Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, And the Making of History

John P Diggins

W. W. Norton & Company, 2007 - Biography & Autobiography - 493 pages

"Following his departure from office, Ronald Reagan was marginalized thanks to liberal biases that dominate the teaching of American history, says John Patrick Diggins. Yet Reagan, like Lincoln (who was also attacked for decades after his death), deserves to be regarded as one of our three or four greatest presidents. Reagan was far more active a president and far more sophisticated than we ever knew. His negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev and his opposition to foreign interventions demonstrate that he was not a rigid hawk. And in his pursuit of Emersonian ideals in his distrust of big government, he was the most open-minded libertarian president the country has ever had; combining a reverence for America's hallowed historical traditions with an implacable faith in the limitless opportunities of the future.--From publisher description."--From source other than the Library of Congress.

What people are saying

Review: Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History

User Review  - Sean - Goodreads

The author makes an interesting argument. His thesis is that Reagan's political philosophy was more akin to liberalism than conservatism. He writes: "James Madison told Americans that government is ...

Review: Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History

User Review  - Debbie - Goodreads

Perhaps a bit too revisionist. Reagan might not be as conservative as some remember him...but I still am not convinced by Diggins's claim that he is a liberal

About the author

Intellectual historian John P. Diggins was born in San Francisco. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1957, a master's degree at San Francisco State College, and a doctorate at the University of Southern California in 1964. Before accepting a job at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 1990, he taught intellectual history at San Francisco State College and the University of California, Irvine. He wrote numerous books during his lifetime including Mussolini and Fascism (1972), On Hallowed Ground (2000), Eugene O'Neill's America: Desire under Democracy (2007), and Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom and the Making of History (2007). He died due to complications of colon cancer on January 28, 2009 at the age of 73.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, And the Making of History
• Author: John P Diggins
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007
• ISBN: 0393060225, 9780393060225
• Length: 493 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Presidents & Heads of State