Most of the books written about Reagan were by those with strong political disagreements and made a point to distort every motive he had in the worst possible light and could not demonize him enough. I graduated high school a few months after he was inaugurated and can recall the wild-eyed insanity from the Left back then. Scare stories about how he was going to start a nuclear war and how he hated the poor became the memes for the 80s. When I went to the University of California I'd see all kinds of scare-mongering posters and protesters. The campus newspaper had moronic cartoons of "Ronald Ray-gun" (I'd give a zero for creativity on that one).

Books written on him changed the narrative to make everything he said and did epitomized evil. One of these was "Sleepwalking Through History" by Haynes Johnson of the New York Times. Since 90% of the media is on the Far Left to the Center Left of the political spectrum, it's only natural that most of Reagan's biographers are going to be biased.

The fact is that Reagan earned a degree in economics and was not only president of the Screen Actors Guild, but re-elected an astronomical seven times. He was a leftist until 1952 and worked on the campaign of Helen Douglas. What changed him was his personal observation that Communists were working behind the scenes behind the candidacies of some Democratic candidates and in the film industry. (Later research into the Soviet archives verified that Josef Stalin had an extensive network in the United States and was active in film and politics.)

After he switched parties he began giving motivational speeches. He wrote them himself and they reflected a familiarity with the top economists of the day, such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. The speeches reflect an intellectual depth worthy of any economics professor. Because of a speech he gave in favor of Barry Goldwater he was encouraged to run for governor. He served two terms and was a popular governor, although he regrets signing some deceptively named bills into law.

So if you want to bring up some books I would be glad to discuss them. I do have to wonder who these books claim for the identity of the puppet master behind the throne. Was George H. W. Bush secretly giving him orders? Was it his wife, Nancy? Was it Margaret Thatcher relaying orders from the UK? I'd really love to see this conspiracy theory.

My personal opinion is that I don't agree with everything Reagan did, but I think he's been much maligned, his record distorted and his intentions demonized. I can say that George W. Bush was wrong for invading Iraq without demonizing his motives, that he "did it for the oil" or that he was manipulated by Dick Cheney.

Bush wasn't the best public speaker, but that shouldn't be taken to mean he had a low IQ. The campaigns of Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 regularly demeaned him as an idiot, and the media helped push that narrative and mocked him at every opportunity. Yet when Al Gore's grades were released it showed him to be just as average as Bush, and Kerry fared even worse, showing him to be a D student. Michael Morell, who was a leader at the CIA from the Clinton administration to the Obama one and regularly briefed Bush, said that he was bright and asked intelligent questions. He absolutely disagreed with the narrative. Morell, by the way, has positive things to say about Democratic presidents as well.