Debating The Reagan Presidency

The presidency of Ronald Reagan has become a Rorschach Test for politicians and citizens alike. While many conservatives see the Reagan era of the 1980s as the high-water mark for their movement and a time of national recovery from the difficulties of the 1970s, many liberals maintain that the rosy Reagan legacy is based largely on myth, and that in fact his eight years as president caused serious harm to the country. John Ehrman and Michael W. Flamm give due attention to the lasting controversies surrounding the Reagan record and provide a balanced view of the fortieth president's foreign and domestic policies. Students are encouraged to draw their own conclusions by reading key primary documents.

Editors Richard J. Ellis and Michael Nelson have once again assembled a cadre of top presidential scholars to offer a series of pro/con essays that will inspire spirited debate in Debating the Presidency: Debating the Presidency: Conflicting Perspectives on the American Executive, Fourth Edition offers a compelling yet concise view of contemporary topics relevant to the American executive. Each pair of debate-resolution style essays is written specifically for this volume, and offers a compelling yet concise view of a topic relevant to the American executive. Editors Richard Ellis and Michael Nelson offer brief chapter introductions that provide context. In this edition, several new arguments are presented on topics such as executive orders (Pro: Gene Healy, Con: Andrew Rudalevige); abolishment of the vice presidency (Pro: Douglas L. Kriner, Con: Joel K. Goldstein); and the effect of new media on the public’s view of the presidency (Pro: Matthew R. Kerbel, Con: Jeffrey E. Cohen).

The most important speeches of America's "Great Communicator": Here, in his own words, is the record of Ronald Reagan's remarkable political career and historic eight-year presidency.

Reagan’s Legacy in a World Transformed offers a timely retrospective on the fortieth president’s policies and impact on today’s world, from the influence of free market ideas on economic globalization, to the role of an assertive military in U.S. foreign policy, to reduction of nuclear arsenals in the interest of stability.

Contains primary source material.

Contains primary source material.

This insightful work explores one of the under-examined eras of US foreign policy toward the Palestinian question: the Reagan years. The Reagan tenure is often perceived as one of disengagement from the region, especially in the aftermath of the bombing in Lebanon. Nicholas Laham contends that this is not so and that the Reagan administration set the tone for US policy for the next two decades. Specifically the work analyzes the nexus between domestic actors and US foreign policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict. Employing significant archival materials, the book probes in detail the machinations which produced new policies and new policy priorities during this era. This study is provocative but the arguments are well-supported and solid, thus offering a major contribution to the literature. The work will prove a valuable reference tool on the Reagan presidency, the Palestinian conflict, the Middle East and international relations more generally in light of the 2001 terrorist attacks, the war with Iraq and the continuing ramifications of the Arab-Israeli conflict.