Read Reagan's biography

My age impressed me deeply with President Clinton, and Bush vaguely remembered it. But I hardly remember President Reagan. However, when I first read this two-volume biography of Reagan, I was suddenly surprised to find that Reagan's first half of his life was quite similar to mine.

He experienced a failed marriage at the age of 36. His ex-wife is more famous than he is, earning much, and even the house is hers. He married Nancy in his 40 s, and when he was nearly 50 years old, Reagan's acting career came to an end; Acting is his favorite occupation in his life. In other words, Reagan's first half was even worse than mine: he inherited his parents' beauty, was tall and handsome, and had a charming smile. The broadcaster's training makes him very good at public speaking. Why is a person who can still get such a good deck of cards as miserable as an ordinary person like me?

In the author's opinion, Reagan's personality is deeply rooted in inferiority and loneliness, and it is difficult for him to really get close to anyone. As a remote town in the midwest (a poor area in Illinois), he remained indifferent and suspicious of religion all his life.

In this way, Reagan and people like Reagan are simply out of tune with this world. The competition in Hollywood film industry is extremely cruel; Fierce political competition is even worse. I remember an American senator once said: politics is the performance of ugly people. Even by this standard, Reagan was too old and handsome. Shortly after he reached the peak of his life at the age of 70, Gorbachev of the Soviet Union was only 53 years old.

Throughout the book, Americans are crazy about Reagan again after he left office for more than 20 years, and even think that he is one of the greatest presidents in American history, comparable to Lincoln and Roosevelt. In the final analysis, Reagan, who had no high education, strong financial resources and intrigue, relied on pragmatism and persistence. Although he became president in his later years, his ambition established when he was young has not been ignored; His character is good at reconciliation and sincere to others, which makes him one of the few people in history who completely changed the fate of the United States at a critical moment, although he is not proficient in economy and diplomacy. Reading through the book, my intuitive feeling is that Reagan is not great, he is even ordinary. I have long felt that politicians like Reagan and Kennedy won half the votes just by looking at their faces. This idea seems to be one-sided, and Reagan's appearance may even become an obstacle on his way to power. On the issue of tax reduction and government reform, Reagan only had some principled ideas, but he not only adhered to his own principles and beliefs, but also let his aides operate; The same is true of the key breakthrough in the cold war with the Soviet Union. Reagan listened and thought more before making a decision. I once took a course in foreign policy making. If you put yourself in the position of a big shot and make decisions on such issues as the Berlin Wall and the hostage crisis, the pressure and responsibility are indescribable. When the "Tea Party" movement rose, I was living in the south dominated by the party. The most common slogan of the supporters of the "Tea Party" was that tax cuts and small government should be implemented in the way of President Reagan. The memory and reverence for Reagan and Reaganism should be said to have reached a new height in the ten years since 2 1 century. But besides Reagan's idea of supporting the middle class and reducing taxes for entrepreneurs, politicians are still chasing votes and seizing territory. In my opinion, gingerich, who was conservative at that time, and Ryan and McConnell, who gradually became the mainstay of conservatives, were not pragmatic conservatives like Reagan, but conservative pragmatists (it is said that Ryan asked the staff around him to send an Atlas Shrugged, which made him feel formalistic).

Calm is just a scene of yesterday, and today's world is once again experiencing great historical changes. What impressed me most after reading this book was Reagan's persistence and determination. Especially when you find that he is nothing special, this persistence becomes more moral. Perhaps tightening the immigration policy, actively carrying out social security reform, and losing no time to be clever among big countries are really conducive to the gradual rejuvenation of the United States; However, implementing beneficial policies in an inappropriate way cannot add points to the policy itself, especially since the decision-makers themselves have lost faith in the people in terms of personality charm and moral integrity.

May the world not lead astray for those who think they are smart.