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Biographical coverage of current or recent public figures by public commentary can and does tend to become biased. In this book, the author, by design, leaves out the obvious. This biography, instead, focuses on the young life, family and times of Ronald Reagan, that so much influenced his adult life and his patriotic ideals.
His popularity as a movie star is explored, showing how it created a perception by the American public, quite unrelated to his deep concem for his country and its world position. This work describes how he emerged as a political personality, during the Goldwater years, and how he was eventually dram into the electoral politics of California.
In researching the young Ronald Reagan, the author surprisingly discovered that he was a quiet, self-contained youth. Quite significantly, the often told stories of his youth never include someone else. Instead, his seriousness of purpose, from the very start, lead to the conclusion that he was born 'grown up'.
His cultural and family background are expanded. His mother, Nelle, middle class Scotch, his typically Irish father, Jack and an older brother Neil comprised this very close knit, American family. Together they lived in the solid Midwestern town of Dixon, Illinois. This community, still largely unchanged since the tum of the century, spawned the likes of Charles Walgreen and John Deere. The town also sustains strong historical connections with Abe Lincoln, whose life was a strong influence on the young Ronald Reagan. The importance of his stable family and community life in Dixon, set a pattern for this future president.
Ronald and his older brother Neil's close association and lifelong mutual affection is examined. This sibling support, worked in both directions: Ron convinced his brother to go to college. Neil follows Ronald to a radio station in Iowa. Ron follows Neil to Hollywood and through his efforts, gets Ron into a film career. Neil again helps his younger brother by getting him into TV, as Ron's screen career begins to wind down. The author recalls a number of amusing anecdotes about Neil's good humored approach to being the President's big brother. |
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