11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative

January 6, 2014
Political scientist and Reagan scholar Kengor (The Communist) sets out to answer the question "What is a Reagan Conservative?" Reviewing Reagan's popularity and accomplishments as President, Kengor zeros in on a 1977 speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee that outlined significant principles of the conservative movement. Kengor discusses each of the 11 principles in turn, noting how Reagan illustrated it, and why it remains significant today. Freedom, our "divine right"; faith, which he ties to optimism; and family, defined as father, mother, children, are the first principles. Kengor further lists sanctity of human life; American exceptionalism; the wisdom and vision of the Founding Fathers; and lower taxes and reduced government size. This ties to the next principle, limited government; though not in the case of the military, as "peace through strength" and anti-Communism both required significant spending. The final principle tied to the Reagan model of conservatism is belief in the individual. Critical readers will note that many of these principles are defined in ways that require acceptance of conservative dogma, not in ways that invite discussion and open exchange of ideas. When Kengor relates these principles to contemporary debates such as same-sex marriage, he rather flatly predicts Reagan's stance. Excerpts from Reagan's speeches comprise the second half of this slim volume. Recommended for Conservatives who wish to have a stronger understanding of the ideas that drove policy during Reagan's administration.

March 1, 2014

Kengor (political science, Grove City Coll.; God and Ronald Reagan), considered an expert on Reagan, presents a very short book--to which he contributes about half of the text--looking at Reagan's speeches across the president's political career, including many from the 1970s at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. He distills Reagan's philosophy via 11 principles: freedom, faith, family, sanctity and dignity of human life, American exceptionalism, the Founders' wisdom and vision, lower taxes, limited government, peace through strength, anticommunism, and belief in the individual. Within this framework, Kengor does not explore where Reagan's thinking came from or how it agreed or disagreed with other philosophies. Nor does he really analyze how his subject's principles played out in the real world of government. Instead he provides superficial and inadequate glosses, e.g., as California governor, Reagan increased access to abortion, but Kengor does not address that or Reagan's tax increase early in his term or his well-known issues with his own family. The author's occasional attacks on President Obama are unnecessary and distracting. He seems to want to have it both ways--being a respected scholar and simultaneously a partisan attack dog. Fifty pages of the book reprint Reagan speeches, without annotations. The best known is the president's 1983 "Evil Empire" speech: the speechwriter's draft is shown with copious changes in Reagan's hand. VERDICT For true-believing Reagan fans only.--Michael O. Eshleman, Kings Mills, OH

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