In Ronald Reagans case, he always bore with him this extraordinary ability to radiate confidence, optimism, clarity, a blitheness of spirit, in what other people saw as chaos. And after the 1970s, that was catnip.
Rick PerlsteinIve summarized dozens of books in my literary career; its become rather second nature.
Rick PerlsteinIt is a lesson of the sixties: liberals get in the biggest political trouble - whether instituting open housing, civilian compliant review boards, or sex education programs - when they presume that a reform is an inevitable comcomitant of progress. It is then they are most likely to establish their reforms by top-down bureaucratic means. A blindsiding backlash often ensues.
Rick PerlsteinWhen legitimately constituted state authority stands down in the face of armed threats, the very foundation of the republic is in danger.
Rick Perlstein