American Experience

More about the film Reagan

Movie star Ronald Reagan nearly always played the hero-- a good-looking, likable fellow who stood for all the old American virtues of honesty, courage, and big-hearted optimism. Then as governor and as president, Ronald Reagan showed that in the real-life drama of politics, he was no celluloid contrivance. That he responded as he did after the attempt on his life probably did more than anything to verify the true appealing human substance of the man.

He was famous for a limited attention span and for jellybeans -- easy subjects for ridicule. His economic theories struck many as zany. But to millions of Americans the great worry was Reagan's headlong, militant anti-Communism. Of his virtues it could also be said that he never bragged about himself, never whined, and never lost faith in American strength and creativity. As no president since FDR, he demonstrated the power of fixed objectives in combination with extraordinary charm. And he was perceived as lucky-- no small attribute in a leader.

Whether it was the decisions he made that brought on the end of the Cold War or whether it was his luck to have been in office as history played itself out are questions that will be debated for years. But there is no question that he wanted to end the Cold War. He took advantage of opportunities when they came, he spent a staggering sum, and the Cold War did end.

Film Credits
Credits for the American Experience documentary program Reagan.

Program Transcript
Reagan transcript.

Interviews
Read and listen to what historians have to say about Reagan.

Further Reading
A list of related books, articles, and Web sites.