Reagan Rising: The Decisive Years, 1976-1980

When one reads a history book, one expects some bias to be in the book but that it will also maintain some level of objectivity. This book neither hides its bias nor even attempts to do so, and it is not that objective. It is incredibly subjective, and it is pretty much unreadable unless you are a die-hard fan of President Reagan. The book could have been a fairly interesting look at how Reagan bounced back after the 1976 primary to win it all against a sitting president in 1980 and by such a wide margin. Instead, we get Craig Shirley, who is so deep into the Reagan mythos that it is hardly interesting or that readable. Mr. Shirley examines how Reagan worked to unite a lot of disparate groups under the Republican banner, mostly Evangelicals, though he glosses over the latent racism in these groups. And Mr. Shirley paints a picture of almost awe that Reagan’s political career did not come to an end in 1976. Sadly, this will not stand up very long as a decisive history of this time period in American history. It will be quickly forgotten, and for that I am glad.