When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan
by Peggy Noonan

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Book Reviews of When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan

Book Review: Exploring President Reagan's Philosophy and Psychology
Summary: 4 Stars

The new insights come mostly from two sources: new interviews with people who met President Reagan over the past five decades, and Ms. Noonan's own recollections and reflections on what it was like to work with President Reagan. Ms. Noonan is a talented writer, and brings the material together well.

The book is highly complimentary of President Reagan, so those who did not like him or what he did will find the book sadly out of balance. Iran-Contra is about the only negative area mentioned, and President Reagan is criticized . . . but in a mild way. Other areas where reasonable people could and do differ (like abortion, women's and minority rights, SDI, the Federal deficit, and the broad military build-up) are described as complete triumphs.

Those who are great admirers of President Reagan will probably find this book to be the most appealing and emotionally rewarding profile that has been done to date. The book has the extra appeal of taking you into the private places and times where only insiders had everyday access, such as the California ranch, the hospital after the assassination attempt, visits with President Reagan after he was out of office, and the commissioning of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan by Mrs. Reagan while she was attended by a large group of former White House staffers.

There are a lot of speeches reported in the book. Realizing that Ms. Noonan may have helped write some of them made me feel like the speeches should have been pared back, or her role described fully in their development.

Integrity is defined by most people as acting in ways that are consistent with your beliefs. That is a high standard that all people wish they could match. Whether a critic or an admirer, you will come away from this book with a better understanding of why and how President Reagan behaved with an extraordinary degree of integrity, representing values that the majority of Americans hold.

Here are a few examples of President Reagan's beliefs as described in the book:

"Tell the truth, announce the facts, explain what to do about them and pledge to do it."

"So he took his mother's assumptions -- we must do good -- and added them to his own ambitions."

" . . . I'm going off to war, still true to my precepts: (a) to love what you are doing with all your heart and soul and (b) to believe what you are doing is important."

"He was humble. He had no sense of entitlement."

"Skeptic . . . not a cynic."

After the assassination attempt, "Whatever time he had left was God's, would go to God."

"He saw it [history] as something you could change."

"He thought women were better than men."

"I never thought of myself as a great man, just a man committed to great ideas."

His legacy: "He tried to expand the frontiers of freedom, in a world at peace with itself."

Near the end of the book, President George W. Bush describes his first meeting with Russian President Putin, and you can clearly hear echoes of the Reagan-Gorbachev summits. So the influence of these beliefs continues, at least in the current administration. If you are like me, you will be deeply affected by stories of how reports of President Reagan's speeches helped inspire Soviet dissidents stuck in the Siberian gulags.

Be sure you know what you believe . . . and act like that's what you believe! Encourage others to do the same . . . whether or not they agree with you. But do look out for their interests too, and point them out.

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