Killing Reagan Book Report

Bill O’ Reilly and Martin Dugard took it upon themselves to continue their popular series with an attempt at telling the great story of Ronald Reagan. Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and his story is very remarkable including a defining moment in his life when John Hinckley Jr. took an attempt on Reagan’s life. In Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency, the authors use that event as a basis for the book and look to show the significance of that event. The authors also show Reagan’s early life before his presidency and political life. Since his story is already great in itself, the primary challenge that O’Reilly and Dugard face is presenting that story in the best way possible. How they do this is a …show more content…
This book’s focus is entirely on Ronald Reagan’s life and the events that have influenced him. The goal and main point in the book would be how the assassination attempt on Reagan affected him and his psyche for the rest of his presidency and life. This is seen very clearly when it comes to the structure of the book. In the beginning stages of the book, you see Reagan’s progression through life in the different professions he had. The reader can clearly see Reagan develop further and further until he hits the peak of his life when he wins the presidency. The book pivots very strongly when it comes to the attempt on Reagan’s life. After being shot and making his recovery, the authors make it seem as if Reagan was never the same after the attack. The book shows a steady decline of Reagan and his ability to operate in office and even in life as time goes on. I believe this progression of the book highlights the importance in the assassination attempt because of how it caused the decline in Reagan’s …show more content…
Ronald Reagan’s life is an overall great story but O’Reilly and Dugard appear to make an effort to intensify certain issues and turn them into something way worse than they actually were solely for the sake of making the story a bit more enticing. A key example of this would be the aftermath of the assassination. After this event, the book turns into a description of Reagan’s downfall mentally. This is all exaggerated a huge amount and takes away from the credibility of the writers of the book. It seems farfetched that a man who is deteriorating mentally can take control of the United States and be Leader of the Free World. Also it is important to acknowledge that Reagan did get a lot done during her presidency and is overall perceived as a productive president. With the authors trying to take away from all of this by highlighting a mental decline by Reagan that was only seen after his presidency it is obvious to see where O’Reilly and Dugard messed up