Dark Horses

For the second time in five years,” writes F. Clifton White of the events of June 5, 1968, “a Marxist assassin’s bullets had killed a Kennedy. And both times they killed my chances of managing a successful presidential campaign for a Republican opponent of a Kennedy.” Carefully distilled in those two sentences is the informing perspective of Mr. White’s Why Reagan Won (Regnery/Gateway, $14.95), written with the help of William J. Gill.

Sometimes, as in the quotation above, the result is delightful; at other times it is a little maddening in its suggestion that the chief reason Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980 was that F. Clifton White persevered some 15 years to see that his friend Ron made it into the Oval Office. Of course all politicians, whether they be elected or, like White, paid strategists, have very large egos (though White keeps insisting that President Reagan does not); and I would certainly not argue that White has written a self-serving book. He has, however, written a self-centered one which, intentionally or not, portrays its author—I mean, one of its authors—as Mr. Conservative: a puckish, brighteyed fellow, younger and more sophisticated-looking than Uncle Sam, and wearing a bow tie, better-kempt hair, and no beard. Well: if that is how Mr. White sees himself, why argue about it? He certainly is entitled to a very great deal of credit in the forging of the new conservative consensus; and he has written a very interesting book about the process. Indeed, his is to my knowledge the first to put the Reagan landslide in historical perspective. And in Why Reagan Won, you get it from an insider.

CW

About the Author

Chilton Williamson Jr.

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Presidential Election

Republican Party

For the second time in five years,” writes F. Clifton White of the events of June 5, 1968, “a Marxist assassin’s bullets had killed a Kennedy. And both times they killed my chances of managing a successful presidential campaign for a Republican opponent of a Kennedy.” Carefully distilled in those two sentences is the informing perspective of Mr. White’s Why Reagan Won (Regnery/Gateway, $14.95), written with the help of William J. Gill.

Sometimes, as in the quotation above, the result is delightful; at other times it is a little maddening in its suggestion that the chief reason Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980 was that F. Clifton White persevered some 15 years to see that his friend Ron made it into the Oval Office. Of course all politicians, whether they be elected or, like White, paid strategists, have very large egos (though White keeps insisting that President Reagan does not); and I would certainly not argue that White has written a self-serving book. He has, however, written a self-centered one which, intentionally or not, portrays its author—I mean, one of its authors—as Mr. Conservative: a puckish, brighteyed fellow, younger and more sophisticated-looking than Uncle Sam, and wearing a bow tie, better-kempt hair, and no beard. Well: if that is how Mr. White sees himself, why argue about it? He certainly is entitled to a very great deal of credit in the forging of the new conservative consensus; and he has written a very interesting book about the process. Indeed, his is to my knowledge the first to put the Reagan landslide in historical perspective. And in Why Reagan Won, you get it from an insider.