The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008
by: Sean Wilentz
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The past thirty-five years have marked an era of conservatism. Although briefly interrupted in the late 1970s and temporarily reversed in the 1990s, a powerful surge from the right has dominated American politics and government. In The Age of Reagan, Sean Wilentz accounts for how a conservative movement once deemed marginal managed to seize power and hold it, and the momentous consequences that followed.
Ronald Reagan has been the single most important political figure of this age. Without Reagan, the conservative movement would have never been as successful as it was. In his political persona as well as his policies, Reagan embodied a new fusion of deeply right-leaning politics with some of the rhetoric and even a bit of the spirit of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and John F. Kennedy's New Frontier. In American political history there have been a few leading figures who, for better or worse, have placed their political stamp indelibly on their times. They include Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt—and Ronald Reagan. A conservative hero in a conservative age, Reagan has been so admired by a minority of historians and so disliked by the others that it has been difficult to evaluate his administration with detachment. Drawing on numerous primary documents that have been neglected or only recently released to the public, as well as on emerging historical work, Wilentz offers invaluable revelations about conservatism's ascendancy and the era in which Reagan was the preeminent political figure.
Vivid, authoritative, and illuminating from start to finish, The Age of Reagan raises profound questions and opens passionate debate about our nation's recent past.
One of the nation's leading historians offers a groundbreaking and provocative chronicle of America's political history since the fall of Nixon.
The past thirty-five years have marked an era of conservatism. Although briefly interrupted in the late 1970s and temporarily reversed in the 1990s, a powerful surge from the right has dominated American politics and government. In The Age of Reagan, Sean Wilentz accounts for how a conservative movement once deemed marginal managed to seize power and hold it, and the momentous consequences that followed.
Ronald Reagan has been the single most important political figure of this age. Without Reagan, the conservative movement would have never been as successful as it was. In his political persona as well as his policies, Reagan embodied a new fusion of deeply right-leaning politics with some of the rhetoric and even a bit of the spirit of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and John F. Kennedy's New Frontier. In American political history there have been a few leading figures who, for better or worse, have placed their political stamp indelibly on their times. They include Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt—and Ronald Reagan. A conservative hero in a conservative age, Reagan has been so admired by a minority of historians and so disliked by the others that it has been difficult to evaluate his administration with detachment. Drawing on numerous primary documents that have been neglected or only recently released to the public, as well as on emerging historical work, Wilentz offers invaluable revelations about conservatism's ascendancy and the era in which Reagan was the preeminent political figure.
Vivid, authoritative, and illuminating from start to finish, The Age of Reagan raises profound questions and opens passionate debate about our nation's recent past.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Read Carefully -- And Remove the Adjectives
The thrust of author's Wilentz's polemic is that Reagan's Presidency and brand of conservativatism defined the Republican Party and underscored the political events in the US to the current day (2008.)Yes, I know the book starts the Age at 1974, long before Reagan went to the oval office, but Reagan's movement had already started by that time.Somehow most of the reviewers and commenters on the reviews missed that thrust, preferring to concentrate only on Reagan's Presidency.
... Read More
Rating: - Reagan - Moderate
Reagan was a moderate. Consider the facts:
He:
- Cuts taxes in 1981, then raised then in 1982 and '83. And overall taxes (as a percentage of GDP) were slightly *higher* in 1988 than in 1980, as reported by economist Robert Samuelson.
- Nominated Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court -two left-right deciders, not true conservatives. If anything, O'Connor was a liberal...and this was feared by conservatives upon her nomination.
- Signed ... Read More
Rating: - The Age of Clinton: A History, 1992-2000
I enjoyed this book for its deep insight, vast scope, readability, laugh inducing bipartisanship and observant narration. But as Sean established in the introduction that personal beliefs should not muddle the mind of the Historian, and that he is aligned with the Left, I can't help but feel this clandestine hatred for Regan. It seemed at least to me that in many sections there were unnecessary jabs at the Republicans covered. There were several instances where it appeared that he was forced to write a ... Read More
Rating: 
- disappointed
I sure wish I had read the comments on this page before buying this book. I have read a lot of political history, and I think most liberal authors (and conservative authors) can write unbiased, readable political history. This book, however, is definitely not that. I read about a third of it and decided enough was enough. If you are a liberal, you might like the point of view of this book, but If you want history, look elsewhere. I am unfamiliar with this author, but it may be that he is just too far left ... Read More
Rating: - The Age of Propaganda
I had hopes in the beginning where there was some insight on the rise of Reaganism, but then Mr. Wilentz slowly begins to degenerate into leftist leaning propaganda.It is not even disquised as opinion, but the old tired retoric that, if repeated often enough in some circles, it rates right up there with truth.
Don't waste your time or money on this piece of political hack writing.It rates right up there with what comes out of the mouth of Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi - the party line no matter ... Read More
- Read Carefully -- And Remove the AdjectivesThe thrust of author's Wilentz's polemic is that Reagan's Presidency and brand of conservativatism defined the Republican Party and underscored the political events in the US to the current day (2008.)Yes, I know the book starts the Age at 1974, long before Reagan went to the oval office, but Reagan's movement had already started by that time.Somehow most of the reviewers and commenters on the reviews missed that thrust, preferring to concentrate only on Reagan's Presidency.
... Read More
- Reagan - ModerateReagan was a moderate. Consider the facts:
He:
- Cuts taxes in 1981, then raised then in 1982 and '83. And overall taxes (as a percentage of GDP) were slightly *higher* in 1988 than in 1980, as reported by economist Robert Samuelson.
- Nominated Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court -two left-right deciders, not true conservatives. If anything, O'Connor was a liberal...and this was feared by conservatives upon her nomination.
- Signed ... Read More
- The Age of Clinton: A History, 1992-2000 I enjoyed this book for its deep insight, vast scope, readability, laugh inducing bipartisanship and observant narration. But as Sean established in the introduction that personal beliefs should not muddle the mind of the Historian, and that he is aligned with the Left, I can't help but feel this clandestine hatred for Regan. It seemed at least to me that in many sections there were unnecessary jabs at the Republicans covered. There were several instances where it appeared that he was forced to write a ... Read More
- disappointedI sure wish I had read the comments on this page before buying this book. I have read a lot of political history, and I think most liberal authors (and conservative authors) can write unbiased, readable political history. This book, however, is definitely not that. I read about a third of it and decided enough was enough. If you are a liberal, you might like the point of view of this book, but If you want history, look elsewhere. I am unfamiliar with this author, but it may be that he is just too far left ... Read More
- The Age of PropagandaI had hopes in the beginning where there was some insight on the rise of Reaganism, but then Mr. Wilentz slowly begins to degenerate into leftist leaning propaganda.It is not even disquised as opinion, but the old tired retoric that, if repeated often enough in some circles, it rates right up there with truth.
Don't waste your time or money on this piece of political hack writing.It rates right up there with what comes out of the mouth of Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi - the party line no matter ... Read More
