Tear Down This Myth

Tear Down This Myth
Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Total Pages : 289
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781416597728
ISBN-13 : 1416597727
Rating : 4/5 (28 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Tear Down This Myth by : Will Bunch

Download or read book Tear Down This Myth written by Will Bunch and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-02-03 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this provocative new book, award-winning political journalist Will Bunch unravels the story of how a right-wing cabal hijacked the mixed legacy of Ronald Reagan, a personally popular but hugely divisive 1980s president, and turned him into a bronze icon to revive their fading ideology. They succeeded to the point where all the GOP candidates for president in 2008 scurried to claim his mantle, no matter how preposterous the fit. With clear eyes and an ever-present wit, Bunch reveals the truth about the Ronald Reagan legacy, including the following: Despite the idolatry of the last fifteen years, Reagan's average popularity as president was only, well, average, lower than that of a half-dozen modern presidents. More important, while he was in office, a majority of Americans opposed most of his policies and by 1988 felt strongly that the nation was on the wrong track. Reagan's 1981 tax cut, weighted heavily toward the rich, did not cause the economic recovery of the 1980s. It was fueled instead by dropping oil prices, the normal business cycle, and the tight fiscal policies of the chairman of the Federal Reserve appointed by Jimmy Carter. Reagan's tax cut did, however, help usher in the deregulated modern era of CEO and Wall Street greed. Most historians agree that Reagan's waste-ridden military buildup didn't actually "win the Cold War." And Reagan mythmakers ignore his real contributions -- his willingness to talk to his Soviet adversaries, his genuine desire to eliminate nuclear weapons, and the surprising role of a "liberal" Hollywood-produced TV movie. George H. W. Bush's and Bill Clinton's rolling back of Reaganomics during the 1990s spurred a decade of peace and prosperity as well as the reactionary campaign to pump up the myth of Ronald Reagan and restore right-wing hegemony over Washington. This effort has led to war, bankrupt energy policies, and coming generations of debt. With masterful insight, Bunch exposes this dangerous effort to reshape America's future by rewriting its past. As the Obama administration charts its course, he argues, it should do so unencumbered by the dead weight of misplaced and unearned reverence.


Tear Down This Myth Related Books

Tear Down This Myth
Language: en
Pages: 289
Authors: Will Bunch
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-02-03 - Publisher: Simon and Schuster

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this provocative new book, award-winning political journalist Will Bunch unravels the story of how a right-wing cabal hijacked the mixed legacy of Ronald Rea
Reaganland
Language: en
Pages: 1120
Authors: Rick Perlstein
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-08-17 - Publisher: Simon and Schuster

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"From the bestselling author of Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge comes the dramatic conclusion of how conservatism took control of American political power"--
When Things Went Right
Language: en
Pages: 338
Authors: Chase Untermeyer
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-08-08 - Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

When Things Went Right is a colorful and insightful portrait of Washington at the beginning of the Reagan-Bush era (November 1980–March 1983) as lived and rec
The Right Path
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Joe Scarborough
Categories: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Opening with the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and ending with the disillusionment that characterized the final months of George W. Bush's presidenc
Getting Right with Reagan
Language: en
Pages: 440
Authors: Marcus M. Witcher
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-11-29 - Publisher: University Press of Kansas

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Republicans today often ask, “What would Reagan do?” The short answer: probably not what they think. Hero of modern-day conservatives, Ronald Reagan was not