An American Life
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 748 pages. Illustrations. Index. Some soiling and sticker residue to DJ, some soiling and sticker residue. Black line on bottom edge. Sticker scuff on fep. The former president relates the story of his public and private life from his modest beginnings in the Midwest, through a distinguished film career, to a second career in politics. Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952 and from 1959 until 1960. He escalated an arms race with the Soviet Union and transitioned Cold War policy from détente to rollback. He also survived an assassination attempt, fought public sector labor unions, spurred the war on drugs, and ordered the 1983 invasion of Grenada. Reagan left the presidency in 1989 with the American economy having seen a significant reduction of inflation, the unemployment rate having fallen, and the United States having entered its then-longest peacetime expansion. His presidency constituted the Reagan era, and he is considered a prominent conservative figure in the United States. Evaluations of his presidency among historians and scholars tend to place him among the upper tier of American presidents. More