Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Exit with Honor : The Life and Presidency of Ronald Reagan - William E Pemberton

Exit with Honor

The Life and Presidency of Ronald Reagan

By: William E Pemberton

Paperback | 30 April 1998 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


$153.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $38.44 with

 or 

Ships in 15 to 25 business days

Few presidents have sparked as much interest in recent years as Ronald Reagan, already the subject of a large number of biographies and specialized subjects. This biography, based on recent research into the Reagan archives and synthesis of the large memoir literature, explores the shaping of his values and beliefs during his childhood in the American heartland, his leadership of the American conservative movement, and his successful political career culminating in the first two-term presidency since Dwight Eisenhower. Pemberton finds Reagan''s personal career and ability to understand and communicate with the American people admirable, but finds many of the long-term effects of his presidency harmful.
Industry Reviews
A volume that will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in the Reagan presidency so overwhelming it has not yet been sated by the glut of books on this subject. To be fair, this could serve as a reasonable introduction to Reagan's presidency for readers not already familiar with the basic events. But essentially, Pemberton (History/Univ. of Wisconsin, La Crosse) has produced an abridged encyclopedia of Ronald Reagan. On one hand there is an apparently Herculean effort to use every available written source, from unpublished papers to first-person accounts to scholarly secondary works, in a brief yet comprehensive survey of the major events of Reagan's adult life. On the other hand, there is the predictable result that not a single event receives satisfactory attention. Pemberton's perspective is balanced and serious throughout, but even objective description can be misleading when it is too brief. Devoting less than a single page to such complex events as the origins of the savings-and-loan fiasco or the evolution of the 1986 Tax Reform Act can create the impression that a topic has been addressed even though essential information is missing. Even where details are added to the narration, the presentation is unsatisfying. For example, Pemberton describes Reagan's post-inaugural signing of an order to freeze hiring of governmental employees as evidence of his mastery of symbolic politics. However, throughout the book we are told that Reagan himself rarely made decisions, and never about details. Was he the author of this action, then, or simply a performer? Without addressing this question, the description has little depth. In an arena already crowded with juicy first-person exposes and academic diatribes, a detached, surface-level survey isn't going to generate much interest. (Kirkus Reviews)

More in History

Looking from the North : Australian history from the top down - Henry Reynolds
Borneo : The Last Campaign - Michael Veitch

RRP $34.99

$27.75

21%
OFF
Holbein : Renaissance Master - Elizabeth Goldring

RRP $82.95

$60.75

27%
OFF
The Philosophy of Jazz : Philosophies - Kevin Le Gendre

RRP $24.99

$22.75

A Short History of Japan : Pelican Books - Christopher Harding

RRP $45.00

$35.75

21%
OFF
The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective - Sara Lodge
Henry V : The Astonishing Rise of England's Greatest Warrior King - Dan Jones
Born : The Untold History of Childbirth - Lucy Inglis

RRP $32.99

$26.99

18%
OFF
On My Watch : Leading NATO in a Time of War - Jens Stoltenberg

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World - Philip Matyszak
PIX : The Magazine that told Australia's Story - Margot Riley

RRP $59.99

$47.75

20%
OFF
Inferno : Australians on the Western Front - Phillip Bradley

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Armada : The Spanish Enterprise and England's Deliverance in 1588 - Colin Martin
Midnight : The story of a Light horse - Mark Greenwood

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
100 Diaries That Chronicled World Events - Colin Salter

RRP $44.99

$35.75

21%
OFF
The Shortest History of Australia - Mark McKenna

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
The Breath of the Gods : The History and Future of the Wind - Simon Winchester