Dinesh’s D’Souza’s Ronald Reagan is a biography recounting the life, acting career, and political career of President Ronald Reagan. D’Souza’s analysis of Reagan’s life gives another perspective to the man one critic called a “useful idiot” (138). D’Souza’s use of simplistic language, concise depiction of events, and unbiased writing makes Ronald Reagan an effective narrative of how President Ronald Reagan, the “hopeless clown,” transformed the world.
Dinesh D’Souza uses simplistic language to make the story of Reagan’s life understandable and readable. As with his other works, D’Souza’s writing style is meant to inform the average American. In Ronald Reagan, the purpose of D’Souza’s writing is to give readers an understanding of the policies and philosophy of Reagan. For instance, D’Souza’s explanation of Reagan’s approach to economics: “Reagan believed intellectuals have no right to attempt to plan or manage the economy…The main objective of Reagan’s economic policies was to create an environment in which the innovative energy of entrepreneurs could be unleashed” (86). Indeed, many entrepreneurs affirmed that Reagan influenced the abundant technological advances of the 1980s and 1990s (125).
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The advantage to using the opinions of others is that the reader understands that it is not just D’Souza who holds these sentiments towards Reagan. For example, referencing Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), for which many criticized President Reagan, Strobe Talbott admitted: “SDI was a factor in luring the Soviets back to the bargaining table…for that Reagan deserves credit” (180). British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher also greatly commended Reagan for SDI, readily acknowledging that SDI was crucial in ending the Cold War