海角大神

In our deeply polarized era, Ronald Reagan鈥檚 more congenial conservatism now seems part of a distant historical epoch, even though he left the presidency just three decades ago. With that in mind, perhaps the best thing to be said about Reagan: An American Journey, Bob Spitz鈥檚 new biography, is that Spitz manages to evoke Reagan鈥檚 heyday in the 1980s with compelling clarity 鈥� and to suggest how The Gipper鈥檚 legacy continues to shape 21st-century politics.

鈥淎n American Journey鈥� invites comparison to Lou Cannon鈥檚 1991 effort, 鈥淧resident Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime,鈥� a balanced and copiously researched chronicle of its subject. Richard Reeves鈥檚 2005 biography, 鈥淧resident Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination,鈥� was also a fairly objective portrait of Reagan, despite Reeves鈥檚 long career as a liberal newspaper columnist.

Unlike Cannon and Reeves, Spitz isn鈥檛 a political journalist; he鈥檚 best known for bestselling biographies of The Beatles and Julia Child. Spitz鈥檚 familiarity with celebrity culture comes in handy when telling the story of Reagan, whose profile as a film actor before entering politics made him the first president to emerge from the entertainment industry.

Spitz does a good job of capturing how groundbreaking that evolution was. Though he doesn鈥檛 draw a parallel with the current occupant of the White House, the significance of Reagan鈥檚 precedent seems clear, making it easier for reality TV star Donald Trump to make the transition to the campaign trail. And while Spitz has many flattering things to say about Reagan, he also points out the president鈥檚 sometimes casual attitude about the accuracy of his anecdotes, a habit that foreshadowed the self-proclaimed 鈥渁lternative facts鈥� of Trump鈥檚 administration.

As governor of California in the 1960s, for example, Reagan popularized the notion of widespread welfare fraud: 鈥淗e claimed his staff 鈥榙iscovered thousands of people who were receiving welfare checks at the same time they were gainfully employed,鈥� that 鈥榦ne couple ... earned more than one hundred thousand dollars a year between them.鈥� These were compelling stories, but they were unsubstantiated. It didn鈥檛 matter. There was a great public resentment against welfare and the people who sought to exploit it. It was an easy idea to convey, even if it ignored the real complexities of the issue.鈥�

If dark themes sometimes shadowed Reagan鈥檚 political philosophy, his central appeal among voters was his sunny sensibility, Spitz argues. 鈥淪chooled in the ABC鈥檚 of Hollywood fantasy, Reagan aspired to upbeat expectations and happy endings,鈥� he tells readers. 鈥淗is gospel of optimism restored the country鈥檚 spirit, lifted it out of the malaise he inherited from Jimmy Carter. He ascribed to FDR鈥檚 belief that 鈥榯here is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon,鈥� and he set out toward that destination from the day he entered office attuned to his inner compass.鈥�

While Reeves鈥檚 book focused on Reagan鈥檚 presidency, 鈥淎n American Journey鈥� encompasses the whole of Reagan鈥檚 life, from his humble origins in early 20th-century Indiana through his death in 2004 after a long struggle with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. Not counting the index and notes, Spitz鈥檚 narrative runs to 761 pages, a length that still involves bargains about what to include. Some omissions seem glaring. Spitz makes much of Reagan鈥檚 communications skills, using his eloquent speech after the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger as a case in point. But Peggy Noonan, who wrote that speech and on other occasions crafted Reagan鈥檚 best lines, isn鈥檛 mentioned.

Even so, one marvels at the telling details that Spitz manages to get in. He addresses the question of Reagan鈥檚 intelligence, dismissed by critics as insubstantial. Reagan was an enthusiastic reader and shrewd tactician with an innate gift for rhetoric, we learn, but he harbored no intellectual pretensions. As governor of California, he arranged his schedule so he could get home in the evenings to watch 鈥淢ission Impossible鈥� and reruns of 鈥淏onanza.鈥�

It was a ritual Reagan seemed to prefer to social gatherings. Like other biographers, Spitz suggests that Reagan, despite his affable reputation, had few real friends beyond his second wife, Nancy, and was an enigma to those who worked for him. 聽聽

Perhaps his best acting performance was his convincing portrayal of an Average Joe.

鈥淚n all of Reagan鈥檚 pursuits,鈥� Spitz writes, 鈥渉e held to the persona of Everyman. As the most powerful leader of the free world, he played the leading man with the modesty of a stalwart supporting player, drawing inspiration from people who weren鈥檛 stars in their own right.... They reinforced all that he shared with them, mainstream values and a familiar dialect, a simple view of a complex world. In that mutual embrace, he often lost sight of those who didn鈥檛 share his white-picket-fence, morning-in-America outlook.鈥� 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽

Danny Heitman is a columnist with The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana and the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�