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 An Important Addition to History & a Relaxing Read for Those Who Want to Get Behind the Curtain of the Reagan Legacy Jul 02, 2011
By Thomas M. Loarie
Author and former aid to Ronald Reagan for forty-four years, Curtis Patrick, has provided an important addition to history with "Reagan; What Was He Really Like?" The book tells the story of Reagan's early years through the eyes of those - boys and girls, men and women - who worked by his side as he morphed from an actor, union leader, and GE spokesperson into a national political figure.
Patrick captures:
* The thread - a strong love of country, an insatiable work-ethic, and an honest spirit - that tied these "these high principled-people" to serve a man that they grew to love.
* Stories with intimate glimpses into the soul of this "uncommon man" as told by those who interacted with him in the everyday life of campaigning to take the California statehouse, and then, as Governor.
* Much about Reagan's curious mind, wit, glad soul, and warm heart - a man who had known sorrow and defeat, but who, by dint of indomitable cheer, gentlemanly grace, and extraordinary energy overcame these obstacles.
* Reagan's set of strong beliefs - the strength, spirit, and common sense of the individual - and optimism in the future of America.
* A behind-the-scenes look at the loving relationship between Nancy and Ronald...and their children. (Ron Jr. and Patty were not out of their circle of love).
Patrick has provided a service by sharing these stories (and pictures) that have never been published anywhere. The book, while uneven and redundant, is factual and delivered so the reader can read any chapter in any order. Each chapter tells stories of one or two individuals, from those who gained national prominence - William Clark, Lyn Nofziger, and others - to those well behind the scenes, including Patricia Gayman ( scheduling secretary), Pat Cunneback and Sal Russo (dedicated youth, students at UCLA), Mervin and Nancy Amerine (pilot and stewardess who provided the Turkey Plane) who also helped immensely in shaping the Reagan legacy.
Curtis Patrick makes no bones about Ronald Reagan being his hero and "Reagan" is his way of saying thanks. Those who share Patrick's feelings for Reagan (I am one of those) will also find this book to be a satisfying resource.
 Good Book to celebrate Reagan's Centennial Jul 06, 2011
By Vivian Deliz
This book provides the reader with a different type of insight on who Ronald Reagan was. It is written in short story format, about 20 vignettes on the life of Reagan before he became president. The different part os that the people offering the stories are research assistants, body guards, campaign advance staff, drivers, receptionist, etc, not your typical political personality.
The book contains photographs that make this book extremely interesting as I, for one, had never seen those photographs before.
I give kudos to the author, Curtis Patrick, for writing a book that presents glimpses in the live of Ronald Reagan from common people. This book is volume 1 and I look forward to reading volume 2 once it comes out.
This book is not for everyone, but the people who admire Ronald Reagan will enjoy this book as it takes a look into the early years (political life).
Brings Back Memories of Why Reagan Was a Great President Jun 29, 2011
By James Kirwin
Disclosure: When Reagan was president I was a young leftist and ended up protesting at an appearance he made during the 1984 campaign. Since then I have drifted rightward and while I don't regret my youthful "enthusiasm", I have grown to appreciate Reagan as being a truly great leader. While reading Patrick's book I felt a deep longing for Reagan, something that many Republicans feel today when we look at the field of Republican candidates.
In his book, the first of three, Patrick paints a portrait of America's 40th president using as his palette the experiences of those who worked for him. While Patrick interviewed Lyn Nofziger, the book really makes Reagan come alive in the stories of those who worked for him like Nancy Clark Reynolds. Clark Reynolds held many roles working for the Reagans including Special Assistant to Nancy Reagan. Through her reminiscences Patrick skillfully portrays the complex relationship between Reagan's dedicated team of helpers and Nancy Reagan. Over time many would run afoul of Nancy, and some lost their jobs because of it and even today Nancy Reagan remains a controversial figure among self-described Reaganites. But Clark Reynolds believes that Nancy was only being protective of her husband. "I had never in my life met a couple (Ron and Nancy) who were completely into one another as they were."
As the Reagan presidency and his accomplishments as governor of California continue their inexorable slide into History, Patrick's book reminds us that while History may not repeat itself, it does tend to whistle the same tune. He includes several news releases from the governor's office with articles that discuss problems back then that exist in California today over 40 years later. The State spending more than it collected in taxes. The soaring cost of publicly provided health-care. The need for tax reform and overhaul. The troubled state of public education - including rioting students that at one point seemed hell-bent on killing him, even though he made higher education a priority and protected it from the budget cutting ax. Today's headlines in California aren't much different - except the Reagan administration attempted to seriously resolve the problems unlike the current administration running California today.
Patrick also undermines the myth of Reagan as being an intellectual lightweight throughout the book. Numerous interviewees stress the Reagan's intelligence and ease at understanding complex problems. Buck Ware, lead advance man in the 1966 Reagan for Governor campaign, noted, "I didn't fully appreciate him. I just didn't have the intellectual tools, the language, the metaphors, to understand him until I had read two of Ayn Rand's books, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. The philosophy she expounded on in Atlas Shrugged clarified and explained why I had been so deeply attracted to Ronald Reagan, and Walt Disney, as well." Dr. Jim Gibson, who Reagan appointed to the Planning & Research Unit tasked with overhauling California's woes, told Patrick, "A lot of people in the outside world, who weren't close to him, couldn't believe that this man didn't just memorize the facts, but he understood them - he was intellectually bright!" "He was an intellectually bright man!"
Although the book focuses on his governorship of California, it does touch upon his presidency at points. In an interview with Tom Ellick, a public relations consultant and later Special Assistant to the Reagan Cabinet, Ellick relates an explanation that Reagan gave for his attendance at Kolmeshohe Cemetery in Bitburg Germany. Reagan's visit had been extremely controversial across the political spectrum in the United States, uniting some Army officers, musicians such as The Ramones and Frank Zappa, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel against Reagan's proposed visit. Nevertheless, Reagan visited the cemetery after his trip to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, spending 8 minutes there. Ellick remembers Reagan explaining to him:
"If the American people could understand how important it was that I did that." "Helmut - Helmut Kohl was really in trouble and we needed him to be reelected." "We didn't want Germany to go back to the Willy Brandts - the Socialists." "I knew it was important to Helmut - I knew there was som risk - but, when the trip was planned, we didn't know there were any SS officers buried there!"
There have been numerous books on the Reagan presidency, most of them by those with their own personal vendetta or agenda against Reagan or his wife Nancy. What sets Patrick's book apart is his relying upon the voices of the everyday people that were touched by the Reagans and helped Reagan to achieve the accomplishments that changed America and arguably, the world. While reading this book I was struck by its honesty and authenticity; there are no ulterior motives behind what Patrick quotes. People simply report what they recall. By interviewing so many people (the table of contents lists 20 but there are many more that are quoted throughout the book) the stories eventually dovetail and come together to provide a sense of what Ronald Reagan was like when the cameras stopped rolling and the press exited. Reagan thus becomes human and three dimensional through the interviews, and his triumphs more remarkable than what is remembered or reported in the history books.
Since we have the second incarnation of Jimmy Carter in the White House, America needs another Ronald Reagan now more than ever. While Republicans have evoked his name so much as to turn it into a cliche, this book points out why that search is pointless. Reagan was a true American original, a one of a kind that will never grace a statehouse or White House again. Yet his sensibility, his kindness and the determination he showed throughout his political career remind us living in a much more crass and cynical era that such people still exist. As Stu Spencer noted about his career in Hollywood, Reagan played good guys. "The good guy in the movies! He may have been with Errol Flynn in the movies, but he was the good guy." In the end Reagan proved that just like the movies, in American politics the good guys can win.
Reagan fans will enjoy this book Jun 18, 2011
By Diane
"bookchickdi"
I'll state right off, I'm not a big Ronald Reagan fan, though I am surrounded by many who are. So when I had the opportunity to review a book titled Reagan- What Was he Really Like?, I thought maybe I should read it to get some insight.
Curtis Patrick, who worked with Reagan for many years, wrote the book, so he had access to many people who knew Reagan in all different aspects. I did like how the book was organized, with each person getting a chapter for their remembrance, and their relationship to Reagan listed in the chapter contents.
Much of the book focuses on Reagan's time as governor of California. I found that interesting, as most of the Reagan books deal with his presidency; this gives a good overview of a difficult time in the history of California. Reagan was governor during campus uprisings in the 1960s, and one person recalled Reagan meeting with student demonstrators when he was advised not to do it.
There are anecdotes from a pilot and his wife who flew Reagan around California, his scheduler, and his receptionist; many so-called 'everyday people' shared their impressions and meeting with him. They spoke of how polite he was, always asking about their families, and writing them notes.
They talked of his strong ability to focus, how he held strongly to his beliefs and showed little ego. One person remembered that when Reagan was angry, he would throw his glasses and say "damn it!"
The book has lots of photos, mementos and primary sources, such as newspapers articles; they add an interesting component to the book. There is a reprint of an interview from The Capitol Report with Reagan discussing his first 18 months as governor.
There are some drawbacks to the book. The author uses italics and exclamation points much too frequently in the book. When you emphasize so many things, it tends to take away the impact of the really important things. A good editor would have done wonders for the book.
This book is not for everyone; it is really aimed at the Reagan devotee, of which there are many. They will enjoy this look at Reagan's early political journey, from the everyday people who surrounded him. If you are looking for a balanced, critical look at Ronald Reagan, this is not for you.
Primary documents for the Reagan completist Jun 15, 2011
By Andrew S. Rogers
Drivers, campaign advance men, research assistants, police bodyguards, and receptionists are not the sorts of people likely to be interviewed for big policy-focused biographies of major American politicians. They are, however, frequently the ones most equipped to answer the title question, "What was he really like?" That's what makes this collection of interviews by longtime Ronald Reagan team member Curtis Patrick a worthwhile read. It won't replace any of those big policy-focused biographies or ever angle for Pulitzer contention, but I can see many Reagan fans and researchers alike wanting it on their shelves.
The focus of this "Volume One" is on Reagan's gubernatorial campaign and his years as governor. While Patrick's interviewees share many new and often entertaining stories from this period that is so often overshadowed by the White House years, he has more affirmed our understanding of "what he was really like" than broken much new interpretive ground. The interview subjects are pretty unanimous that Reagan was a great guy to work for, caring and friendly to his campaign and political staff, intelligent and thoughtful with a good memory for facts, witty, and, inevitably, "optimistic." If there is one dark cloud in the book, it's the bitterness the author evidently feels toward Ronald Prescott Reagan, and things the latter has written and said about growing up the son of Ronald Reagan. Patrick is at pains to show that "Skipper," the childhood nickname by which Ron Reagan is still called here, was always included in the then-Governor's events and parties. I'll let the reader decide whether that answers Ron Reagan's fundamental argument. On the whole, though, all of what is presented here is so consistent with what so many others have said about working with and for the Gipper, that I tend to be satisfied that Patrick has, at least, answered his title question honestly.
The way these interviews are presented is less satisfying, though. The chapters are largely, though not entirely, transcriptions of conversations the author had with his interview subjects, and Patrick's use of quotation marks (often several sets within one paragraph) and italics is ... idiosyncratic. It was sometimes hard for me to tell who was speaking, or what an interjection like "YEAH!" was in reaction to. Another pass or two by an editor, I think, could have gone a long way to make the text more conventional in its presentation. The photos tend to look like they were reproduced on a Xerox machine, but with an unnecessary drop shadow added for effect.
Presentation issues aside, though, the first-person memories and often (I'd imagine) never-before-told anecdotes collected here make this book something fans of Reagan and Reagan stories will enjoy dipping into. It won't displace any of those other biographies, but can be an affirming and entertaining addition to them.
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