The Reagan I Knew
Yet for all the words that have been written about him, Ronald Reagan remains an enigma. His former speechwriter Peggy Noonan called him “paradox all the way down,” and even his son Ron Reagan despaired of ever truly knowing him. But Reagan was not an enigma to William F. Buckley Jr. They understood and taught each other for decades, and together they changed history.
This book presents an American political giant as seen by another giant, who knew him perhaps better than anyone else. It is the most revealing portrait of Ronald Reagan the world is likely to have.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Library Journal
“Buckley has written an enjoyable account of the Reagan years and the camaraderie he shared with the Reagans.”
About the Author
William F. Buckley Jr. (1925—2008) was the author and editor of over fifty works of fiction and nonfiction. The founder and former editor-in-chief of National Review and former host of “Firing Line,” he was one of the intellectual leaders of the right from the 1950s until his death in 2008. His syndicated column, “On the Right,” was begun in 1962. He served as a CIA agent in the early 1950s, helped found the Young Americans for Freedom in 1960, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H.W. Bush in 1991. His most recent work of nonfiction, FlyingHigh, an appreciation of Barry Goldwater, was published by Basic Books in 2007.
Customer Reviews
Reagan Lite
Reagan Lite
The Reagan I Knew is yet another glimpse into the amazing life of Ronald Reagan. The essence of Ronald Reagan is simplistic complexity. He was something different to everyone. He was considered a dunce by pseudo-intellectuals because of his innate ability to crystallize complex issues into simple problems and solutions. This drove the sophistic liberals crazy as they long to wallow in self-induced complex problems that in the end have no real solutions except to create additional problems. Reagan on the other hand saw with laser clarity the heart of an issue and quickly formulate an overall simple solutions that he left for his minions to implement. Mr. Buckley in his glib, erudite way similarly cuts through the mystic surrounding Ronald Reagan to the very essence of the man himself. His short vignettes and inclusion of personal letters portrays a Reagan that his friends knew and admired. I personally enjoyed the correspondence between Mr. Buckley and Mrs. Reagan as it presented a Nancy Reagan that few people knew.
This is a "lite" look at the relationship of two great American conservatives. It is a recommended read if for no other reason than the historical correspondences it contains. William F. Buckley and Ronald Reagan were fast friends and this is illustrated throughout the book. Sometimes less is more and in this case that is true.
painfully disappointing for RR/WFB devotee
I fully expected to enjoy and learn from this book. As a reader of National Review for a quarter century and a latter-day Reaganaut, I had high hopes. But it turns out a more apt title would be "The William F. Buckley Who Knew the Reagans and Gave One Clever Advice While Flirting With the Other." I don't know whether WFB simply descended into narcissism in his last years or he simply had not the opportunity to fix this mess, but what he left us was a maddening book, full of little else than . . . WFB.
The book strikes me as awfully lazy, a pastiche of vignettes, letters, and transcripts. There is here no good argument, no sustained apologia nor polemic on Reagan's virtues, when we all know that WFB thought highly of him.
It's tiresome to read one WFB letter after another, especially when there are references to the Reagan letters WFB is receiving but not revealing to us. It seems Buckley just for this purpose saved copies of the letters he sent out, while deeming most of the Reagan letters he actually received not to be worthy of publication in a book . . that's supposed to be about Reagan. There are a few Reagan letters, but they are too few, and these tend to be edited down.
For the Reagan WFB knew, a reader would more profitably acquire and read 'Ronald Reagan: A Life in Letters,' which includes complete versions of many of RR's letters to WFB that are curtailed for this book.
And then there's an absolutely bizarre chapter describing a purported conversation between Clare Booth Luce and Defense Secretary Weinberger about Reagan and nuclear weapons that takes place in Hawaii. Is this a concocted drama? Was WFB there? It's unclear what to make of it.
I cannot recommend this book for anyone wanting to know Reagan better. Read any of the "in his own hand" materials that have been published in the past few years, and give this a pass.
Disappointed
I have always been very much a fan of Buckley. There is no question of his impact in restoring the energy to the conservative mindset beginning in the 1950's. Therefore, I was looking forward to this book for greater insights into the man who became the icon of conservatism for the general public, Ronald Reagan. However, I completed the book perplexed at the scarcity of the glimpses I hoped for.
1) This appears more a book about WFB and his interactions with the Reagan family and others than about RR. There are too numerous occasions when WFB is presenting his own published writings about RR's policies than about the man himself. For example, in the issue they disagreed upon, the Panama Canal, WFB's arguments are clearly given the front row, so to speak, as is his "cuteness" in speech during their recorded debate. In addition, there is much peripheral info about others who interacted with or against RR, but no "guts" about this man Ronald Reagan that WFB had a friendship with.
2) Secondly, perhaps because I have slid into a deeper conservatism than I thought, but I was not pleased about WFB's inclusion of his written flirtations with Nancy Reagan. Yes, there may have been a closeness with the Buckleys and Reagans that would make this all simply harmless and cute. But I strongly question the appropriateness of supplying this to the general public, particularly within a book entitled, The Reagan I Knew.
3) Curious. Although this work speaks several times about RR's children, Ron Jr. and Patti, I can recall no reference to Michael Reagan, the adopted son who has been a conservative talk show host for some time. Whether true or not, the appearance seems most certainly a deliberate slight on WFB's part.
Yes, I was disappointed.
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