The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism

Olsen, Henry

ISBN 10: 0062475266 / ISBN 13: 9780062475268

Published by Broadside Books, 2017

About this Item

THERE IS A BLACK "CLOSEOUT/REMAINDER" MARK ON THE BOTTOM PAGE EDGES. Donald Trump's election has led many to wonder if the Republican Party remains the Party of Reagan. In fact, President Trump's election gives Republicans their last, bet hope to re-Reaganize the GOP. Political analyst Henry Olsen reveals that the simplistic anti-government Reagan most Republican politicians invoke is a myth. The real Reagan was a lifelong fan of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and supported the robust safety net FDR's New Deal created and inspired. In The Working Class Republican, Olsen argues that Reagan successfully wooed working-class voters -- the "Reagan Democrats" -- by convincing them that he was preserving, not rejecting, Roosevelt's legacy. As Olsen shows in this provocative work, Reagan developed a unique conservative philosophy that enhances freedom while using government to actively help Americans receive what they deserve, provided they work to the best of their abilities. President Trump's robust defense of American manufacturing and the safety net was closer to Reagan's and FDR's visions than anything Republicans have offered since the Reagan era. It's no wonder, then, that he was the first Republican nominee since Reagan in 1984 to carry all five of the Reagan Democrat-dominated mid-western states -- Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania -- and with them, win the presidency. The story of Reagan's rise and his importance for today's America and Republican party has never seemed as fresh and as relevant as it does in The Working Class Republican. Broadside Books, Hardcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2017 THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK. THERE IS A BLACK "CLOSEOUT/REMAINDER" MARK ON THE BOTTOM PAGE EDGES.

Seller Inventory # 003607

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism
• Publisher: Broadside Books
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062475266
• ISBN 13: 9780062475268
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Politics/Political Science
  • Biography: U.S. Presidents

About this title

Synopsis

In this sure to be controversial book in the vein of The Forgotten Man, a political analyst argues that conservative icon Ronald Reagan was not an enemy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal, but his true heir and the popular program’s ultimate savior.

Conventional political wisdom views the two most consequential presidents of the twentieth-century—FDR and Ronald Reagan—as ideological opposites. FDR is hailed as the champion of big-government progressivism manifested in the New Deal. Reagan is seen as the crusader for conservatism dedicated to small government and free markets. But Henry Olsen argues that this assumption is wrong.

In The Working Class Republican, Olsen contends that the historical record clearly shows that Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal itself were more conservative than either Democrats or Republicans believe, and that Ronald Reagan was more progressive than most contemporary Republicans understand. Olsen cuts through political mythology to set the record straight, revealing how Reagan—a longtime Democrat until FDR’s successors lost his vision in the 1960s—saw himself as FDR’s natural heir, carrying forward the basic promises of the New Deal: that every American deserves comfort, dignity, and respect provided they work to the best of their ability.

Olsen corrects faulty assumptions driving today’s politics. Conservative Republican political victories over the last thirty years have not been a rejection of the New Deal’s promises, he demonstrates, but rather a representation of the electorate’s desire for their success—which Americans see as fulfilling the vision of the nation’s founding. For the good of all citizens and the GOP, he implores Republicans to once again become a party of "FDR Conservatives"—to rediscover and support the basic elements of FDR (and Reagan’s) vision.

About the Author

Henry Olsen is an incisive political analyst and a senior fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington, DC, think tank. He is a regular contributor to such leading publications as The National Review, The Weekly Standard, National Affairs, Commentary, The National Interest, The American Interest, and The Claremont Review of Books. He has also published op-eds and book reviews in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and The Washington Examiner.