President Reagan: The Triumph of ImaginationSimon and Schuster, 23 déc. 2005 - 592 pages Twenty-five years after Ronald Reagan became president, Richard Reeves has written a surprising and revealing portrait of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century. As he did in his bestselling books President Kennedy: Profile of Power and President Nixon: Alone in the White House, Reeves has used newly declassified documents and hundreds of interviews to show a president at work day by day, sometimes minute by minute. President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination is the story of an accomplished politician, a bold, even reckless leader, a gambler, a man who imagined an American past and an American future -- and made them real. He is a man of ideas who changed the world for better or worse, a man who understands that words are often more important than deeds. Reeves shows a man who understands how to be President, who knows that the job is not to manage the government but to lead the nation. In many ways, a quarter of a century later, he is still leading. As his vice president, George H. W. Bush, said after Reagan was shot and hospitalized in 1981: "We will act as if he were here." He is a heroic figure if not always a hero. He did not destroy communism, as his champions claim, but he knew it would self-destruct and hastened the collapse. No small thing. He believed the Soviet Union was evil and he had contempt for the established American policies of containment and détente. Asked about his own Cold War strategy, he answered: "We win. They lose!" Like one of his heroes, Franklin D. Roosevelt, he has become larger than life. As Roosevelt became an icon central to American liberalism, Reagan became the nucleus holding together American conservatism. He is the only president whose name became a political creed, a noun not an adjective: "Reaganism." Reagan's ideas were so old they seemed new. He preached an individualism, inspiring and cruel, that isolated and shamed the halt and the lame. He dumbed-down America, brilliantly blending fact and fiction, transforming political debate into emotion-driven entertainment. He recklessly mortgaged America with uncontrolled military spending, less taxation, and more debt. In focusing on the key moments of the Reagan presidency, Reeves recounts the amazing resiliency of Ronald Reagan, the real "comeback kid." Here is a seventy-year-old man coming back from a near-fatal gunshot wound, from cancer, from the worst recession in American history. Then, in personal despair as his administration was shredded by the lying and secrets of hidden wars and double-dealing, he was able to forge one of history's amazing relationships with the leader of "the Evil Empire." That story is told for the first time using the transcripts of the Reagan-Gorbachev meetings, the climax of an epic story -- as if he were here. |
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Page xv
... Could the shrewd Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, have more than doubled the Pentagon budget? Could the experienced Secretary of State, George Shultz, have believed Russia would be applying for membership in NATO Introduction xv.
... Could the shrewd Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, have more than doubled the Pentagon budget? Could the experienced Secretary of State, George Shultz, have believed Russia would be applying for membership in NATO Introduction xv.
Page xvii
... defense may have cost decades of lost opportunities for better education and health care. The rich got richer and Reagan told them they deserved it. The poor got poorer and he told them it was their own fault. It was his policy. In its ...
... defense may have cost decades of lost opportunities for better education and health care. The rich got richer and Reagan told them they deserved it. The poor got poorer and he told them it was their own fault. It was his policy. In its ...
Page 19
... Defense Caspar Weinberger: “Turn to Cap Weinberger who will outline where he and Dave Stockman have found savings within the Department of Defense.” But there were no real savings in military spending. Quite the opposite. Another series ...
... Defense Caspar Weinberger: “Turn to Cap Weinberger who will outline where he and Dave Stockman have found savings within the Department of Defense.” But there were no real savings in military spending. Quite the opposite. Another series ...
Page 20
... Defense Secretary had agreed on a 7 percent a year increase on Carter's defense budget. Stockman used the 1980 Carter budget of $142 million. But Weinberger used the 1981 number, which included a congressionally mandated, built-in 9 ...
... Defense Secretary had agreed on a 7 percent a year increase on Carter's defense budget. Stockman used the 1980 Carter budget of $142 million. But Weinberger used the 1981 number, which included a congressionally mandated, built-in 9 ...
Page 24
... defense posture. And considering the efforts of past chief executives, the proposal is almost revolutionary.” Human Events, however, was no favorite of the new men around Reagan. Baker and Darman, and Deaver, too, did their best each ...
... defense posture. And considering the efforts of past chief executives, the proposal is almost revolutionary.” Human Events, however, was no favorite of the new men around Reagan. Baker and Darman, and Deaver, too, did their best each ...
Table des matières
1 | |
30 | |
43 | |
August 8 1981 | 58 |
August 13 1981 | 83 |
June 8 1982 | 99 |
March 8 1983 | 133 |
September 5 1983 | 160 |
November 19 1985 | 280 |
January 28 1986 | 295 |
June 17 1986 | 322 |
October 12 1986 | 340 |
November 25 1986 | 362 |
June 12 1987 | 378 |
July 7 1987 | 402 |
October 19 1987 | 419 |
February 26 1984 | 182 |
November 6 1984 | 204 |
March 11 1985 | 235 |
November 16 1985 | 265 |
December 8 1987 | 435 |
May 29 1988 | 448 |
January 11 1989 | 472 |
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Expressions et termes fréquents
administration Air Force American announced arms control asked Baker began Beirut budget Bush called Carter chief of staff Clark committee Congress conservative contras country’s Darman David Stockman Deaver Defense deficit Democrats dent economic El Salvador federal foreign going Gorbachev Grenada Haig headline hostages Howard Baker Ibid Iran Iran-contra Iranian Israel Israeli Larry Speakes Lebanon Marines Matlock McFarlane Meese meeting memo military million missiles morning Moscow Nancy Reagan National Security negotiations Nicaragua North nuclear O’Neill Oliver North Oval Office percent plane Poindexter political poll President Reagan President’s question reporters Republican Ronald Reagan RRPLM Sandinista saying secret Secretary Senate Shultz Soviet leader Soviet Union Speakes speech Stockman story summit talk television tell there’s things tion told troops trying United Vice President vote wanted Washington weapons Weinberger White House WHNS WHSOF wrote York