For many children of the 1980s, Ronald Reagan is the archetype of an American President, an inspirstion much like JFK is to many boomers. This book will most definitely appeal to those formed in the Reagan era. But it should also appeal to many more than just Republican members of Generation X. While the author is upfront about his admiration for the Reagans, he has served up a charming personal account of the first couple gleaned as a press aide and told through the lens of movie nights at Camp David. It’s a mostly apolitical and nostalgic tour through both events and hit movies of the 80s (as well as a few Golden oldies). Moreover, it coincides nicely with Reagan’s rising place in history as reflected by recent popular biographies like that of HW Brands and the top ten ranking Reagan has been afforded in widely respected contemporary surveys of scholars such as C-Span’s survey of presidential historians. While this book will not contribute much to the scholarly assessments, it is simply a fun ride and a poignant account of Ronald Reagan's (and Nancy Reagan’s) grace and decency. A grace and decency that helps explain—along with what most now acknowledge was the general success of the policies of the 80s—why the Gipper has endured as one of our most popular presidents.
Former special advisor and press secretary to President Ronald Reagan shares an intimate, behind-the-scenes look inside the Reagan presidency—told through the movies they watched together every week at Camp David.
What did President Ronald Reagan think of Rocky IV? How did the Matthew Broderick film WarGames inform America’s missile defense system? What Michael J. Fox movie made such an impression on President Reagan that he felt compelled to mention it in a speech to the Joint Session of Congress?
Over the course of eight years, Mark Weinberg travelled to Camp David each weekend with Ronald and Nancy Reagan. He was one of a few select members invited into the Aspen Lodge, where the First Family screened both contemporary and classic movies on Friday and Saturday nights. They watched movies in times of triumph, such as the aftermath of Reagan’s 1984 landslide, and after moments of tragedy, such as the explosion of the Challenger and the shooting of the President and Press Secretary Jim Brady.
Weinberg’s unparalleled access offers a rare glimpse of the Reagans—unscripted, relaxed, unburdened by the world, with no cameras in sight. Each chapter discusses a legendary film, what the Reagans thought of it, and provides warm anecdotes and untold stories about his family and the administration. From Reagan’s pranks on the Secret Service to his thoughts on the parallels between Hollywood and Washington, Weinberg paints a full picture of the president The New Yorker once famously dubbed “The Unknowable.”
Movie Nights with the Reagans is a nostalgic journey through the 1980s and its most iconic films, seen through the eyes of one of Hollywood’s former stars: one who was simultaneously transforming the Republican Party, the American economy, and the course of the Cold War.
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