How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life

July 14, 2003
Conservatives, exult! Robinson's self-help/memoir/Reagan hagiography is an All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
for right-wingers. The former White House speechwriter and author of It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP
and Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA
illuminates 10 life lessons in a love letter to the Gipper ("How," Robinson asks, "did such a nice guy get to be President?"). By looking at both the historical (supply-side economics, the Cold War, Iran-contra) and the personal (Reagan's beliefs, his relationship with his family), Robinson unearths maxims such as "Do your work" and "Say your prayers." The stories are engaging, and he tosses in dashes of philosophy, such as the nature of good and evil, based on Reagan's ideas. The writing style, though, is repetitive, and occasionally Robinson makes leaps in his assumptions of Reagan's motivations; none of this, however, dilutes the message. Each lesson is related to Robinson's own life either in contrast or to show how he's made Reagan's lessons "scalable" for his own use. Interviews with and stories about many of the major players of the Reagan administration, like Ed Meese and Colin Powell, lend an insider's feel. Behind-the-scenes details, such as how the famous "Tear Down the Wall" speech was composed, give a fresh perspective. And while Robinson's respect for the former president verges on deification, especially as he glosses over Reagan's shortcomings ("Now, I myself was never able to get worked up over the deficits," Robinson says), this book provides solid, if somewhat obvious, lessons that will appeal to the legions of Reagan fans.

August 1, 2003
Robinson (It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP) began as a speechwriter for the Regan administration in 1982, when he was an impressionable 25 year old just home from Oxford. He relies on journal entries from those years to summarize his observations of the President's character, work style, interpersonal relations, and personal commitment to marriage and to show how he was influenced by the President. The book is anecdotally rich and enhanced by interviews with family members and Reagan administration figures. Robinson wrote the famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech, and his description of the speech's evolution is fascinating and entertaining. The author admires Reagan and makes no effort to discredit him or his administration, but he admits that a few events, such as the Iran-Contra scandal, tarnished the nearly perfect polish on Reagan's White House. Peggy Noonan's When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan is a more comprehensive memoir and tribute to Reagan's influence and character, but readers who admire the former President will find Robinson's book inspiring. For larger public libraries.-Jill Ortner, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.