Publisher's Synopsis
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS VOLUME 1: Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan - 2 Books in 1!
Featuring...Richard NixonRonald Reagan
2 Great Biographies In 1!
Richard Nixon
This is the story of an ambitious, scrappy kid overcoming humble origins to somehow become The Most Powerful Man in the World at a time when the United States was at the top of the global totem pole. This is the story of a man who was an advocate for peace and first to make major breakthroughs to pierce the Iron Curtain of a divided world. The story of a man who steered America at a time of heady, history-making change... who has since been largely reduced to a cartoon caricature, a Halloween mask, and trivia answer with a title no one wants to ever hold: The Only U.S. President Ever to Resign from Office.
This is the story of former U.S. President Richard Nixon beyond Watergate. This is Richard Nixon, revealed, a sensation even without the event that pushed him out of office and that he would always be known for. This is Nixon gate - the scandal! the revelation! that there is more to a man than the biggest of his mistakes.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan, whether one agreed with his politics or not, whether one believed he had achieved the objectives of the vision he espoused or not - was still someone who pulled himself up from incarnation to incarnation, to reach impossible dreams both Hollywood and political. He still ushered in an end to the Cold War, with the American way of life squarely on top. He still had a winning vision that remains resonant to many in the country he loved. He still sits upon the bar that most Republican politicians hope to attain and surpass. He still has a voice and input in the politics of our day.He still has wide-ranging impacts for American political life, long after his death. He is still a lightning rod for dreams.It would be an injustice not to look at him with a critical eye, because if he was just a man - with real flaws, real difficulties, and one who had to make real, hard decisions -then it would have made his achievements all the greater.
To simply live with the romanticized image and not examine the reality of Ronald Reagan would also be unjust to his message of individual ability and potential for greatness. Because if we detach him from our flawed ordinariness, then how can we truly find and replicate the best parts of him in ourselves? How can we live by that image he has championed, of Americans as free individuals with self-determination and an ability to make his country truly great? And so let us pull back the curtains. Let us go behind the scenes. Let us de-mystify Ronald Reagan and unpack the romance he has spun around American political life and inso doing - create the possibility of finding him in ourselves.
