Steven F. Hayward Boeken

The Age of Reagan vividly depicts the tumultuous years leading up to Ronald Reagan's presidency. Drawing from numerous interviews and extensive research, Steven F. Hayward explores the politically divisive landscape of the U.S., likening it to the pre-Civil War era. The nation faced an unwinnable war abroad, domestic unrest, and a collapsing liberal order in Washington, burdened by a series of failed policies. Hayward notes that events like Vietnam, Watergate, and the energy crisis drained Americans' optimism for the future. Amidst this turmoil, a new conservative movement emerged, spearheaded by Reagan, whose 1964 speech supporting Barry Goldwater transformed him into a political icon. With meticulous detail, Hayward examines an America in conflict, highlighting the failures of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, the unexpected liberalism of Richard Nixon's presidency, Reagan's impactful governorship in California, and the drama of his near-defeat of Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican primary. He also critiques Jimmy Carter's ineffective leadership and the seismic shift of Reagan's 1980 presidential victory. Provocative and authoritative, this account captures the rebirth of the American spirit during a pivotal era.

M. Stanton Evans was one of the unsung heroes and key figures of the modern conservative movement, offering a model to be remembered and emulated in both thought and deed. A person of extraordinary breadth, he combined the roles of journalist, first-rank thinker, and political action, often at the center of crucial events for the conservative movement from the mid-1950s to his last decade in the 2010s. He was the principal author of the Sharon Statement, the founding document of Young Americans for Freedom. Evans was also a mentor to an entire generation of conservative writers and journalists, including Ann Coulter, John Fund, Martin Morse Wooster, Tim Carney, Richard Miniter, William McGurn, and this author. Evans was libertarian in economics and policy, traditionalist in moral and social matters, respectful of religion, and resolutely anti-Communist. Over the years he wrote a number of elegant articles and one book, The Theme is Freedom, that reconciled many of the strains that often appear between these differing schools of conservative thought. He also wrote a controversial defense of Joseph McCarthy, which is one of many examples of his fearlessness in contesting the conventional wisdom.