Dear Americans: Letters from the Desk of Ronald Reagan

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During even the busiest times in his presidency, Ronald Reagan took time out each week to respond to dozens of letters from the many friends and private citizens who wrote to him about their concerns. Now, the authors have culled the best of them for a chronological collection that tracks the course of political events during Reagan's eight-year presidency. A fascinating glimpse at the issues facing the United States in the 1980s, Dear Americans reflects an engaged mind focused on a wide range of policy issues ...
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More About This Book

Overview

During even the busiest times in his presidency, Ronald Reagan took time out each week to respond to dozens of letters from the many friends and private citizens who wrote to him about their concerns. Now, the authors have culled the best of them for a chronological collection that tracks the course of political events during Reagan's eight-year presidency. A fascinating glimpse at the issues facing the United States in the 1980s, Dear Americans reflects an engaged mind focused on a wide range of policy issues and keenly sensitive to government's impact on the lives of American citizens. Written in a down-to-earth, often gently humorous tone, the letters reveal much about this President's unshakable political convictions, religious faith, and concern for humanity.
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Editorial Reviews

The Washington Post
It's important to understand that Reagan, unconscious of being anthologized one day (lack of ego, again), addressed almost all these letters to individual people, whose reactions were important to him. In that sense, each is a campaign document, even when written with no public office in mind. His weapons are honesty, modesty and an epistolary style that, while free of literary flourishes or anything resembling an original thought, never fails to focus on the recipient. — Edmund Morris
Publishers Weekly
While researching at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Ralph E. Weber, former professor of modern American military and intelligence history at Marquette University, discovered a trove of more than 3,500 letters handwritten by President Reagan between 1981 and 1989 from such locations as the White House, Camp David and Rancho del Cielo (near Santa Barbara), and aboard Air Force One. Although Weber had researched five other presidential archives, he had located "few comparable files containing such a vivid and personal record; none was as lively and optimistic." Weber and his son, Ralph A. Weber, have made a careful selection of these revealing letters, written to everyone from lifelong friends to ordinary citizens. The correspondence comments on personal matters, such as Reagan's recovery after the assassination attempt ("Let me say I'm very lucky and the Lord really had his hand on my shoulder") to subjects such as Star Wars ("That term was never mine-it was dreamed up by the press and now they saddle me with it"). Covering a wide range of issues, Reagan wrote to newspaper columnists, magazine writers, the parents of soldiers killed in Lebanon, Soviet leaders, children, students, sports figures and Hollywood personalities. The letters are arranged chronologically into chapters for each year, and each chapter has anintroduction recapping the events of that year. Along with his faith and determination, Reagan's warmth, kindness, concern and compassion are evident throughout, and many readers will want to shelve this book alongside Nancy Reagan's bestselling I Love You, Ronnie. (On sale Oct. 21) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
As additional material in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library becomes available, it is likely that many books claiming to present the "real" man will be published. But few things reveal more about an individual's thoughts, values, and character than his letters, and Ronald Reagan wrote more than 10,000, some as short as a single paragraph, others as long as several pages. Thousands are printed in these two books, many for the first time. Both communicate the former President's delight at having the opportunity to correspond with people from all walks of life, as well as demonstrate the same humor, optimism, and concern for people's feelings that the public saw on a daily basis. Close readings also expose Reagan's sometimes simplistic understanding and selective memory of significant domestic and foreign policy issues. For Reagan, the larger as well as the stronger collection, Skinner, Annelise Anderson, and Martin Anderson (editors, Reagan, In His Own Hand: The Writings of Ronald Reagan) arranged more than 1000 letters topically with headings such as "Home and Family," "Governorship," "Economic Policy," "Core Beliefs," and "Foreign Leaders." Most letters are accompanied by brief notes that place the letter in context, and several are footnoted. Spelling errors are retained. [Conservative Book Club main selection.] Weber (military history, emeritus, Marquette Univ.) has organized Dear Americans chronologically and includes only personally handwritten letters to constituents during Reagan's eight years in office. Brief introductory notes identifying the recipient and the purpose of the letter precede most of the correspondence. Misspellings have been corrected. Reagan is recommended for all libraries, while Dear Americans for libraries with limited budgets.-Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780786264476
  • Publisher: Gale Group
  • Publication date: 4/20/2004
  • Edition description: LARGEPRINT
  • Pages: 656
  • Product dimensions: 5.64 (w) x 8.72 (h) x 1.31 (d)

Read an Excerpt

Ronald Reagan’s “Handwriting File” contains an archive of thousands of handwritten missives from the president to his constituents, written throughout his eight years in office. Historian Ralph E. Weber and his son have selected the highlights from this treasure trove, creating a uniquely intimate portrait of Reagan at work.
A fascinating glimpse at the issues facing the United States during the 1980s, Dear Americans is arranged chronologically to trace history in the making. Taking time each week to respond to dozens of Americans who asked him about a tremendous range of issues, Reagan delivered sensitive, eloquent messages to senior citizens worried about the Social Security program’s solvency, angry critics of the Star Wars missile defense program, parents of soldiers killed in Lebanon, and children inquiring about details of presidential life. Not all of the recipients were strangers; Dear Americans also features correspondence with close friends of Reagan, both famous and obscure.
Written in a down-to-earth, often gently humorous tone, the letters featured in Dear Americans reveal much about this president’s unshakable political convictions, religious faith, and concern for humanity. In the bestselling tradition of When Character Was King and I Love You, Ronnie, this compulsively readable collection will be on thousands of wish lists this holiday season.

Author Biography:

RALPH E. WEBER is the author of twelve books, including Voices of Revolution and From the Foreign Press. Until his recent retirement, Weber was a professor of modern American military and intelligence history at Marquette University. He is also a veteran of World War II, having served in the U.S. Naval Air Corps. He lives in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Coeditor RALPH A. WEBER is his son.

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Table of Contents

Introduction 9
Editorial Notes 19
1981 21
1982 74
1983 147
1984 256
1985 334
1986 435
1987 523
1988-1989 604
Acknowledgments 651
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