Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Iceland History > Item 306
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Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years
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by Haynes Johnson
Sales Rank: 792450
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$0.01
At Amazon
on 11-27-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 544 pages
Published by: Anchor February 23, 1992
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0385422598
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0385422598
Book Dimensions:
8 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
Weighs: 12 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
Washington Post columnist Johnson here presents a stunning indictment of the Reagan administration that details its impact on social, economic and political life in America. He reviews abuses in the S&L institutions, in HUD, in the National Security Council, on Wall Street, in religious broadcasting and, most impressively, reveals how the administration renounced responsibility for ameliorating social distress. The book makes clear why the rich got richer and the poor poorer in the last decade. Johnson portrays President Reagan as a kind of Dr. Feelgood who fulfilled a public need for reassurance, and ironically evaded judgment during the Iran- contra affair because of his reputation for not being in charge. Summarizing what he sees as Reagan's legacy, the "ethical wastland of the eighties," the author points to growing fractionalization, subversion of the constitutional system, corruption and ineffectiveness of government, and cynicism and inattention of the American people. First serial to Vanity Fair.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Review
"A stunning indictment of the Reagan administration that details its impact on social, economic and political life in America."--Publishers Weekly -- Review
Reader Reviews
Johnson has a hard-hitting and incisive critique of the lax, hands-off approach Reagan took to handling the ills of his age. It's not news that the Iran-contra affair further soured respect for government, that economic policies designed to make the rich richer also made the poor much poorer, that a pattern of denial and deception in Reagan's staff was the standard approach to dealing with the media or the Congress. Johnson admits Reagan's power as a President, but is sharply critical of much of what he accomplished through that strength. Anyone strongly sympathetic with his legacy probably ought not to look at this book; it will anger you. Others who are interested should see it. You will not have the full story of the 80s by any means; Johnson is selective about what he discusses (neither Canada nor Lebanon are indexed at the end, and AIDS is discussed on one page). But on what he does cover, like the Iran-contra scandal, and junk bonds, Johnson is thorough. I picked up the book to review the Iran-contra affair, and its reporting satisfied me. Col. Oliver North had nothing but contempt for the members of Congress who challenged him on his lies and subterfuge; that contempt was validated by Reagan's own contempt for laws he did not like or wish to enforce. (Johnson points out that Reagan appointed individuals hostile to the intent of the agency they were overseeing if he disagreed with what the agency was doing, like the Dept. of Education or the EPA.) This book was published in early 1991, and it is worthwhile to consider the parallel problems that Clinton had with the Congress late in his administration, for very different reasons. Every president since Kennedy seems to have developed an undertow towards the end of his term or terms, one that damaged the premises of his presidency; Kennedy escaped his through his early death. One wonders what the upcoming administrations will do to try to counter that effect.
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Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years
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Price: $0.01
Updated on 11-27-2008.
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