Dinesh D'Souza rates America's 40th president as one of its greatest, right below Washington and Lincoln. He makes a forceful case for this rank, probably the best yet and perhaps the best possible. In the process, he analyzes Reagan's leadership style with remarkable clarity and subtlety. Reagan seemed ordinary in so many ways, still, millions of people believed in him and followed him. Moreover, he is the patron saint of the modern conservative movement--something that he did not create, yet nonetheless came to embody. Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader is for readers already well-disposed toward the former California governor. It may not change minds, but it will deepen the appreciation felt by Reagan's many admirers, who seem to miss the leader more with each passing day.


From Library Journal
A former domestic policy adviser in the Reagan administration and author of the controversial The End of Racism (Free Pr., 1995), D'Souza argues that Reagan was not merely a successful president but "a truly great president who belongs in the elite company of Washington, Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt." To make that claim credible, the author ignores the Iran-contra scandal, dismisses the massive budget deficits accumulated during the Reagan years, overlooks a series of missteps by the administration, and simply gets his story wrong (e.g., Reagan's role in the downfall of Ferdinand Marcos). Attempting to show that an ordinary man became an extraordinary leader, D'Souza fails to make a key distinction between "leader" and "president." Reagan was a successful leader who mobilized a conservative movement and reshaped the terms of debate in the United States. He was, however, a less successful president who made a series of mistakes and blunders largely ignored by the author of this disappointing book.?Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los AngelesCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
D'Souza (Illiberal Education, 1991, etc.) breaks with most Reagan administration alumni by idolizing the former president rather than writing a critical kiss-and-tell memoir. Crediting Reagan with doing ``more than any single man in the second half of the twentieth century to shape the world we live in,'' D'Souza presents a straightforward theme: Despite some personal flaws, Reagan was an outstanding statesman and leader. His method is familiar, though less straightforward. By playing off the usual foils--liberals and Democrats, of course, but especially ``pundits'' and ``intellectuals''--he portrays Reagan's career as a series of triumphs over his critics. A master of this style, D'Souza carefully selects quotations that cast aspersions on Reagan and his policies, then demonstrates that time after time the political wise men were wrong and Reagan was right. Focusing on partisan and ideological disputes allows him to avoid potentially embarrassing policy decisions such as the sending of marines to Lebanon, and there are continuing opportunities to disparage favored targets. There is also an odd tendency to document the comments of critics more thoroughly than Reagan's thoughts and intentions. Getting inside Reagan's head undoubtedly poses difficulties, but this is what D'Souza's arguments apparently require. In situations where some observers found Reagan inattentive and obtuse, for example, D'Souza sees ``the guise of being distracted,'' a subtle strategy for managing people. Whether Reagan was being sly or was really asleep would seem to be an important issue, but sorting out such details is not what this effort is all about. Political posturing aside, this is a glib volume that will warm the hearts of those who harbor a nostalgia for the Reagan era. (Author tour; radio satellite tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER