Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 352
•
978-0-7425-2052-3 • Hardback • September 2001 • $168.00 • (£131.00)
978-0-7425-2053-0 • Paperback • August 2001 • $59.00 • (£45.00)
978-1-4616-4216-9 • eBook • August 2001 • $56.00 • (£43.00)
Andrew E. Busch is associate professor of political science at the University of Denver. He is also the co-author of The Perfect Tie: The True Story of the 2000 Election with James Ceaser.
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Reagan and American Political Discourse
Chapter 3 Reagan and the Constitution
Chapter 4 Reagan, American Political Institutions, and National Morale
Chapter 5 Reagan, Economic Freedom, and the Economic Recovery
Chapter 6 Reagan and the Rise and Fall of the Federal Deficit
Chapter 7 Reagan and the (Partial) Recovery of Society
Chapter 8 Reagan and the Cold War
Chapter 9 Reagan, Coalition Building, and the Politics of Limited Government
Chapter 10 Conclusion
Busch makes a powerful case, based on impeccable research, that Reagan was a statesman of high rank, with a coherent and intelligent vision of human liberty. His presidency successfully challenged the dominant liberalism of his time by returning to the Founders' constitutionalism, based on principles of rational liberty, equality of individual rights, and government by consent of the governed.
— Thomas G. West
Liberals dismiss and denigrate him and his presidency, conservatives lionize him and his record, but in such an ideologically charged atmosphere, on what basis can we evaluate the man and his record? In this well written book, Andrew Busch gives us an answer. Judging Reagan by the very standards he himself established for his presidency—did he contribute to the scope and vitality of human freedom in America?—is at once innovative and simple common sense. In applying just such standards to the Reagan legacy and the 1980s, Busch reminds us of Reagan's importance in the renewal of America's 'architecture of freedom.'
— Gary Gregg, University of Louisville
While journalistic and fanciful accounts of Ronald Reagan's presidency abound, Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Freedom is the only comprehensive study produced by an eminent political scientist. This thoughtful and thought-provoking work holds the Reagan presidency to the highest standards of statesmanship and finds it passing with honors, indeed high honors in foreign policy, the economy, constitutionalism, and national morale. Busch has caught some of Reagan's optimism, but his book is no hagiography; it is serious scholarship presented in clear prose.
— Ken Masugi, Claremont Institute
The re-writing of the Reagan years and the power of his legacy is now underway—and this book by Andrew Busch is a major contribution to that effort.
— Martin Anderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
For its intellingent and scrappy defense of Reagan's economic, social, and defense policies, Busch's volume wins a place on the short shelf of indispensable books about the Reagan years.
— Claremont Review of Books
Of all the books written praising or blaming Ronald Reagan, Andrew Busch's book is the best account of Ronald Reagan's understanding of his own statesmanship and the most comprehensive account of the architectonic character of that 'Statesmanship of Liberty'.
— Mickey Craig, Hillsdale College
The ordered liberty vantage point provides an interesting overview from which to see the Reagan presidency as well as its egalitarian and libertarian critics. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above.
— Choice Reviews
Andrew E. Busch is the first scholar to assess Reagan's presidency by the goal he set for himself: enhancing American freedom.
— Conservative Book Club