Governor Reagan by Lou Cannon

As I continue to read biographies of the Presidents I chose Lou Cannon's work on Reagan. This book was quite good. Cannon clearly admires Reagan but is not above acknowledging mistakes and errors when and where he feels they are present.

Learning about Reagan's youth is interesting. As a lifeguard he saved many lives, clearly he was good at it. He had a winning personality even when young but also then a personality which made him seem superficial, never fully exposed and trusting.

As he moved to Hollywood and began his career in acting he had success instantly. His movie contract at one time and one negotiation made him the highest paid contract in the business. Later as his movie career was winding down an as President of the SAG he made some deals on movie rights that seemed to be a bit of a conflict of interest later.

As Governor and later in his campaigns for President in 1976 and 1980 Reagan did a much better job than he is given credit for. However he also was not the raging conservative Republicans love to make him out to be. He might have had those ideas, but he was above all things a pragmatist that was a firm believer in getting some of what you wanted rather than stand on ideals and accomplish nothing.

Interestingly he is described as making good decisions but his decisions could be hampered if the right information for his choices was given to him. That is he did not always seek out more information than what was given. This would lead to an ability to be manipulated by his subordinates which depending on whose stories you believe did happen from time to time.

This is an interesting read and I look forward to the next book in the series.