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Ron Reagan
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My Father at 100: A Memoir Kindle Edition

by Ron Reagan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 129 ratings
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A moving memoir of the beloved fortieth president of the United States, by his son.

February 6, 2011, is the one hundredth anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. To mark the occasion, Ron Reagan has written My Father at 100, an intimate look at the life of his father-one of the most popular presidents in American history-told from the perspective of someone who knew Ronald Reagan better than any adviser, friend, or colleague. As he grew up under his father's watchful gaze, he observed the very qualities that made the future president a powerful leader. Yet for all of their shared experiences of horseback rides and touch football games, there was much that Ron never knew about his father's past, and in My Father at 100, he sets out to understand this beloved, if often enigmatic, figure who turned his early tribulations into a stunning political career.

Since his death in 2004, President Reagan has been a galvanizing force that personifies the values of an older America and represents an important era in national history. Ron Reagan traces the sources of these values in his father's early years and offers a heartfelt portrait of a man and his country-and his personal memories of the president he knew as "Dad."
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  1. Print length
    243 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Plume
  5. Publication date
    January 18, 2011
  6. File size
    2009 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reagan's beautifully written memoir is a conflicted tribute to a distant, almost mythical figure. Though he admits to being "quite close as father and son," the younger Reagan also considered his father "warm yet remote" and "intensely private." The son fares well in his first book-length foray, telling a surprisingly detailed story of his ancestors, analyzing examples of his father's heroic exploits, and relating touching accounts of his final years. The author is more concerned with showing how his father found his way through the world as a young man than he is about pulling back the curtain on the father-son relationship, which is a pity. The few filial episodes he recounts are predictable tales of moderate adolescent rebellion. The writer's wife emerges as the one person who tries—and fails—to push Reagan to examine deeper feelings. However, resentment is never far from the surface; his father's criticisms and reliance on political confidants at his son's expense seem to sting. "You're my son, so I have to love you. But sometimes you make it very hard to like you," his father once said, a passing reference that reveals more about the father-son relationship than Reagan dares share directly. (Jan.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review

"A heartfelt book."

-- "Los Angeles Times"

"My Father at 100 is an affectionate, often lighthearted account of a son's attempt to uncover his father's character by going back to his early days."

-- "Science Times (New York Times)"

"Reagan's beautifully written memoir is a conflicted tribute to a distant, almost mythical figure...The son fares well in his first book-length foray, telling a surprisingly detailed story of his ancestors, analyzing examples of his father's heroic exploits, and relating touching accounts of his final years."

-- "Publishers Weekly"

"There's no better biography about Ronald Reagan than this one. Not only does the president's son reveal splendid insights, including the origin of the nickname 'Dutch, ' but his narration is sublime. When the son quotes his father, he catches the timbre and cadence of President Reagan...Ron was there for many important events in his father's life, which he shares with self-deprecating charm--much like his dad! Those who admire President Reagan will appreciate these intimate details of his life. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award."

-- "AudioFile"

"Ronald Reagan's son seeks to understand his father by researching his formative years...Recounting of the post-presidential decline because of dementia is honest and compelling, whatever the reader's assessment of the White House years. A worthy memoir."

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Sometimes in awe of while sometimes bemused by his 'square' of a dad, Ron [Reagan] delivers what many others have not, a down-the-middle portrait that admirers of his father and some memoir fans will likely enjoy."

-- "Library Journal"

"On the occasion of what would have been the former president's 100th birthday, his youngest son, Ron Reagan, has written a deeply felt memoir--a memoir that underscores the bafflement his own children often felt about their father...Ron Reagan, who writes in charming, lucid prose, clearly wants to try to know his father."

-- "New York Times"

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0049U4O5Y
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Plume (January 18, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 18, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2009 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 243 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 129 ratings

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Ron Reagan

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Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7 out of 5
129 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

TED LA CROIX
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and warm
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2011
Verified Purchase
Ron Reagan, while not in agreement with his dad politically, shows another side to "Dutch" that makes me see past the two-dimensional man we all lived through as president.

Ron Reagan writes with such warmth about his dad and how he grew up. He's also very funny. The fact that I am about the same age and experienced very similar situations growing up made this book especially appealing to me. Ron had a cranky old horse named "Popeye" who tried to rub him off on low branches. I had a horse named "Rebel" who had the same ideas. Ron's dad told him to "show him who's boss" which is exactly what my dad told me. Ron learned how to dismount quickly, while I learned how to hang on and enjoy the challenge.

The Reagan family history is pretty interesting. Ron begins in Ireland and brings it forward to his Dad growing up in Dixon, IL, to his family life, governor and president. The body guard episodes during Ronald's teenage years were very enlightening.

In my opinion Ronald Reagan was not a great president and this book didn't change my mind about that. I did, however, think he was rather stupid or dull. Now I realize that he probably had above average intelligence, even if he wasn't really up to presidential smart. I also feel like he was, in spite of being so wrong about so many things, trying to do what was right in his very simple view of life.

The book is easy and fun to read. Everyone who's at all interested in Reagan, whether you loved, hated or were undecided about him politically, should read this book. It's fun and you'll learn something.
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Michelle R.
4.0 out of 5 stars Each Generation.
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2011
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All great change in America begins at the dinner table.
~Ronald Reagan

Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known.
~Ronald Reagan

I'm a woman who realized she might be a Democrat during the Reagan era, which encapsulated most of my teens -- Ronald Reagan's presidency, to steal the lyrics of the song, took me from crayons to perfume. I still don't agree with his politics, but much of what I've read makes me think I would like the man. I like this son, too, and nothing he's written is that inconsistent with what his mother has written and I doubt anyone would accuse her of anything other than love and devotion.

The book is framed very much as a journey back to understand Ronald Reagan's childhood and his life -- his family history, where he grew up, what small town life was like, where he learned his values. The author states his father wasn't much for reflection and genealogy, but the song's quest for a greater understanding makes sense to anyone who wishes they could talk to either a distant living parent, a parent who suffers from dementia, or one who has passed away. All the discussions you want to have, the desire to remove all the barriers to that real understanding we all seek with those we truly love.

And Ron Reagan clearly loved his dad and does Reagan supporters, history buffs, and people with an interest in that soon to be gone generation, a huge favor. The world President Reagan and so many of our elders was born into is so different from the world today, or the world of the 1980s, and yet that time shaped a very strong generation that collectively fought for what they believed to be right in the world and at home. While I didn't agree with Ronald Reagan in his choices, many of his actions are from the best intentions of a generation that is passing from the earth. Politically, we're seeing members of that time and the next generation or two, passing away on both sides of the aisle, but their choices and beliefs are still present in the laws of the land.

I know at least one of the author's siblings doesn't agree with everything in the book, but no one child in a family has the sole authority to definitively speak about their parents. I don't think anyone gets beyond a certain age without discussing a long-remembered incident and realizing no one else recalls it, or that they see it entirely differently. As the saying goes, no two children grows up in the exact same family -- and in this case, they have more than averages reasons to have different takes, being the result of two different marriages. The thing is that they both loved their dad and both have written with respect, only one by dint of his personal politics is looked at with greater suspicion, even if his words don't justify that. Some of the things the author wrote that may seen critical -- and true criticism is few and far between -- remind me very much of Michael Reagan's writings about his father being difficult to know. As to the claims that there might have been early hints of Alzheimer's, no one can deny that this is entirely possible and something an adult child would ponder when they wake up in the middle of the night. Ron spends much of the book searching for his dad as a boy and writing abouthow he seemed so strong and invincible when the author was growing up and it would be absurd to ignore the disease which stole him from them. The author makes clear, with great love and wanting the reader to at least understand his father, that Ronald Reagan was a kindly intentioned man and even when he stopped recognizing his loved ones and had regressed, was still a kind man -- that it was still his nature when all was stripped away. What parent wouldn't hope for that eulogy?

When I was in D.C last year and visited the FDR memorial, the tour guide spoke of the statute of FDR in the wheelchair -- how he was never allowed to be seen as physically lessened while in office, and how Clinton commissioned it because it was time for disability to stop being considered shameful, that to not show it dishonored all the many people who have so much to offer and are challenged in some way. Alzheimer's is no different and the time is now to look with honestly and compassion at the life of another president who might have faced while in office a challenge we didn't know about at the time. The only worthwhile history is one that values honesty so that we can understand and a son has a unmatched vantage point. I don''t know if the author is correct, but he addresses an issue that no one can reasonably ignore when examining the Reagan era. I understand the larger implications, just as I do on the case of many presidents (and kings and queens and heads of state) who we now suspect of being ill or compromised.

Enjoyed this book and "junior's" homage to his father both on its own and in partnership with  I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan .
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gammyjill
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent memoir by a son...
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2011
Verified Purchase
I'm posting this review with a little trepidation because Ron Reagan's memoir about his father is exactly the kind of book that brings divergent judgments by both sides of today's political spectrum. So, I'll take a chance and hopefully will not be ripped apart for my five-star review.

I have always enjoyed Ron Reagan's appearances of various MSNBC shows. I agree with him politically, but what I have always respected was his deep love for his father. And his strong defense of his father - both politically and personally - whenever challenged by the Left OR the Right. That comes across strongly in this memoir.

Ron and I share something else - we are both the children of "older" fathers, though I am a few years older than Ron and my father was a few years younger than Ronald Reagan. But, it is shocking to think that my Dad would be 100 years old in a few years if he was still alive. One of the most interesting parts of what Ron writes about is the openness of his father's personality, but also the parts he kept hidden. That describes my father to a "T" and I wonder if it is a generational thing?

I felt again Ron's love and respect for his father when he described growing up with a father he was at political and social odds with. I also felt that Ronald Reagan returned that love to his son in the limited way he was able to do. Ron was able to see - and, more importantly, understand - his father's sometime inability to express that love in the verbal way Ron wanted him to. Ron also writes movingly about his parents' love and their 50+ year devotion to each other.

I didn't vote for Ronald Reagan either time he ran for president, but he was still MY president. I usually didn't agree with what he did as president, but I always felt he was working in the best interests - as he saw them - for our country. I respected him for his character and I think Ron Reagan captured exactly that character in his beautifully written memoir.

The only shocking thing about this book is written on page 40 - and obviously not caught by either author or editors - is the referral to Ronald Reagan as our country's 44th president! I suspect that will be corrected in later editions - does that make my first edition more valuable??
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