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by Edwin G. Oswald (Author), Alan Axelrod (Author)
On November 4, 1980, American voters gave Ronald Reagan a 41-state Electoral College landslide. The man this mandate carried into the White House was largely compounded of mythology. Like most compelling mythologies, Reagan's was a synthesis of celebrity as well as emotional, intellectual, and cultural streams. Throughout his eight years in the oval office, the "Great Communicator" was largely successful in shaping the soul of America to reflect his durable mantra that "government is the problem." That same American soul later embraced Donald Trump--a president who, the authors argue, would have appalled Reagan.
Reagan's myth persists, and by understanding his time in office in the context of American history and of the American presidency, we can understand how a transformative president created more than policy by also shaping culture with the instrumental force of mythology. This book attempts to neither praise nor bury Reagan but to explain him in non-partisan terms of contemporary popular mythology. The authors examine his legacy in his war on "big government," which still drives politics, economic policy, and culture, even in Trump's era. They make the case that understanding the mythology at work is a necessary step toward healing American politics and saving American democracy.
Author Biography
Edwin G. Oswald is a partner with the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, resident in Washington D.C. He served as an attorney-advisor in the United States Treasury's Office of Tax Legislative Counsel during the Clinton Administration. He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and a frequent lecturer on financing State and local infrastructure and the federal taxation of municipal debt. The book is a personal project of Mr. Oswald's and the views and opinions expressed herein are those of the co-authors and do not represent the views and opinions of Orrick. Alan Axelrod, PhD, is the Atlanta-based author or coauthor of more than 160 books on history, military history, and biography and a former on-camera consultant for A&E's Civil War Journal, PBS, and the Discovery Channel.
