A short life of the author
Ronald Reagan was the most consequential American president since Franklin Roosevelt — a man who reshaped American politics, redefined the relationship between government and citizens, and presided over the end of the Cold War, and whose writings — autobiography, speeches, letters, and diaries — reveal a figure far more thoughtful and far more literate than the genial, delegating, possibly disengaged president of popular caricature. Reagan wrote extensively throughout his life: radio commentaries, newspaper columns, letters to friends and strangers, and the handwritten first drafts of speeches that his staff then polished. The posthumous publication of his letters and diaries surprised many observers by revealing a president who thought carefully about policy, expressed himself with clarity and occasional eloquence, and maintained a private intellectual life that his public persona — the smiling, storytelling former actor — effectively concealed.
Dixon and Hollywood
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois, in 1911 and grew up in Dixon. His father was an alcoholic shoe salesman; his mother was a devout Christian who encouraged Reagan’s interest in acting and public speaking. He attended Eureka College, worked as a radio sportscaster in Iowa, and moved to Hollywood in 1937, where he appeared in over fifty films over the next two decades — none of them distinguished, though Kings Row (1942) earned him genuine critical respect.
Where’s the Rest of Me? (1965), his first book, took its title from his best-known line in Kings Row — the cry of a man who wakes up to discover that his legs have been amputated. The book was part autobiography, part political manifesto, describing Reagan’s journey from New Deal Democrat to conservative Republican.
The Speeches and Radio Commentaries
Between his governorship of California (1967–1975) and his presidential campaign, Reagan wrote and delivered over 1,000 radio commentaries — short, handwritten essays on public policy, foreign affairs, and philosophy that demonstrate a mind more engaged with ideas than the “amiable dunce” caricature (Clark Clifford’s phrase) would suggest. Reagan, In His Own Hand (2001) reproduced many of these handwritten commentaries in facsimile, revealing Reagan’s careful arguments and surprisingly wide reading.
Speaking My Mind (1989) collected his most important speeches — including the 1964 “A Time for Choosing” speech that launched his political career, the 1987 Brandenburg Gate speech (“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”), and his Challenger disaster address.
An American Life
An American Life (1990) was Reagan’s presidential autobiography — a 700-page account of his life and presidency written with the assistance of Robert Lindsey. The book is characteristically Reagan: warm, anecdotal, optimistic, evasive on certain subjects (Iran-Contra is treated briefly), and animated by the conviction that America is a uniquely good and uniquely fortunate country. It is not a work of introspection — Reagan was temperamentally incapable of public self-doubt — but it is a revealing portrait of a man who understood instinctively how to communicate with ordinary Americans because he was, in many important ways, one of them.
The Letters and Diaries
Reagan: A Life in Letters (2003), edited by Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, and Martin Anderson, collected over a thousand of Reagan’s personal letters — to friends, to political allies and adversaries, to ordinary citizens who had written to him — and revealed a private Reagan who was more emotionally engaged, more intellectually curious, and more personally vulnerable than the public figure. The Reagan Diaries (2007), edited by Douglas Brinkley, published the daily diary Reagan kept throughout his presidency, providing an intimate record of his thoughts, decisions, and frustrations.
Collecting Reagan
Where’s the Rest of Me? (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1965) in first edition with dust jacket is the early autobiography. An American Life (Simon & Schuster, 1990) is the presidential memoir. Speaking My Mind (Simon & Schuster, 1989) is the speech collection. Reagan was a generous and practiced signer; signed copies and autographed photographs are widely available. Presidential documents and White House stationery items are also collected.