The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America - Hardcover

"A seasoned crime reporter of the old school, William Kleinknecht has penetrated the showbiz curtain to expose the venality and cynicism of the Reagan era -- and tells us why the crimes of that time still matter so much today." --Joe Conason, best-selling author, "Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth and It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush " "Finally, a fact-filled, eminently readable book that punctures the hot air balloon that has buoyed the Reagan presidency for far too long. Kleinknecht strips the emperor's clothes from Ronald Reagan to finally reveal him for what he was, a dim bulb conservative who set the country on the road that led us to the sorry state in which we find ourselves today. A must read." --Peter Biskind, best-selling author, "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll Generation Revolutionized Hollywood" Bill Kleinknecht knows that it is important to tear down false gods, which is what he does in this scathing reappraisal of Ronald Reagan. A book that will help usher in a brighter political era. --Frances Fox Piven, Distinguished Professor of Political science and Sociology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and co-author of "The New Class War: Reagan's Attack on the Welfare State and Its Consequences" "Makes a strong case that President Reagan's policies of massive deregulation, free-market capitalism, budget cuts and trickle-down economics were nothing less than a dismantling of New Deal reforms and a disaster for the country, particularly its poorest citizens... Kleinknecht's bare-knuckled journalistic prose makes this anengaging read.... His criticism of deregulation is especially timely, given the current economic climate, and Kleinknecht uses these stories effectively to connect the Reagan legacy to a contemporary culture of self-interest and a Republican Party he views as mired in shallowness and ignorance. "With Reaganism has come an abandonment of all faith in reason and progress," he writes, "and it has accrued manifestly to the detriment of the average American." Tough, well-argued criticism of a conservative icon." --"Kirkus Reviews"

From an award-winning journalist is a major work of reporting and history that shatters the myth of Ronald Reagan. Since Ronald Reagan left office - and after his death especially - his influence has loomed over American life. Singled out for his 'courage, his kindness, his persistence, his honesty, and his almost heroic patience in the face of setbacks,' a number of conservatives, from the late William Buckley to his former speechwriter Peggy Noonan to Republican nominee John McCain have looked to Reagan as a figure to regenerate the American conservative tradition as the Bush White House stumbles through crisis and scandal. Beyond Reagan's core devotees, Reagan's image has been embraced by the mainstream media. Even Barack Obama have cited Reagan's legacy positively.This carefully calibrated image is a complete fiction, however. The Reagan presidency was epoch-shattering, but not - as his propagandists would have it - because it invigorated private enterprise, toppled the Berlin Wall or made America feel strong again. Rather what gives Reagan such an awesome legacy is that he presided over the dismantling of one of the greatest social experiments in human history - an eight-decade period of reform in which working people were given an unprecedented sway over our politics, our economy, and our culture.Reagan halted this forward march toward democracy almost overnight. In "The Man Who Sold the World", journalist William Kleinknecht explores middle America and shows how Reaganism put the poor and working class back on the margins of everything except the basest popular culture. This scathing indictment of the Reagan legacy is the first comprehensive book to deal seriously with Ronald Reagan's place in contemporary America. Just as Americans are trying to grapple with the legacy of George W. Bush, "The Man Who Sold the World" shows how poorly we understand Reagan's.