An icon of the twentieth century, Ronald Reagan has earned a place among the most popular U.S. presidents. In this compelling firsthand account of Reagan's presidency, Peter J. Wallison, former White House counsel to President Reagan, asserts that Reagan took office with a fully developed strategy for governing that was unique among modern presidents. I am not a great man, Reagan once said, just committed to great ideas. Wallison shows how Reagan's stubborn and unyielding attachment only to certain key ideas--communicated in his speeches--created a cohesive administration and revived the spirit of the nation. Reagan limited his personal efforts to those issues he considered central to his presidency, choosing to delegate to his cabinet and staff those issues he viewed as secondary to his agenda. This leadership style contributed to Reagan's accomplishments and missteps, drawing criticism from his detractors.
During his presidency, Reagan experienced both enormous success--in the unprecedented growth of the economy, the first arms reduction agreement with the former Soviet Union, and the revival of American confidence--and near disaster in the Iran-Contra affair. In Ronald Reagan, Wallison describes what it was like to be on Reagan's White House staff and how Reagan's determination to stay the course produced both the worst and best days of his presidency.
In his new book, Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality, AEI's Charles Murray focuses on four simple, hard truths that are rarely discussed or even acknowledged by educators and politicians.
In this provocative new book, Arthur C. Brooks explodes the myths about happiness in America. He examines vast amounts of evidence and empirical research to uncover the truth about who is happy in America, who is not, and why.
