What Reagan Couldn't Tell Us
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"What Ronald Reagan was and believed certainly worked for him: One thing writers, liberal or conservative, agree on is his obvious, consistent happiness. He was likely the happiest president to ever occupy the White House.
But those writers find his ways confusing; many call them incomprehensible: They wonder, was he genius or dufus, caring or cold, a politician or an actor playing a politician? Did he know where Poland is? Without the answers buried in youth, Reagan is hard to figure. But when the key piece of his puzzle emerges, something simple, logical and good takes form. The threads of seeming incongruities woven in the smooth fabric of his nature camouflaged a mind of principle, consistency and contentment.
It was a tidy mind that kept things simple. Simple tastes. Simple relationships. Simple philosophy. And the simplest essence of any complicated concept. This is a man who preferred macaroni and cheese for dinner, pruning trees for entertainment and the Reader's Digest for intellectual stimulation. Wrought from the mold of Thoreau, he proved simplicity works."
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About the Book
Many of Ronald Reagan's ways were not only unusual, but seem to contradict his others. Some authors are so perplexed by his nature they are reluctant to even assign intelligence to his mentality. They suspect he operated on everything from instinct to hunches to gut feelings and guesses.
Lawrence Nesbitt's six years of extensive research has revealed a single psychological key that makes sense of the anomalies and contradictions. He has uncovered a powerful and nearly unique mindset that directed almost all of Reagan's conduct then and causes the confusion now. This unusual belief also explains how a man so old and riddled with flaws could accomplish so much and leave the presidency with an approval rating of nearly 70%, the highest of any two-term president in United States history.
Nesbitt shows the controlling role this mindset played in Reagan's youth, in his years as a Hollywood actor, during his tenure as California governor, through his two terms as president, and even later.
What Reagan Couldn't Tell Us offers a previously untold analysis of Reagan, one that will encourage discussion for years to come.
“I found Lawrence Nesbitt’s explanation of what made Ronald Reagan tick very plausible, fascinating, and enlightening. His revolutionary conclusions about the former president seem well-founded on solid evidence. He gives us a new Reagan to appreciate.”
—James D. Mallory, MD, author, former psychiatric director of Atlanta Counseling Center, and medical director of RAPHA
About the Author
Lawrence Nesbitt graduated from the Tennessee University System in the 1960s. Since college he spent three decades teaching psychology at Blayton College in Atlanta, and was published in such periodicals as Psychology Today. A psychological counselor until 2005, Nesbitt has since retired to travel, write and play tennis.