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Tulane historian Douglas Brinkley has provided the first extended look at Ronald Reagan's personal diaries ("The Reagan Diaries" HarperCollins, 2007). He makes clear this is not the entire edited collection, which is being prepared separately, but just a sample---if a large one running 680 pp. He also alerts the reader that perhaps the first genuine, reliable biography of Reagan is forthcoming by former advisor Martin Anderson and his wife, which is reassuring after the debacle of "Dutch" by Edmond Morris. Several themes stand out. First, any notion that any of the liberal journalists ever had that Reagan was lazy evaporate...

Read the newly published "The Reagan Diaries" if you want a true insight into the mind of the nation's 40th president. The diaries -- written daily from 1981 until President Ronald Reagan left office in 1989 -- reveal him to be much more involved in the nitty gritty of national and world affairs than many White House reporters thought. He had often been portrayed as a detached, "chairman of the board" kind of president. The diaries show that Reagan had something to say about everything and everybody; his thoughts were often summarized in one handwritten sentence. His notations mixed the...

Ronald Reagan Reconstructed by: Matt Hadro, June 15, 2007 Ronald Reagan’s religious faith and virtuous character were, in fact, influential during his days as President. The recently uncovered diaries of Ronald Reagan unveil much of his personality while he served in office, according to Douglas Brinkley, editor of the newly-published The Reagan Diaries. Reagan’s outstanding moral character and positive motivation, which formed the foundation for his much-celebrated presidency, shone forth in his daily thoughts and reflections. The Heritage Foundation hosted a briefing and discussion for the diaries this past week, and Brinkley was present to introduce the work and answer...

Once again, the left-leaning mainstream media have egg all over their faces thanks to the voice of my Dad, Ronald Reagan, speaking from his eternal resting place. Over the past week, since the Reagan Diaries were released, the media have focused on everything except what to me is the most the significant result of their publication: the self-portrayal that once again proves the lie in the false picture of him the media long sought to draw -- that of a less-than-intelligent former actor scarcely smart enough to remember his lines much less govern America. The Media Research Council’s Brent Bozell...

Today is the official release date for The Reagan Diaries. Ronald Reagan was one of a handful of American presidents who kept a daily journal while in office. Historian Douglas Brinkley has gone through them and edited the volume that hits bookstores today. No doubt there is something for everyone in there. But particularly timely is an entry from October 16, 1986, in which President Reagan wrote: Thursday, October 16 Al Simpson came by to see if he had my support. After 5 yrs. of trying (during which I’ve been on his side) the House finally passed his immigration bill....

NEW YORK - Ronald Reagan's handwritten diaries of his eight years in the White House will be published as a book to be released next year, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation and HarperCollins Publishers announced Tuesday. Reagan, who died at 93 last June following a 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease, wrote in his diaries every day of his presidency, recording his thoughts on events both routine and historic, officials said. While the volumes "were not initially intended for publication, we feel that these volumes offer an unprecedented insight into the Reagan Presidency," said Frederick Ryan Jr., chairman of the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ronald Reagan's handwritten personal diaries covering his eight years as president from 1981 will be published next year after an agreement with his presidential library. Publisher HarperCollins called Reagan's private journal "the most detailed presidential diaries in America's history," and said it had been seen only by a few people. "When Ronnie became president, he wanted to write it all down so we could remember these special times," Nancy Reagan said in the publishing house statement released on Tuesday. Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died last year at the age of 93. He...

Ronald Reagan's handwritten diaries of his eight years in the White House will be published as a book to be released next year, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation and HarperCollins Publishers announced Tuesday. Reagan, who died at 93 last June following a 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease, wrote in his diaries every day of his presidency, recording his thoughts on events both routine and historic, officials said. While the volumes "were not initially intended for publication, we feel that these volumes offer an unprecedented insight into the Reagan Presidency," said Frederick Ryan Jr., chairman of the foundation's board of...