The Reagan Mystique

When Ronald Reagan left office, he left behind a country transformed: The Soviet Union was faltering, stagflation was slain, and the economy was booming. As Reagan liked to say, it was morning again in America. Today, under Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed heir to the Reagan Revolution, the skies have rarely seemed darker. In the wake of military debacles, rampant corruption, and personal scandals, Americans have grown increasingly discouraged. A Republican Party that, with Reagan at the helm, had made conservatism respectable, now has promoted ominous rhetoric and controversial policies that have alienated significant portions of the American mainstream. Conventional wisdom holds that the two leaders—one a genial Midwestern everyman, the other a bombastic real estate mogul from Queens—could not be more different. A fresh look, however, suggests a more complicated story.

In The Reagan Mystique, Douglas Little, an expert in American political history, examines Reagan’s life before the White House, his domestic and foreign policies, and the culture wars he enabled to show how his career inadvertently led the country toward a rendezvous with Trump. Reagan parlayed Hollywood stardom into a spectacular political career. Trump capitalized on his reality TV franchise to catapult himself into the presidency. In his 1980 presidential campaign, Reagan promised to “make America great again” by declaring war on “big government.” Trump followed suit four decades later with his own “MAGA” slogan and declaration against “the deep state.” Though some of Reagan’s acolytes have resisted the siren song of MAGA, Little shows why Trump has so easily assumed Reagan’s mantle—and why understanding Trump requires us to reconsider Reagan himself.