THE CITY ON A HILL: Fulfilling Ronald Reagan's Vision for America

by Michael Reagan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1997

Ronald Reagan's adoptive son offers a digressive tract that combines--not always effectively or gracefully--a celebration of his father's presidency, a neoconservative agenda for national renewal, score-settling asides on those he feels have done him wrong, and ad hominem attacks on Bill Clinton that might give the American Spectator pause. Drawing on his father's conceit (borrowed from Pilgrim John Winthrop) of an America that shows the rest of the world just how to create a paradise on earth, the San Diego-based radio talk-show host provides a cluttered blueprint for restoring the putatively lost glories of yesteryear when Reagan pâre was cutting taxes, rearming the US military, jump-starting the domestic economy, and otherwise giving the country greater confidence in itself. His four-point program envisions realigning the roles played by mainstays of American society. By way of example, he would cut the federal budget and shrink government while reasserting national sovereignty. In like vein, the author urges that job-creating business be relieved of regulatory and tax burdens. He commends supporting civic and religious institutions that can take up the slack left by welfare reform and castigates government agencies at all levels for their paternalistic intrusions into the American family. At least as interested in tearing down as in building up, Reagan the Younger assails Clinton early and often, characterizing him as a slick (rather than great) communicator and the make-love-not-war president. Nor does the aggrieved author neglect to get even for slights he has suffered at the hands of Republican Party officials, Nancy Reagan (who on occasion has treated him, well, like a stepchild), and others. An odd sociopolitical amalgam, of interest mainly for the personal insights a lightweight son can provide on his world-class father, rather than its anti-Democrat invective or pro forma attempt to revive the Reagan Revolution.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1997

Categories: NONFICTION