“Tear Down This Myth” 0
The Philadelphia Shrinquier reviews Will Bunch’s book. An excerpt:
The hero-making has moved in other directions as well. Supporters have tried to add Reagan’s face to Mount Rushmore, while congressional Republicans backed the bill that renamed the former Washington National Airport “Reagan National.” Admirers have sought to put Reagan’s face on the dime. In California, Bunch reports, there is a Ronald Reagan Freeway near Reagan’s presidential library in Simi Valley. The state also now has Ronald Reagan elementary schools, a Ronald Reagan Park, Ronald Reagan government office buildings – even a Ronald Reagan Community Center.
Bunch has crafted an intelligent and relentlessly anti-Reagan polemic that succeeds in taking Reagan’s presidency down several pegs. Admirers have applauded Reagan for consistently sticking to his anti-big-government convictions, but Bunch shows that Reagan’s actual record is much more complicated than conservatives like to admit.
Full disclosure: Will Bunch writes for the Daily News, which is part of the company that owns the Shrinquier. Having read the Shrinquier for years and having my share of beefs about it, I am confident that that relationship did not influence the review.
