The Judge: William P. Clark, Ronald Reagan's Top Hand
William P. Clark served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of the Interior during Ronald Reagan's two terms as President, sharing an uncanny bond with the Gipper as well as his peculiar gift for succeeding at high office with few formal credentials and little prior experience. This uncritical look at Clark posits that his apparent simplicity, like Reagan's, belied a deep sagacity that proves how common sense and sound judgment trumps narrow intellectualism and left-wing sophistry. Author Kengor (God and Hillary Clinton) and historian Doerner make no secret of their admiration, crediting Clark for his unswerving loyalty to Reagan's vision of communism while other of his advisors fought against the hard-line approach to the Soviets, calling economic sanctions and the "Star Wars" Strategic Defense Initiative ill-advised, and the Cold War unwinnable. These little-seen inter-administration struggles make up this volume's most informative and intriguing parts; otherwise, this career biography offers readers a sympathetic, largely anecdotal record of the Reagan White House.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.