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September 21, 2009 | Recorded on August 21, 2009
The Age of Reagan with Steven Hayward
Discussing his new book, The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution, Hayward asserts that Ronald Reagan was one of the most consequential presidents in American history.
In foreign affairs, he presents Reagan as possessing unique insights into issues that had confounded the policy establishment for decades and as willing to battle not only with the Democratic opposition but also with the conventional reflexes of much of his own party and staff. Against prevailing opinion, Hayward defends his proposition that Reagan’s domestic record is commensurate with his foreign achievements: “One person saved the Reagan Revolution from retreat and rout. That person was Ronald Reagan.”
Finally, Hayward argues that, “if Reagan failed in a permanent alignment the way Roosevelt did with the New Deal, it was because the Republican Party, its successors, and even Reagan himself were not a full-fledged constitutional movement.” Just what would such a constitutional movement look like today? (41:19) Video transcript