Conservatives in Power: The Reagan Years, 1981-1989 A Brief History with Documents

Ronald Reagan's election to the presidency in 1980 marked a victory for conservatism. But, as Meg Jacobs and Julian Zelizer point out in their introduction, once in power, conservatives discovered that implementing their agenda and reversing the liberalism entrenched in American government would not be as easy as they had hoped. In this collection, Jacobs and Zelizer explore the successes and limitations of the so-called Reagan Revolution and chronicle its legacy through subsequent presidencies up to Barack Obama's election in 2008. More than 60 thematically organized documents -- some recently released -- illuminate conservatives' efforts to shift American politics to the right. These materials -- including speeches, memos, and articles from the popular press -- explore Reagan's personal evolution as a conservative leader, as well as Reaganomics, tax cuts, anticommunism, the arms race, the culture wars, and scandals such as Iran Contra. Photographs, document headnotes, a chronology, selected bibliography, and questions for consideration provide pedagogical support.

Meg Jacobs (Ph.D., University of Virginia) is an associate professor of history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she specializes in twentieth-century American political history. Her first book, Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America (2005), won the Organization of American Historians' Ellis W. Hawley prize for the best book on political economy, politics, and institutions of the modern United States, as well as the New England History Association's Best Book Award. With William J. Novak and Julian E. Zelizer, she is also a coeditor of The Democratic Experiment: New Directions in American Political History (2003). Julian E. Zelizer (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University) is professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. His book, Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945-1975 (1998), won the Organization of American Historians' Ellis W. Hawley prize for the best book on political economy, politics, and institutions of the modern United States and the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation's D. B. Hardeman Prize for Best Publication on Congress. Zelizer is also the author of On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and Its Consequences, 1948-2000 (2004) and Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security-From World War II to the War on Terrorism (2010). With William J. Novak and Meg Jacobs, he is also a coeditor of The Democratic Experiment: New Directions in American Political History (2003).