[.ca] How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life (ISBN 0060524006)

a young man's hero:
No matter your politics HOW RONALD REAGAN CHANGED MY LIFE is worth reading, worth learning from. Peter Robinson has a fluency & articulateness that is both charming & informative. What he has to tell, to teach, is eminently useful as we go about our lives earning our quota of daily bread, & perhaps most importantly, how to live a fully savored & flavored life. Rebeccasreads highly recommends HOW RONALD REAGAN CHANGED MY LIFE as a keeper. A book every young professional could do with reading. It is profound & humorous, interesting & whimsical, filled with vignettes & cameo appearances, history & philosophy...all written with a light touch.

This book changed MY life.:
The moment I saw Peter Robinson on a television program touting this book, I knew I had to own it. While I was a child growing up during the Reagan administration, even then I was keenly aware of how great and enigmatic the fortieth president was. This book did give an excellent insider's view of the Reagan White House, including great stories and 'naming names' if you will. Yet Robinson also explored Reagan's weaknesses - his trouble connecting with his children as well as trusting those under him during Iran-Contra, even though his gut told him otherwise. Bottom line - As great as Ronald Reagan was, he was still human with faults and imperfections all his own. The important lesson is not what happens when you fall - we all do - but how you respond. Reagan came back from an assassination attempt and political scandal. He had a job to do and a Cold War to win. You need only to look at the people who lined the streets and filled the rotunda during the week of remembrance to see the result.

One of the Most Inspiring of Books about Ronald Reagan:
Peter Robinson takes a close look, a very intimate look at the things Ronald Reagan stood for and 10 of his maxims that effected a life change in Robinson and in Robinson's view, a whole nation. His premise was that he wanted to tell his daughter about his former boss. She was nine years old when Mr. Reagan's 90th birthday rolled around and did not understand his importance to her nation and to her dad. Robinson's book although a little unsung in the world of great books, is a tribute to a great man yet, it will also influence any who read it apply the Ten Maxims that are the subjects for each chapter. The Ten Maxims Are in My Words: When life gets difficult, dig in. Do the work you are intended to do. Life is a stage, act now. What you say matters. Use the brain you have been given. Take things in stride. Marry the right person and it will help your life. Remember to pray daily. Use your God given talents to influence the world around you. You are important and can make a difference. These maxims of life, seen through the life and actions of one of Americas greatest presidents are ours to learn, to understand and even to use. This is a great book. I will give this as a gift to my friends.

My son's middle name is Reagan:
As I am writing this review I am listening to the Reagan Funeral. When I read this book written by Mr. Robinson I was inspired beyond all measure. My wife and I were expecting our first child and I told my wife due to the writing of this book we will name our son witht he middle name Reagan. She agreed! This book opened my eyes and my heart to a world from which I lived in, but could not comprehend. Mr. Robinson thank you for writing such a book! Mr. Reagan thank you for your leadership. My son was born May 26, 2004, and his name is Luke Reagan Burkholder.

How did Reagan do it?:
The central question of Robinson's book is, "How did Reagan do it?" Robinson's personal observations while working for President Reagan along with interviews with friends and associates provides insight into the virtues and character of Ronald Reagan from which we can all learn. A prospective view, as it were, of Reagan's life for use today. Robinson assumed Reagan's serenity was a result of his luck in life's lottery. A closer examination of the facts revealed a different case. Reagan's father was an alcoholic in a small Midwestern town at a time when the children of alcoholics "suffered a particular kind of hell." Reagan's first wife, Jane Wyman, divorced him resulting in "the worse trauma of Reagan's life." And then his movie career ended in his early forties leading to a television career (then considered a lesser medium) because he "needed the work." Robinson's conclusion? "He was serene because he's been unlucky, learning to bring good from bad so thoroughly that he retained his equanimity even after an attempt on his life." Through a series of aphorisms Robinson draws lessons from the life of Ronald Reagan: "When life buries you, dig." "Do your work." "Life is a drama. Do something." "A bias for action." "Words matter." "You have a head. Use it." "Easy does it." "Laughter is a profession of faith." "Say your prayers." "You matter." Reagan's former work as a lifeguard and actor figured prominently in the development of his character. As a lifeguard he had saved the lives of seventy-seven swimmers in the Rock River. In contrast to Marxism's belief in the inevitability of history, Reagan had personal experience that one person can make a difference in the lives of others and in history. As an actor Reagan became accustomed to the idea of alternative endings. A fellow speechwriter put it this way, "He understands open-endedness and contingency. He sees life is a drama in which a lot of scenes still haven't been written." During Robinson's tenure at the White House there was posted on a White House bulletin board a card which read, "Pray as if everything depended on God. Work as if everything depended on you." This unattributed aphorism of faith and free will was first coined by St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Robinson writes of that motto, "That, I thought, was a neat summary of the way Ronald Reagan led his life, and ever since I've recognized that habit or pattern of life as an ideal." The United States was blessed to have Ronald Reagan serve as our fortieth President. As his old adversary Mikhail Gorbachev stated, "If someone else had been in his place, I don't know if what happened would have happened."