Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future

Nearly two decades after leaving office and four years after his death, the legend of Ronald Reagan looms larger than ever over America's political life. Nowhere has that been more evident than in the 2008 presidential campaign, with Republicans - especially presumptive nominee John McCain - appearing to run more aggressively for the Reagan mantle than for the White House itself, and with even Democrats debating how to add some Reagan lustre to their progressive platform. It will build upon existing volume of works about the Reagan presidency, more contemporary news accounts and the work of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, with interviews with key Reagan scholars and contemporaries, to produce a narrative arc that breaks down the key myths about Reagan and his record, the intentional creation of these myths in the 1990s and 2000s and their role in 21st Century politics, including the Bush presidency, the 2008 election, and beyond

Review :
"The Ronald Reagan who won the cold war, cut taxes, shrank the government, saved the economy, and was the most beloved president since FDR is a myth, Bunch says....The truculent jingoist of the myth was concocted after Alzheimer's silenced the man and the would-be juggernaut launched by the GOP's 1994 election triumph crashed and burned before a Democratic president who shrank government and the deficit, balanced the budget, and even racked up surpluses. Bunch names the leading, venal mythmakers and shames the myth exploiters, too. Anyone interested in America's immediate future should read this book."-- "Booklist" "Will Bunch's book couldn't come at a better time. Following an election that saw America reject Reaganism, "Tear Down This Myth" explores how that conservative ideology came to power and what was so destructive about it."-- David Sirota, author of "The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington" ""Tear Down This Myth" is as feisty as it is fearless. In it, Will Bunch begins the process, long overdue, of deflating Ronald Reagan's overinflated reputation." -- Andrew J. Bacevich, author of "The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism" "Will Bunch's iconoclasm is deeply necessary. It is also splendidly entertaining. The myth that Ronald Reagan was loved by everybody all the time is one of the greatest PR swindles of the age. This is a must-read for all who cherish truth in history."-- Rick Perlstein, author of "Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America" "Will Bunch's subtle account of Reagan's legacy carefully dismantles the image of conservative purism that has been painted over the real Ronald Reagan. But in tearing down the myth, Bunch also gives us a fascinating portrait of Reagan the pragmatist, able to compromise, to change his ground and to govern from the center as political winds shifted. This is a buried Reagan, hidden even at the time but still perceptible, in some ways, to those of us who fought him at the time. "Tear Down This Myth" is historical revisionism for which both Reagan's supporters and his opponents should be grateful."-- James K. Galbraith, author of "The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too" "With help from a loving Beltway press corps, Republicans sold Reagan as the iconic American leader. From promotions like the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project and Operation Serenade, the GOP marketing machine worked to perfection. Will Bunch's long overdue book, "Tear Down This Myth," pulls back the curtain and looks at Reagan, minus the branding. It's a sobering sight."-- Eric Boehlert, author of "Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush"