The Reagan Presidency

by Brownlee, W. Elliot; Graham, Hugh Davis

• ISBN13: 9780700612680
• ISBN10: 0700612688
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-09-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas

Summary

Some call him the Great Communicator. Many credit him with ending the Cold War. Others even consider him the greatest president since FDR. Ronald Reagan claimed several distinctions as fortieth president, but he will be most remembered by admirers and critics alike for his lasting conservative legacy. This first comprehensive, archivally grounded assessment of the Reagan presidency offers balanced "second generation" evaluations of the ideas and policies that made up the so-called Reagan Revolution. Drawing on recently opened records, seventeen scholars from history, political science, and economics focus on important areas of national policy during the Reagan administration. James T. Patterson, Hugh Heclo, David M. O'Brien, and others look closely at Reagan's ideas and rhetoric, foreign policies, economic agenda, and social policies, as they build a strong foundation for future interpretations of the Reagan years. In tackling the Reagan legacy, these contributors don't necessarily agree on what precisely that legacy is. While there is consensus regarding Reaga

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction: Revisiting the "Reagan Revolution"	p. 1
Ideas and Rhetoric
Ronald Reagan and the American Public Philosophy	p. 17
Reagan and the Transformation of American Conservatism	p. 40
Reagan: The Soft-Sell Populist	p. 61
Foreign Policy
Sticking to His Guns: Reagan and National Security	p. 85
Reagan and the Soviets: Winning the Cold War?	p. 113
Reagan, Euromissiles, and Europe	p. 133
The Economic Agenda
Taxation	p. 155
Riding the Third Rail: Social Security Reform	p. 182
The Welfare State	p. 209
Natural Resources and Environmental Policy	p. 233
The Social Agenda
Failing the Test: Immigration Reform	p. 259
Civil Rights Policy	p. 283
Mobilizing Women: The "Social" Issues	p. 293
Federal Judgeships in Retrospect	p. 327
Afterword: The Legacies of the Reagan Years	p. 355
List of Contributors	p. 377
Index	p. 380
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