When Character Was King

I didn’t have an opinion on Ronald Reagan before reading this book. Truthfully, the only things I knew about his presidency were the Iran-Contra scandal and the phrase supply-side economics. But I couldn’t have told you anything about either of those.

And while this book caught me up with a lot of facts about Ronald Reagan and his two terms as President (did you know he won 49 states in his reelection campaign?), that’s not what I’ve held on to since reading. What has stuck with me is the feeling of who he was as a person, more so than how he was as a president.

I don’t think you get to see that very much. With historical presidents, you can hear the historian’s take on them based on whatever documents and second-hand accounts may or may not be available. With the current and most recent presidents, we’re almost too close to see them for who they really are. Even then, the public perception of them changes rapidly.

But from Nixon to Clinton (maybe to George W. Bush), you have this unique window where the people who worked with and for those presidents are still alive. And, we’re far enough removed from them historically to talk about what they were like as people, especially now that their political careers have been dissected over and over again for better or worse.

For example, we get to see George W. Bush laughing with Ellen DeGeneres and in the process catch a glimpse of his personality. And for someone with that level of power, seeing their true personality is a rare, and I might say, beautiful thing.

This book is full of those moments. You learn about the life of Ronald Reagan, sure. But more importantly, you come into contact with the man he was, with the values that mattered to him, and with the principles upon which he built his life and career.

I will always choose to read history from the people who lived it rather than the people who observed it, and Peggy Noonan took us straight to the heart of her experience with Reagan—both the president and the person.

Favorite Quote

Reagan was an idealist, and his lifelong struggle in whatever context he found himself was to determine what was right and then to stand for it no matter what.

“I never thought of myself as a great man, just a man committed to great ideas…There’s no question I am an idealist, which is another way of saying I am an American.” - RR