Rick Perlstein's new book on the history of modern American conservatism

@osso
Krugman has a piece up on the attempt I mentioned earlier to slime Perlstein's book http://nyti.ms/1scXSS3

Thanks, I'll catch it.

Also, a subsequent post from Dave Weigel on the same matter http://slate.me/1sd2o2U

Bookmarking in order to eavesdrop.

Reagan makes a great icon, so long as you ignore a bunch of facts. I was taken in by him the first time he got elected.

Lots were and still are (with the help of a sophisticated campaign led by Grover Norquist to create an inviolate myth structure around Reagan (see Will Bunch's Tear Down This Myth for details on that story).

I've just found a terrific interview with Rick and David Dayen where Rick fills in some of the key reasons why people responded to Reagan as they did http://bit.ly/1sd8Ff9

And a review by Frank Rich (I'm about to read it now) http://nyti.ms/1sd9O6l

Quite a bit more available if you do a google news search on Rick Perlstein (which will also give one a great window into how right wing media spread a particular narrative to their audience).

My brother, who was two years my junior, kept a magnificent photo of Ronald Reagan, in a fine frame, on his wall. In his sight the man could do no wrong. I liked him as an actor on shows like Death Valley Days. I was persuaded to vote for him by his affable manner and because I was upset that every trip to the grocery store saw what I considered unforgivable price increases. I have since come to view Carter's service more favorably and to question my sanity in voting for a Republican president.

Reagan was a good communicator, but as a president, probably in the range of mediocre. According to Gallup Poll, Reagan had a 52.8% approval rating, but GW Bush had a 49.4% approval rating. John Kennedy was 70.1% and Bill Clinton was 55.1%. I don't think it really tells us much about their performance, but are based more on emotion.

Rick goes into a lot of the reasons why Reagan was a compelling figure at that time. The links I've added are worthwhile. Even those of us who lived through the period forget a lot.

I just read your first link. I wish I could have had access to that kind of information before the first time he got elected. He would have had one less supporter. I used to read reports that Nixon sent in people to make sure protests turned violent, when he was in office.

Don't feel bad, edgar. We have all voted for candidates we thought were going to be a good president, but turned out different. You know, 'politics corrupts.'

Sobering reading, all of it.

Hi edgar

It is rather sobering, I agree. The movement conservatives continue, with great success, in driving the GOP incrementally further to the right. It's no small problem.

And forcing the Left to the right, more and more.

I think that strange phenomenon has been going on since Clinton's time.

The last liberal president was Johnson. Even Carter was right leaning.

I'm not sure just how "liberal" I'd consider LBJ. Remember, much of the Vietnam war escalation came during Johnson's term in office, including the Gulf of Tonkin fiasco.

I think the 1964 Civil Rights Act gave Johnson that liberal tag.

I despised Johnson for that war. But, he earns the liberal tag by the following:
Designed his signature "Great Society" legislation, which included laws upholding civil rights, public broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection, aid to education, and the abolition of poverty
Signed the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 outlawing most forms of racial segregation and providing equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin, and passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawing discrimination in voting
Appointed Thurgood Marshall as the first African American justice on the Supreme Court
Signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Higher Education Act to improve funding to schools, especially those in poor districts
Established the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts to support humanists and artists
Created programs to tackle poverty such as Head Start, food stamps, Work Study, Medicare, and Medicaid
Presided over the first manned flight to the Moon with the Apollo 8 program