ANEWYORKTIMESNOTABLEBOOKOF2020FromthebestsellingauthorofNixonlandandTheInvisibleBridgecomesthedramaticconclusionofhowconservatismtookcontrolofAmericanpoliticalpower.Overtwodecades,RickPerlsteinhaspublishedthreedefinitiveworksabouttheemergingdominanceofconservatisminmodernAmericanpolitics.Withthesaga’sfinalinstallment,hehasdeliveredyetanotherstunningliteraryandhistoricalachievement.Inlate1976,RonaldReaganwasdismissedasamanwithoutapoliticalfuture:defeatedinhisnominationbidagainstasittingpresidentofhisownparty,blamedforPresidentGeraldFord’sdefeat,toooldtomakeanotherrun.Hiscomebackwasfueledbyanextraordinaryconfluence:fundamentalistpreachersandformersegregationistsreinventingthemselvesasmilitantcrusadersagainstgayrightsandfeminism;businessexecutivesunitingagainstregulationinaneraofeconomicdecline;acadreofsecretive“NewRight“organizersdeployingstate-of-the-arttechnology,bendingpoliticalnormstothebreakingpoint--andReagan’sownunbendingoptimism,hisabilitytoconveyunshakableconfidenceinAmericaastheworld’s“shiningcityonahill.“Meanwhile,acivilwarbrokeoutintheDemocraticparty.WhenPresidentJimmyCartercalledAmericanstoanewethicofausterity,SenatorTedKennedyreactedwithhorror,challenginghimforreelection.Carter’sOvalOfficetenurewasfurtherimperiledbytheIranianhostagecrisis,theSovietinvasionofAfghanistan,near-catastropheataPennsylvanianuclearplant,aviationaccidents,serialkillersontheloose,andendlessgaslines.BackedbyareenergizedconservativeRepublicanbase,Reaganranonthecampaignslogan“MakeAmericaGreatAgain“--andprevailed.Reaganlandisthestoryofhowthathappened,tracingconservatives’cutthroatstrategiestogainpowerandexplainingwhytheyendurefourdecadeslater.
