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Overview
In At Reagan's Side, Reagan scholars Jeff Chidester and Stephen Knott compile excerpts from interviews of top Reagan officials. Through the Miller Center's Ronald Reagan Oral History Project, Chidester and Knott show readers the life of the "Great Communicator" through the eyes of both famous and lesser-known administration insiders like James Baker, Edwin Meese, Peter Hannaford, Caspar Weinberger, and Joanne Drake. At Reagan's Side offers unique, behind-the-scenes glimpses into the candidacy and election of Ronald Reagan, chronicling his run for and subsequent election to public office as Governor of California, and later, as President of the United States.
Synopsis
At Reagan's Side chronicles the history and major events of Ronald Reagan's political career, using excerpts from interviews conducted between 2001 and 2007 through the Miller Center's Ronald Reagan Oral History Project. Jeffrey Chidester and Stephen Knott provide readers with an insider's narrative of Reagan's governorship of California, candidacy for president, and presidency through the eyes of the advisors and staff closest to him.
Publishers Weekly
Using dozens of interviews with Pres. Ronald Reagan's closest advisors, historians Knott (Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth) and Chidester attempt to circumvent what many labeled Reagan's "wall," to find the man at the heart of the (carefully calibrated) presidential image. Because this charmingly "opaque" politician didn't publicly ponder on his presidency (even in his autobiography), Knott and Chidester depend on those around him. With both fondness and a clear effort at objectivity, the authors largely let the interviewees speak for themselves, including high-ranking officials like Caspar Weinberger, Edwin Meese and James Baker. Discussion is candid, but often contradictory; indeed, the most interesting and revealing moments of the book come from the discrepancies, invariably tied to the era's most famous controversies: SDI, Iran-Contra, the Cold War. (Further, many advisors use their spirited defense of Reagan's legacy in order to pin blame on other advisors.) For all the insider stories, none actually goes behind the wall of the 40th president-the subjects, in fact, labor to reinforce that wall-and Knott and Chidester's own synthesis is thin, unable to answer the overarching question of Reagan's success, concluding that he was "too decent" to be great.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Editorials
The Washington Times
Beginning in 2001, scholars of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia conducted an oral history of Ronald Reagan's political years, beginning with his first campaign for governor of California through his last public speech in 1993...Mr. Knott and Mr. Chidester...intersperse their narrative with quotations — short and long — from the oral history interviewees. These comments provide colorful, lively texture to the Reagan story. Here are insights into his thinking, his character and his management style...At Reagan's Side is good reading from cover to cover and adds positively to the Reagan library.Publishers Weekly
Using dozens of interviews with Pres. Ronald Reagan's closest advisors, historians Knott (Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth) and Chidester attempt to circumvent what many labeled Reagan's "wall," to find the man at the heart of the (carefully calibrated) presidential image. Because this charmingly "opaque" politician didn't publicly ponder on his presidency (even in his autobiography), Knott and Chidester depend on those around him. With both fondness and a clear effort at objectivity, the authors largely let the interviewees speak for themselves, including high-ranking officials like Caspar Weinberger, Edwin Meese and James Baker. Discussion is candid, but often contradictory; indeed, the most interesting and revealing moments of the book come from the discrepancies, invariably tied to the era's most famous controversies: SDI, Iran-Contra, the Cold War. (Further, many advisors use their spirited defense of Reagan's legacy in order to pin blame on other advisors.) For all the insider stories, none actually goes behind the wall of the 40th president-the subjects, in fact, labor to reinforce that wall-and Knott and Chidester's own synthesis is thin, unable to answer the overarching question of Reagan's success, concluding that he was "too decent" to be great.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.