Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s (Politics and Society in Modern America)

Morning in America, Gil Troy's examination of Ronald Reagan's legacy, is not nearly as linear as the subtitle, "How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s," would suggest. While the influence of Reagan's image-oriented presidency (the book's title is drawn from a pivotal campaign commercial) and capital-driven domestic approach influenced the birth of the '80s media explosion and the fashionable status of capitalism, Troy shows that the inverse was also true, with Reagan and his team of advisors responding to trends as much as guiding them. Troy revisits icons of the decade--Madonna, Hill Street Blues, Dynasty, CNN, yuppies--and demonstrates the ways in which they intersected with the guiding principles of Reaganism and in turn why they are what you think of when you think of the '80s. Of course the decade was also notorious for a rise in crime, the emergence of AIDS, and growing fears of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Troy tackles that duality as well, arguing that unlike the malaise of the Jimmy Carter era, the idea of Reagan, and the notion behind his electoral victories, was one of wishing to see the country how one would like it to be. As might be expected from a book that blends pop culture, politics, and history, some arguments are better than others (can we really glean all that much about abortion by noting that Madonna insists "I'm gonna keep my baby" in the chorus?). But the effort to look at an era as a whole by examining its many different parts is often successful. Although Troy is clearly a big fan of Reagan, this is not necessarily hagiography. In fact, it's not really about Reagan at all. Historian Troy is more interested in Reagan's identity as a cultural symbol than he is in defending or attacking the decisions made during Reagan's two terms in office.--John Moe