"Conservatives are leading the charge, liberals are in retreat, and the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan was the defining moment in transforming the trajectory of our political life. That is the grand thesis of this enjoyable travelogue through contemporary American politics. And what punctuates the political road-map are culture wars, here and abroad, and those enduring values that define the essence of being an American. The historical narrative virtually transports the reader back in time to experience first-hand those vital developments that had lasting political impact, beginning with Jimmy Carter's failed rescue of Americans taken hostage by Iranian militants and culminating with 9/11/01 and George W. Bush's War on Terrorism. Anybody interested in American politics, particularly those for whom the 1970s are a fading memory, will immensely enjoy ^The America That Reagan Built.^R Woodard's lively writing style and richly detailed anecdotes are absolutely engaging." -- Raymond Tatalovich, Ph.D.^LProfessor of Political Science^LLoyola University Chicago "Readable and analytical, ^IThe America That Reagan Built^R its billing as a clear and concise account of 'the political history of the United States from the 1980s to the second administration of George W. Bush.' It is a 'must read' for all students of American politics. Indeed, students whose professors do not assign this book should feel short-changed." -- Charles W. Dunn^LDean, Regent University "This book is political science at its best. David Woodard writes with a style that is part spellbinding storyteller and part incisive political analyst. He looks back on the key events that shaped the American experience of the past 25 years through a lens that is not narrowly focused but rather includes culture, values, economies, politics, and international affairs. The result is an important book that helps us understand where we are today." -- Roger Ream, President, The Fund for American Studies "Each generation of students, we are told, suffers from a historical blind spot covering the decades surrounding their birth. This deficiency in current college students' understanding of recent political history finds its ready cure in this topical, highly readable account of recent American political history. Like Alexis de Tocqueville, David Woodard understands that a nation's politics and political institutions rest on the foundation of political culture. The America That Reagan Built explores the roots of our political culture, telling the story of a rolling Republican realignment culminating in today's tenuous majority. Woodard offers a critical insight into the current polarization of American politics with its bitter partisanship, politics by other means, and politics of personal destruction. The book is the perfect supplement for courses filled with entering first year students." -- William F. Connelly Jr., John K. Boardman Politics Professor, Washington and Lee University
J. David Woodard is Professor of Political Science at Clemson University and co-author of American Conservatism from Burke to Bush (1991) and The Conservative Tradition in America (1996). He is also the author of The New Southern Politics (2006).
The book offers a fairly straightforward, readable account of the
major issues and trends in US politics and society since the latter
days of the Carter administration. In so doing, it hits the
significant points in contemporary affairs in a dispassionate,
effective, and evenhanded way. For this it should be
commended….Recommended. General readers, lower-division
undergraduates through practitioners.
*Choice*
This remarkable book is aptly titled. Author J. David Woodard
argues that, beginning with the election of 1980, Ronadl Reagan
united the nation's conservative elements into a powerful
coalition, inspired dramatic party realignments, and altered the
nature of American politics for the next twenty-five years.
*The Historian*
With so many of us born after 1980 and many more of us losing our
memory of that hinge year, Woodard recalls how politics used to be
and how it evolved, right up to the second administration of George
W. Bush. He takes the temperature of the electorate and the great
consuming public, exploring how economics, art, literature,
science, society, fads and customs became part of American life and
even became interwoven into its future. He considers the enigmas
and the certainties of the Reagan years, the thousand points of
light of George H.W. Bush, the varying degrees of separation
between the Clinton administration and disaster, the postmodern
nineties, and the effects of 9/ll on what seemed to be merely
evolutionary. The photographs scattered through the text are
particularly telling.
*Reference & Research Book News*
The impressively coherent narrative encompasses everything from
elections and policy debates to trials of the century, hairstyles,
and top television shows.
*Political Science Quarterly*
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