Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years

Rating:
Summary: An author shouting "Wake up!" ...
Review: ... is not always the most judicious or stylish writer. Johnson's book is not the definitive account of America in the Reagan years. It's the impassioned work of a journalist who cannot understand why a second-rate dodderer became one of the best-loved presidents, and why America gave him a pass on a very mixed two terms in office.

I picked this up during Reagan Funeral Week, and it's a useful antidote to the treacle accompanying the man's death. Lou Cannon's bio is, by most accounts, the "definitive" book, but Johnson's is a good, light read.

(Best part so far: interview with Dick Cheney about Reagan's weaknesses; substitute "G.W. Bush" for "Reagan" and it all remains true.)

Rating:
Summary: Leading By Visceral Vicissitude
Review: Haynes Johnson captures the essential Reagan years. EPA, Iran-Contra, HUD, and the plethora of scandals that rocked this administration, while the Chief gave us movie recitations as fact. Credit is given when due, as the case with Reagan's Zero Option Nuclear treaty negotiations.

What Johnson adduces is a clueless President, who's uninterested in policy, being led around by advisors, who are often corrupt. His belief in Lasser and Stockman's supply side expectations, SDI, and conflicting threat estimates are a few examples.

The Reagan anecdotes, such as the "welfare queen" story is worth the price of the book. I'd rate this book higher than similar exposes on Reagan, such as "Landslide", however, if you're expecting a complete history, you'll be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A Fair and Balanced Look at The Reagan Years
Review: I really wanted to read this book based on the assumption that it would be an overview of the policies that the Reagan administration put in place and the effects it had on the U.S. - good or bad. Unfortunately, that really was not this book was about, the first 100 pages are all about Reagan before he was elected President. If I wanted that history I would have read a bio on Reagan. There was about 150 pages on Iran Contra and then about 100 pages of fill talking about MTV and Wall Street scandals. Again not really what I was looking for. I am not a big fan of the Reagan administration so I wanted an articulate and well thought out look at the administration, but this author tries to blame everything on him. I wanted some pointed zingers, but his weak links just made me think that he was a little over the top.

As far as the writing went, I thought the author jumped around a lot from one topic to another with no clear, smooth transition. I guess I expected more from such a well know and respected author, what I got was a general review of the 80's with an effort to place all errors and issues on the shoulders of Reagan. I also may be a little bias in that I have read a good number of books over Iran - Contra so a 150 page review written so close to the event is inevitably going to leave out some info that fuller telling of the story would include. Overall I would not recommend this book if you have a good understanding of the period or issues, because there will be nothing new for you.

Rating:
Summary: Required reading for anyone wanting to know the real Reagan.
Review: I simply could not put this book down! Ronald Reagan, the hate monger, racist, homophobic pathological liar. The one whose policies has affected all of us for generations to come. If you want to know why cynicism pervades American society, read this book. It amuses me to hear how the "preservatives" want to purchase a legacy for Reagan; Issue new currency; name buildings after him; rename airports, national parks,etc. Laws that protected us from disasters like the savings and loan crisis were simply not enforced because of reagan. Poverty increased because of Reagan.
Selling arms to enemies of the U.S.
(a.k.a. treason,an executable offense!)
Making hate and racism fashionable. (George Lincoln Rockwell-founder of the american nazi party- once said: "Any state that can elect Ronald Reagan as governor will be ready for me in three years")
This book will show anyone with an open mind that Ronald Reagan was as the worst yet most successful president in the history of the United States.

Rating:
Summary: One of the better assesments of the Reagan years.
Review: Johnson hits a home run with this one. This is a great book which I recommend to anyone looking for the real story on what happened in the 1980's. From the hardened plight of the blue collar working class to crushing deficits, Johnson highlights what went wrong in Reagan's America and what should have gone right.

Rating:
Summary: this is a bias book but facts are facts.
Review: Lately there has been a lot of talk about how great Ronald Reagan was as a president. This book shows that this is not even close to being true. Under his presidency we went from the number one loaner to the number one debtor in the world. Him and his administration sold missles to Iran inexchange for hostages and then illegally took that money to support Contras in Latin America. Under his administrations hands off approach wall street ran wild with illegal and immoral practices. All this happened while his administration held down the poor and middle-class while giving the rich more money. It is debated whether Reagan knew some of these things were happening hence the title of the book. It is a very good read and easy to fly through the whole book. The only complaint about it is the lack of an indept description of the savings and loan scandle and the dredded star wars program. Recommended for anyone intrested in learning what happened behind the scenes of this presidency.

Rating:
Summary: Why blame Reagan for everything bad?
Review: Some less-than-fortunate things happened in the 1980's, but many less-than-fortuante things happen in every decade. It seems Johnson wants to blame Reagan for Wall Street goons, weather problems, a supposedly poor economy(which data and history show is totally false, the Laffer curve was correct), and a fight against South American communism, among many other aspects of those years. Why didn't he just look at this nation in 1975-1980. It wasn't pretty. By 1988, America was an economic powerhouse with world superiority and a beacon of freedom and democracy.

Was Ronald Reagan a perfect president? No, but who is? He certainly is one of the best of the 20th century, though, even if Johnson disagrees.

Rating:
Summary: Ok, but there are others that are a better use of time
Review: This book was very easy to read. That is the best part of this book. However, I expected to read an unbiased account of the Reagan years. Instead, this book leaves out many important parts of the Reagan presidency, including Lebanon and Grenada. Also, his coverage of Iran Contra is very brief. Instead, much of the book is devoted to discussing the increase in natl debt (true, it was huge), and the threat of other countries to dethrone the US economically. Johnson started writing this book in 1987, and finished in 1991. He didnt know at the time that Japan would be caught in recession for the next 10 years, or that when Reagan said "i do not recall", he was well into the stages of Seninity. I am not a huge fan of Reagan, or his economic policies. I generally think he was a really good actor who knew how to make an average presidency seem amazing. However, it is foolish to blame everything that is wrong with America on Reagan. We can no more blame Reagan for the '87 crash and corporate scandal of the 80's than we can blame Clinton for Enron, Worldcom, and the dotcom/telecom crash.

There is a MUCH BETTER book out there for those of you that are looking for an unbiased account of the 80's, and one that includes all of the details of the workings of government, the politics involved with the ICBM treaties with the Soviets, and all the other interesting stuff that happened during his presidency (both good and bad). It is "President Reagan, the Role of a Lifetime" by Cannon. It sounds like a pro Reagan book, but it is very unbiased. Those who like Reagan probably think it is too hard on him for Iran-contra and supply side economics, and those anti-Reagan will probably dispute the joint credit he gets (with Gorbechev) for halting the Cold War, but he is fair and dispassionate, as a journalist should be. Its a much better use of time.

Rating:
Summary: Ok, but there are others that are a better use of time
Review: This book was very easy to read. That is the best part of this book. However, I expected to read an unbiased account of the Reagan years. Instead, this book leaves out many important parts of the Reagan presidency, including Lebanon and Grenada. Also, his coverage of Iran Contra is very brief. Instead, much of the book is devoted to discussing the increase in natl debt (true, it was huge), and the threat of other countries to dethrone the US economically. Johnson started writing this book in 1987, and finished in 1991. He didnt know at the time that Japan would be caught in recession for the next 10 years, or that when Reagan said "i do not recall", he was well into the stages of Seninity. I am not a huge fan of Reagan, or his economic policies. I generally think he was a really good actor who knew how to make an average presidency seem amazing. However, it is foolish to blame everything that is wrong with America on Reagan. We can no more blame Reagan for the '87 crash and corporate scandal of the 80's than we can blame Clinton for Enron, Worldcom, and the dotcom/telecom crash.

There is a MUCH BETTER book out there for those of you that are looking for an unbiased account of the 80's, and one that includes all of the details of the workings of government, the politics involved with the ICBM treaties with the Soviets, and all the other interesting stuff that happened during his presidency (both good and bad). It is "President Reagan, the Role of a Lifetime" by Cannon. It sounds like a pro Reagan book, but it is very unbiased. Those who like Reagan probably think it is too hard on him for Iran-contra and supply side economics, and those anti-Reagan will probably dispute the joint credit he gets (with Gorbechev) for halting the Cold War, but he is fair and dispassionate, as a journalist should be. Its a much better use of time.

Rating:
Summary: A fine marxist deconstruction of the Reagan administration
Review: This is a fine marxist deconstruction of the Reagan administration and its efforts to defeat socialism both here and abroad. My only problem with it is that it is rather poorly written. A work of literature it is not. Mr. Haynes prose reads something like the way he talks, ie. as though he has a lump of unpleasant material in his mouth. However turgidly, he does make a politically correct case.