Ronald Reagan's Journey: Democrat to Republican

(Paperback)

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In this new work, Edward Yager examines Ronald Reagan's political development from New Deal liberal to conservative Republican. Yager assesses the influences that provoked Reagan's transformation, beginning with the core values that he acquired during his youth and their relationship to his later political development. Throughout his lifetime, Reagan's family and friends played a significant role in debating political ideas and advancing Republican arguments. Ronald Reagan's Journey focuses on these important relationships as well as the intellectual influences on Reagan's politics during the 1950s. In tracing Reagan's political development, Yager argues that Reagan's presidency cannot be fully understood and evaluated without significant attribution to the spiritual, political, and economic beliefs that he formed during his journey from Democrat to Republican.

Reviews

Ronald Reagans Journey is an important book, a significant addition to our growing knowledge of Ronald Reagan. -- Martin Anderson, Keith and Jan Hurlbut Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Everyone knows that Ronald Reagan started as a 'New Deal Democrat' and ended as a conservative Republican. But what, exactly, does that mean And how did it happen In Ronald Reagans Journey, Edward Yager answers those questions in a systematic, scholarly fashion for the first time. He fills an important gap in our understanding of one of the most important presidents of the twentieth century. -- Andrew E. Busch, Claremont McKenna College and author of Reagans Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right
The period 1945-62 was a critical stage in the political-ideological development of Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan, the 1980s president, cannot be understood without understanding his transformation in this period. Reagan's life was a journey-a series of journeys; yet, the journey he traveled from 1945-62 was one of the most important of those journeys, and also one of the most neglected, until this very important book. This was the sojourn that set Reagan upon the course that took him to the presidency.This is a unique, fair, non-partisan, balanced, and generally valuable work that stands apart in the vast Reagan literature-a crucial contribution to the field. The book is consistently insightful and well-written. It is sophisticated, nuanced, careful,comprehensive, balanced, and thoughtful. Yager has done a superb job.. -- Paul Kengor, Grove City College and author of God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life
The period 1945-62 was a critical stage in the political-ideological development of Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan, the 1980s president, cannot be understood without understanding his transformation in this period. Reagan's life was a journey-a series of journeys; yet, the journey he traveled from 1945-62 was one of the most important of those journeys, and also one of the most neglected, until this very important book. This was the sojourn that set Reagan upon the course that took him to the presidency.This is a unique, fair, non-partisan, balanced, and generally valuable work that stands apart in the vast Reagan literature-a crucial contribution to the field. The book is consistently insightful and well-written. It is sophisticated, nuanced, careful, comprehensive, balanced, and thoughtful. Yager has done a superb job. -- Paul Kengor, Grove City College and author of God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life

Author Bio

Edward M. Yager is associate professor of political science at Western Kentucky University.