Intimate behind-the-scenes recollections of Ronald Reagan by those who knew him during his early political career in California—photos included! People often wonder: “What was Reagan like privately?” “How did he treat his children?” “How did he handle pressure?” “How did he handle danger?” “How did he treat his staff?” “How did he handle difficult, almost impossible to deal with, legislators?” This book collects reminiscences from those who were there, working in a wide variety of positions, recounting how the former actor, governor of California, and future president of the United States used humor to disarm his most ardent critics and tenacious opponents. In this book, you’ll discover observations about the close bond between Ronald and Nancy Reagan; the gentlemanly character of the governor who “never equated disagreement with disloyalty;” the way Reagan thrived on being underestimated; the untold story behind the secret plan hatched by former Air Force Secretary Thomas C. Reed and a handful of dedicated insiders to launch Reagan’s unequivocal, arguably first campaign for President of the United States in 1968; and much more.

The most-talked-about political commentator in America is back with more about what he has to say to his fellow Americans. Print run 1,200,000.

A moving memoir of the beloved fortieth president of the United States, by his son. February 6, 2011, is the one hundredth anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. To mark the occasion, Ron Reagan has written My Father at 100, an intimate look at the life of his father-one of the most popular presidents in American history-told from the perspective of someone who knew Ronald Reagan better than any adviser, friend, or colleague. As he grew up under his father's watchful gaze, he observed the very qualities that made the future president a powerful leader. Yet for all of their shared experiences of horseback rides and touch football games, there was much that Ron never knew about his father's past, and in My Father at 100, he sets out to understand this beloved, if often enigmatic, figure who turned his early tribulations into a stunning political career. Since his death in 2004, President Reagan has been a galvanizing force that personifies the values of an older America and represents an important era in national history. Ron Reagan traces the sources of these values in his father's early years and offers a heartfelt portrait of a man and his country-and his personal memories of the president he knew as "Dad."

Behind-the-scenes anecdotes and first-person recollections from forty-nine diverse people illuminate their personal relationships with Ronald Reagan. What was Ronald Reagan like in private? How did he treat his children? How did he handle pressure? This collection of intimate remembrances of the late President’s staffers, colleagues, and friends sheds new light on the life and career of the immortal “Gipper.” See how Reagan used humor to disarm his most ardent critics and tenacious opponents. Marvel at his gift for persuading difficult, almost impossible to deal with legislators. Learn the untold story behind the secret plan hatched by former Air Force Secretary Thomas C. Reed and a handful of dedicated insiders to launch Reagan’s first campaign for president of the United States in 1968. Many of author Curtis Patrick’s interview subjects were members of Reagan’s original 1966 campaign for governor of California. Some came aboard soon after the election and were appointed to fill key positions in the governor’s cabinet and to head up state agencies and departments. For the most part, except in a few cases, these interviewees had never been recorded or published before. “Curtis, I not only like your book; I love it!” —Edwin Meese III, former US attorney general

These stories, revelations & anecdotes were told by the boys & girls, men & women, 49 of them, who started out in the trenches; some before Reagan ever decided to run for political office. They tell the stories of the interaction between Reagan and the unsung heroes, some of whom have already passed away. Their personal stories & vignettes reveal why they dropped everything they were doing & worked up to eighteen hours a day to help start the “boomlet” that launched RR at the dawn of his political career. These were high-principled individuals with a strong love of country, an insatiable work-ethic, an honest core---and---an abiding love for & trust in Ronald Reagan.

From the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, bestselling historian, and author of Our First Civil War—and "the rare academic historian who can write like a bestselling novelist" (USA Today)—comes an irresistible portrait of an underestimated politician whose pragmatic leadership and steadfast vision transformed the nation. In his magisterial new biography, H. W. Brands brilliantly establishes Ronald Reagan as one of the two great presidents of the twentieth century, a true peer to Franklin Roosevelt. Reagan conveys with sweep and vigor how the confident force of Reagan’s personality and the unwavering nature of his beliefs enabled him to engineer a conservative revolution in American politics and play a crucial role in ending communism in the Soviet Union. Reagan shut down the age of liberalism, Brands shows, and ushered in the age of Reagan, whose defining principles are still powerfully felt today. Employing archival sources not available to previous biographers and drawing on dozens of interviews with surviving members of Reagan’s administration, Brands has crafted a richly detailed and fascinating narrative of the presidential years. He offers new insights into Reagan’s remote management style and fractious West Wing staff, his deft handling of public sentiment to transform the tax code, and his deeply misunderstood relationship with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, on which nothing less than the fate of the world turned. Look for H.W. Brands's other biographies: THE FIRST AMERICAN (Benjamin Franklin), ANDREW JACKSON, THE MAN WHO SAVED THE UNION (Ulysses S. Grant), and TRAITOR TO HIS CLASS (Franklin Roosevelt).

Way Out There in the Blue is a major work of history by the Pulitzer Prize­winning author of Fire in the Lake. Using the Star Wars missile defense program as a magnifying glass on his presidency, Frances FitzGerald gives us a wholly original portrait of Ronald Reagan, the most puzzling president of the last half of the twentieth century. Reagan's presidency and the man himself have always been difficult to fathom. His influence was enormous, and the few powerful ideas he espoused remain with us still -- yet he seemed nothing more than a charming, simple-minded, inattentive actor. FitzGerald shows us a Reagan far more complex than the man we thought we knew. A master of the American language and of self-presentation, the greatest storyteller ever to occupy the Oval Office, Reagan created a compelling public persona that bore little relationship to himself. The real Ronald Reagan -- the Reagan who emerges from FitzGerald's book -- was a gifted politician with a deep understanding of the American national psyche and at the same time an executive almost totally disengaged from the policies of his administration and from the people who surrounded him. The idea that America should have an impregnable shield against nuclear weapons was Reagan's invention. His famous Star Wars speech, in which he promised us such a shield and called upon scientists to produce it, gave rise to the Strategic Defense Initiative. Reagan used his sure understanding of American mythology, history and politics to persuade the country that a perfect defense against Soviet nuclear weapons would be possible, even though the technology did not exist and was not remotely feasible. His idea turned into a multibillion-dollar research program. SDI played a central role in U.S.-Soviet relations at a crucial juncture in the Cold War, and in a different form it survives to this day. Drawing on prodigious research, including interviews with the participants, FitzGerald offers new insights into American foreign policy in the Reagan era. She gives us revealing portraits of major players in Reagan's administration, including George Shultz, Caspar Weinberger, Donald Regan and Paul Nitze, and she provides a radically new view of what happened at the Reagan-Gorbachev summits in Geneva, Reykjavik, Washington and Moscow. FitzGerald describes the fierce battles among Reagan's advisers and the frightening increase of Cold War tensions during Reagan's first term. She shows how the president who presided over the greatest peacetime military buildup came to espouse the elimination of nuclear weapons, and how the man who insisted that the Soviet Union was an "evil empire" came to embrace the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and to proclaim an end to the Cold War long before most in Washington understood that it had ended. Way Out There in the Blue is a ground-breaking history of the American side of the end of the Cold War. Both appalling and funny, it is a black comedy in which Reagan, playing the role he wrote for himself, is the hero.