deindustrialization really accelerated in the 1980s (although the 90s and 00s is really what did it).

This book was fairly overtly pro-Reagan’s professed ideas (anti-communism, individual liberty, deregulation, etc.), but critical where he fell short.

[Jack R.]

A pro-Reagan reading of his presidency that seeks to elaborate the lasting impact of a “failed revolution.” While some texts are supportive of Reagan’s increasingly pacifistic foreign policy and critical of his incoherent economics, Troy takes the opposite: minimizing the president’s role in ending the cold war as well as in the economic boom of the 1980s. He was a “right-time, right place” leader. Lucky, in other words. What made Reagan’s tenure worthwhile? His ability to improve American morale and articulate a prideful conservative nationalism thought impossible in the gloomy, liberal-consensus 1980s.

[Audrey Kalman]

A fine book (from the LWHS library, found in Greg's room). But it had too many paragraphs such as this one, with bizarre comments like this:

"Sometimes, doctors can inject contrasting dyes into their patients' bloodstreams or organs to track particular influences, be they malignant or benign. Historians can only envy such scientific precision. Still, it is worth imagining what would appear if a red-white-and-blue colored dye injected into daily American life could track Reaganism's influence since Ronald and Nancy Reagan took their farewell helicopter ride from the Capitol in January 1989."

[Julian Pritchard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good. This book glosses over Reagan’s violations of U.S. law, his foreign policy assisting murderous dictators in Central America, and any other flaws of Reagan. The author’s racism is clear in certain passages, “millions of Americans, disproportionately black, remain mired in a multigenerational culture of poverty” (page 130). Couldn’t have anything to do with Reagan’s economic policies or the economic system of capitalism, it must be the “culture of poverty.”

There are some interesting facts in this book, but it’s probably the worst “very short introduction” I’ve read so far.

[Katya · Rating 2 out of 5]

REGAN PROPOGANDA 🤮 I was hoping for analysis on Reagan's time in office, but was instead met with a much broader history of American presidency (not entirely bad as it gave context to presidential precedent), but aside from that, the book was largely talking about Reagan's subjective greatness in an objective way!!! grrr.

[Alex Gruenenfelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read dozens of books on American conservatism and a few on the Reagan Revolution, much of this book was revisiting for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It's approachable in a simple, nearly relaxing way, which makes learning about history fun. I recommend it to those getting into politics and modern American history, who want to look at what made Ronald Reagan tick.

[Ryan Margiotta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically a short book worshiping Regan. Not an ounce of critical analysis of Regan. Admirers of Regan will have all their feelings confirmed. Those looking for an objective review of the Regan years will be very disappointed.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lol, the reviews of this book on Goodreads are fascinating. Some think it is too anti-Reagan, some think it is too pro-Reagan. The truth is it is a well-written Very Short Introduction by a scholar who did good work contextualizing what Reagan did. He did so in an unbiased manner; I finished the book not sure of Troy’s politics.

[Bill Meehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, balanced critique.

[Christine B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise history of the Reagan Revolution, his accomplishments and legacy.

[Hazel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to stop reading at the part that said Reagan's presidency led to the election of Obama, more women in politics, and happy gay people...

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear and helpful analysis of Reagan's presidency, its success and its lasting impact on the future. Worth reading for anyone interested in America in the late 20th century.

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise but informative historical overview Reagan’s presidency and influence in the US culture and politics.

[Bob Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a fan of this book: like many of this series it sacrifices a certain breadth of coverage to find its point, but the excision of so much negative information about Reagan boggles the imagination. Troy neglects to mention the War on Drugs at all, or how Reagan’s popularity might be due to his establishment of acceptable racism in the face of black civil rights triumphs, or his probable sabotage of negotiations with Iran for their hostages’ release. His treatment of the Iran-Contra affair, the most salient and universally accepted of Reagan’s failings, is brief (even compared to the treatment of other subjects in this book such as the air traffic controllers’ strike) and non-condemning, as is his treatment of the savings and loan crisis. In every opportunity, Troy either provides no criticism of Reagan’s character or deeds, or makes sure to quickly rebut it. It probably doesn’t need to be said, but veneration of Reagan receives no such immediate walk-back. Troy shows his true colors the most when he unironically writes that Carter was “Too honest to instill confidence”, setting the stage for his later implicit praise of Reagan’s duplicity. Throughout the book, Troy ascribes consequences and reactions to Reagan’s actions which could not possibly be proven: quotes like “his wit disarmed the Democrats”, given as generalities without context or support, abound. One of the many nadirs of this booklet comes when Troy fawningly praises the replacement of policy discussion with tribalism, anti-intellectualism and sound-byteism: Reagan’s quip during a presidential debate of “There you go again.” To anyone who isn’t looking for fanyboy-ish applause for Reagan, this book is worthless.

[Zoe Barnstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick insightful and historical read for understanding our current political moment. Author could do more to explicate the violence committed against marginalized communities and the travesty of the AIDS epidemic during the Reagan era—not to mention Reagan’s racism.

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short run down of the consequences of the Reagan Revolution in American politics.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my childhood heros, who I turned against as I learned more about the Political Machine, and after reading this little book, I have to say that I appreciate the complexity of the Man.

[Hunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Didn't come off as particularly insightful or balanced.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a decent overview with occasionally fascinating factual nuggets that connect enough dots to bring us to the bastardized contemporary version of Republicanism... It was disconcerting to spot sloppy typos and the Right-slanted tone mounted... TRR often oscillates between rewarding analysis and windy academic writing. Ultimately, its brevity is both its strong and short suits; a tasty sausage appetizer but left still hungry for a more nuanced and substantial meal.