Ronald Reagan was the movie actor who became President of the United States. He was no towering intellectual genius, and may already have been dispalying symptoms of demintia while in office, but he knew how to act the part, and was broadly popular preciesly because he conformed to many Americans' expectations of how their leader should behave. This film, assembled from White House tapes, really does illustrate how Reagan did his job: not as a man-manager, or master of intricate policy papers, Reagan simply learnt (and spoke) his lines. What's most interesting is the bipartisan respect with which Reagan was treated - certainly a thing of the past, although perhaps a specific product of Reagan's unqiue appeal. The problem with the documentary is that it goes easy on it's subject: the Iran-Contra scandal is glossed over, Reagan's racist dogwhistles aren't even mentioned, while the arms reduction treaty he signed with Gorbachev is eulogised (although the Russian leader had his own reasons for wanting a deal, regardless of who was in charge in the U.S.). Reagan was certainly more genial than Trump; but both men can be seen as part of a movement in Republican politics towards racism, and anti-intellectualism, that still imperils the world. By all means watch this film; but if you don't know much about St. Ronald, find a more critical source as well.
Review of The Reagan Show
