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. However, 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 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.