Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Freedom

By (author) Andrew E. Busch

Not available to order

Publication date:

28 August 2001

Length of book:

352 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781461642169

In Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Freedom, Andrew E. Busch goes beyond economic and foreign policies to examine ReaganOs understanding of statesmanship. Busch analyzes Reagan's conscious attempt to strengthen the separation of powers, federalism, and traditional rhetoric, and his efforts to revive the notion of limited government in a Constitutional Republic. In this important new study, Busch concludes that Ronald ReaganOs politics of freedom_found in his discourse, policy, and coalition-building_achieved significant successes in the 1980s and beyond.

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Reagan and American Political Discourse
Chapter 3 Reagan and the Constitution
Chapter 4 Reagan, American Political Institutions, and National Morale
Chapter 5 Reagan, Economic Freedom, and the Economic Recovery
Chapter 6 Reagan and the Rise and Fall of the Federal Deficit
Chapter 7 Reagan and the (Partial) Recovery of Society
Chapter 8 Reagan and the Cold War
Chapter 9 Reagan, Coalition Building, and the Politics of Limited Government
Chapter 10 Conclusion

Liberals dismiss and denigrate him and his presidency, conservatives lionize him and his record, but in such an ideologically charged atmosphere, on what basis can we evaluate the man and his record? In this well written book, Andrew Busch gives us an answer. Judging Reagan by the very standards he himself established for his presidency—did he contribute to the scope and vitality of human freedom in America?—is at once innovative and simple common sense. In applying just such standards to the Reagan legacy and the 1980s, Busch reminds us of Reagan's importance in the renewal of America's 'architecture of freedom.'