Title: The bully pulpit
Description: Ronald Reagan's supporters call him the Great Communicator and say he demonstrated common sense, keen intelligence, and vision as president. His detractors say he was an incompetent manager, lacked the fortitude to make unpleasant decisions, and let his subordinates handle the business of the presidency. Who is right? An award-winning writer and professor of political thought, William Muir approaches that still hotly debated question from a new angle. More than most presidents, Muir argues, Ronald Reagan set out to change the way the American people thought about events, their country, and themselves--in effect, to create a new public philosophy. Many have written about the Reagan "revolution," but few about the words--the core ideas--that sparked it. This insightful book describes how, through the spoken word, Reagan waged his revolution from the bully pulpit of the White House.

Crucial in shaping his message was the masterly speechwriting team he assembled: Peggy Noonan, intense and poetically eloquent; Tony Dolan, a cigar-chomping Boston Irishman and protege of William F. Buckley; Al Meyer, a career military officer who read Dostoyevsky; Dana Rohrabacher, a young but veteran Reagan supporter from California whose career included writing editorials for an Orange County newspaper; Peter Robinson, a scholarly and quick-witted alumnus of the conservative student movement at Dartmouth; and chief speechwriter Bently Elliott, formerly a CBS Television writer and producer. Literary in their ideas and ardent believers in the Reagan philosophy, they saw themselves as the conscience of the presidency.

Reagan's public philosophy was based on three fundamental ideas: (1) that although human nature is not perfectible, everyone has the ability to choose the moral course; (2) that a free society consists of voluntary and reciprocating partnerships--simply put, the secret to human prosperity is teamwork; and (3) that the point of life is spiritual peace, not material gain. In myriad ways, on thousands of occasions, and to millions of people, Reagan repeated those ideas. What came of spending so much presidential energy on making a public argument? When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 he said that his purpose was to instill optimism in the American people--and the mood of the people turned optimistic. He said that one of his key goals was to prompt private generosity--and personal philanthropy increased.

Was there a connection between his intentions and actual events? Even those most skeptical about Reagan's accomplishments will find reason to pause before rejecting the possibility of cause and effect. In richly thought-provoking and readable style, William Muir provides both a fresh outlook on the Reagan presidency and a new way of viewing effective political leadership.
Subjects: Politics and government, Political leadership, History, Politische Führung
Places: United States
People: Ronald Reagan
Time periods: 1981-1989, 20th century