How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life

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Summary: An enjoyable read about a good man....
Review: Although I grew up with liberal-leaning teachers who ALMOST had me convinced Ronald Reagan was the devil, somehow deep down I knew that this was a good man. This book is a refreshing read, and one that I enjoyed very much. In fact, I plan on giving it to my dad and father-in-law for Christmas gifts. The passage about Ronald Reagan's favorite joke (about the optimist/pessimist twins) was funny and insightful and offered us a glimpse of this wonderful human being.

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Summary: My son's middle name is Reagan
Review: As I am writing this review I am listening to the Reagan Funeral. When I read this book written by Mr. Robinson I was inspired beyond all measure. My wife and I were expecting our first child and I told my wife due to the writing of this book we will name our son witht he middle name Reagan. She agreed! This book opened my eyes and my heart to a world from which I lived in, but could not comprehend. Mr. Robinson thank you for writing such a book! Mr. Reagan thank you for your leadership. My son was born May 26, 2004, and his name is Luke Reagan Burkholder.

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Summary: An Excellent Reagan Primer
Review: As the pundits and revisionists attempt to rewrite the history of his presidency, those who know Reagan continue to demontstrate the effect this great man had on them and history. This book is an excellent introduction into how Reagan the Man affected Reagan the President. Through examples of how Reagan handled his life, his staff and his faith, Mr. Robinson gives us insight into the inner world of Ronald Reagan. His rock solid faith and conviction flowed through events both personal and public, and changed the very course of history. I will most certainly be buying Reagan's memoir to get more perspective on a man who is without a doubt one of the great presidents of our time.

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Summary: Robinson Gets Reagan Right
Review: Having worked in the Reagan Administration, I found the RR conveyed in Peter Robinson's portrait to be very much like the man I remember seeing, not the silly cartoon of his detractors nor the flawless icon of many of his admirers. This, indeed, is Robinson's point: That Ronald Reagan was an ordinary man in ways with which all other ordinary folk can indentify and from whom they can draw (as Robinson himself did) valuable lessons in living. Robinson is also the first author to relate the truth -- inconvenient for many Reagan-bashers and "Reaganauts" alike -- that the President wanted both moderates and conservatives in his official family and he wanted their ideas to clash so that in the end he would get the best advice and make the best possible decision. When these decisions favored the moderates, the true-believers would scream that Reaganism had been highjacked. When the true-believers won, the moderates and their allies in the press would bewail another victory for heartless, hardcore conservatism. Robinson (a true-believer) recognized and accepted this sly wisdom on the boss's part, and he acknowledges the key role such ideological struggles played in shaping the Reagan Administration. (end)

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Summary: I loved it!!!!
Review: HOW RONALD REAGAN CHANGED MY LIFE is a wonderfully informative and inspirational read. It's the best nonfiction book I've read this year. Thank you, Peter Robinson, for changing *my* life!!

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Summary: A wonderful warm, and witty book
Review: How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life

One of the most engaging and enjoyable books I have ever read, Peter Robinson's third book tells how his life was impacted on a personal level by President Reagan.

Mr. Robinson has a very charming and self-effacing style, never trying to inflate his own importance, and readily admitting to the foibles of a young, and extremely lucky speechwriter landing a dream job, seemingly by accident. I cannot recall reading a book that made me smile virtually from start to finish. Especially to be admired is his honesty in recognizing his own good fortune throughout the book, wandering trough history almost with a sense of wonder. Not many people who have a chance to serve in a presidential administration would admit to trying to remove the "Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall" line from the speech. (Or admit that they tried rewriting the line to read "Herr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!") Addressing his own weaknesses and failings, he shows how Reagan taught him to rise above them.

I must confess to being an admirer of our 40th President, and have read many of the books written about his life and Presidency. Peter Robinson's point of view is refreshingly different. The lessons he learned from watching Ronald Reagan really are the simple, but important, lessons of life.

Finally, this book does not pretend to be something that it's not. The author is very upfront about his admiration and love for Ronald Reagan, which, for example, makes his discussion of Reagan as a father very difficult for him, but also very necessary.

But this book really isn't just for admirers of President Reagan. If you know a kid in college, buy this book. I only wish it were around 20 years ago for me.

Rating:
Summary: Nuts to Publishers Weekly
Review: I have not yet read this book. But now that I have read the review published by Publishers Weekly, I certainly will. It seems that every time you publish a review of a book by a conservative author you include a review from Publishers Weekly.
And every time you publish a review of a consrvative book from Publishers Weekly it turns out to be an ignorant rant by an intellectual no nothing. Why publish such tripe?
I have read a number of reviews of this book. All of them were uniformly favorable, even laudatory.
One expects the usual lunacy from the usual left wing nuts, like the one by "dunewalker108" who thinks that only "rednecks and white trash" would read such a book.
But Publishers Weekly is supposed to be a professional journal. Why can't its writers behave in a professional manner when they review a book by a conservative author? Why do they insist on giving way to liberal hysteria and injecting their liberal venom into their reviews whenever they read something that challenges their closed intellectual world?

Rating:
Summary: An interesting read
Review: I just finished reading this book. There are some good stories in it. For example, the story about the joke Reagan liked to tell--about the extremely optimistic kid trying to find a pony in a pile of manure--"There must be a pony in here somewhere." The story conveys the optimism demonstrated by Reagan throughout his presidency. The other great story was about how "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" worked its way into the Reagan speech at Berlin Wall couple years before it really collapsed. The author himself was the speech writer, and he gave detailed account of how it was drafted, shaped, and finally delivered in its now well-known form. The better stories like the above appear in the first half of the book however. Overall I enjoyed reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I laughed, I cried, I sang, I danced. This is the most incredible book I've ever read. It changed my life.

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Summary: A nice collection of insights about Reagan & life in general
Review: I often wondered what it would have been like to work for President Reagan. I always hear interesting stories from the people who worked with him. This book is no exception.

Make no mistake, this book is not meant to be a critical look at either President Reagan or his policies, nor should it be. Like other lessons learned/motivational books it is a summation of what is good and what the author learned from it.

In some areas the text has the "template" feel to it, but overall it is a nice read. The author voices some of the same impressions I have about President Reagan, including his demeanor. You can't help liking him once you've spent any time with him.

My favorite part of the book is seeing how a speech developed, and in particular the "Tear Down This Wall" speech. I think every President would be well advised to ignore the State Department concerns about "offending someone" when a point has to be made forcefully.