The Age of Reagan brings to life the tumultuous decade and a half that preceded Ronald Reagans ascent to the White House. Drawing on scores of interviews and years of research, Steven F. Hayward takes us on an engrossing journey through the most politically divisive years the United States has had to endure since the decade before the Civil War. Hayward captures an America at war with itselfand an era whose reverberations we feel to this very day. He brings new insight into the profound failure of Lyndon Johnsons Great Society, the oddly liberal nature of Richard Nixons administration, the significance of Reagans years as Californias governor, the sudden-death drama of his near defeat of Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican primary, the listlessness of Jimmy Carters leadership, and the political earthquake that was Reagans victorious presidential campaign in 1980.Provocative, authoritative, and majestic in scope, The Age of Reagan is an unforgettable account of the rebirth and triumph of the American spirit.From the Trade Paperback edition.