In The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan, New York Times bestselling author James Mann directs his keen analysis to Ronald Reagan’s role in ending the Cold War. Drawing on new interviews and previously unavailable documents, Mann offers a fresh and compelling narrative—a new history assessing what Reagan did, and did not do, to help bring America’s four-decade conflict with the Soviet Union to a close.
As he did so masterfully in Rise of the Vulcans, Mann sheds new light on the hidden aspects of American foreign policy. He reveals previously undisclosed secret messages between Reagan and Moscow; internal White House intrigues; and battles with leading figures such as Nixon and Kissinger, who repeatedly questioned Reagan’s unfolding diplomacy with Mikhail Gorbachev. He details the background and fierce debate over Reagan’s famous Berlin Wall speech and shows how it fit into Reagan’s policies. Ultimately, Mann dispels the facile stereotypes of Reagan in favor of a levelheaded, cogent understanding of a determined president and his strategy.
This book finally answers the troubling questions about Reagan’s actual role in the crumbling of Soviet power; and concludes that by recognizing the significance of Gorbachev, Reagan helped bring the Cold War to a close.
The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan
Chronology
Introduction
Part I: Two Anti-Communists
1. Clandestine Visit
2. "It's Time to Stroke Ronnie"
3. Two Schools of Thought
4. Evil Empire
5. Nixon Detects Gorbachev's "Steel Fist"
6. Abolition
7. Conservative Uproar
8. The Conversation
9. Reversal of Roles
Part II: Informal Adviser
1. A New Friend
2. Banned From the Land of the Firebird
3. War Scare
4. Improbable Emissary
5. Hunger for Religion
6. An Arrest and its Consequences
7. Keep Her Away
8. Carlucci's Notes
Part III: Berlin
1. The Speech
2. Twenty-Fifth Anniversary
3. Day Visit of a Presidential Candidate
4. "He Blew It"
5. Anti-Soviet Jokes
6. The Orator and His Writers
7. One Night Free in West Berlin
8. Competing Drafts
9. Warsaw Pact
10. "I Think We'll Leave It In"
11. Rock Concert
12. Venetian Villa
13. Brandenburg Gate
14. Why Not "Mr. Honecker"?
15. On His Own
Part IV: Summits
1. "Quit Pressing"
2. An Arms Deal and Its Opponents
3. Schultz's Pitch
4. The Grand Tour Rejected
5. Of Dan Quayle and Errol Flynn
6. Gorbachev in Washington
7. Making a Treaty Look Easy
8. The Not-so-Evil Empire
9. Bush v. Reagan
10. The Wall Will Stand for "100 Years"
Epilogue
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
