US Presidents
April 30, 1789, when George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States to the present — 46 presidencies have led the nation from its violent beginning through turbulent times, near-extinction, world triumph, and long domestic and international challenges. I realized how steadily I sold biographies and histories dealing with the US Presidents, and I thought I would begin on the ambitious project of all the books related to the subject that I stock. Here is the beginning of an ongoing work. I am including the necessary topics of spouses and general administration (not just the individual). Endlessly fascinating to the reader — and apparently inspiring to our best historians.
The listing is chronological, most recent to George Washington top to bottom of the page, with some books on leadership and so forth at the bottom. The most recent President, Donald Trump, is having many books published with political or polemical edges to them. The political books are listed on the Politics & Current Events page. For this page I will strive to select books on Trump that have a historical framework or methodology.
The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
"They called it the Reagan revolution," Ronald Reagan noted in his Farewell Address. "Well, I'll accept that, but for me it always seemed more like the great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense."
Nearly two decades after that 1989 speech, debate continues to rage over just how revolutionary those Reagan years were. The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction identifies and tackles some of the controversies and historical mysteries that continue to swirl around Reagan and his legacy, while providing an illuminating look at some of the era's defining personalities, ideas, and accomplishments. Gil Troy, a well-known historian who is a frequent commentator on contemporary politics, sheds much light on the phenomenon known as the Reagan Revolution, situating the reception of Reagan's actions within the contemporary liberal and conservative political scene. While most conservatives refuse to countenance any criticism of their hero, an articulate minority laments that he did not go far enough. And while some liberals continue to mourn just how far he went in changing America, others continue to mock him as a disengaged, do-nothing dunce. Nevertheless, as Troy shows, two and a half decades after Reagan's 1981 inauguration, his legacy continues to shape American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush modeled much of their presidential leadership styles on Reagan's example, while many of the debates of the '80s about the budget, tax cutting, defense-spending, and American values still rage.
Love him or hate him, Ronald Reagan remains the most influential president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, and one of the most controversial. This marvelous book places the Reagan Revolution in the broader context of postwar politics, highlighting the legacies of these years on subsequent presidents and on American life today.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.