It is twenty years—a full generation—since Ronald Reagan first walked into the White House and ignited a revolution. From the beginning, he enjoyed the affection of so many Americans. Now, as he approaches the end of his life, he has received what he deserved even more: their deep respect.
"Presidents tend to come from something," writes Peggy Noonan. What was the wellspring of Ronald Reagan's greatness? Noonan, best –selling author of the classic Reagan-era memoir What I Saw at the Revolution, former speechwriter, and now a columnist and contributing editor for The Wall Street Journal, argues that the secret of Reagan's success was no secret at all. It was his character—his courage, his honesty, and his almost heroic patience in the face of setbacks—that was the most important element of his success.
The one thing a man must bring into the White House with him if he is to succeed, Noonan contends, is a character that people come to recognize as high, sturdy, and reliable.
No one has ever captured Ronald Reagan like Peggy Noonan. In When Character Was King, Noonan brings her own reflections on Reagan to bear as well as new stories—from Presidents George W. Bush and his father, George H. W. Bush, his Secret Service men and White House colleagues, his wife, his daughter Patti Davis, and his close friends—to reveal the true nature of a man even his opponents now view as a maker of big history.
Marked by incisive wit and elegant prose, When Character Was King will both enlighten and move readers. It may well be the last work on Ronald Reagan, not only as a leader but as a man. |
