In Ronald Reagan's chaotic childhood, the imagination was armor. There is nothing unusual about that; transcending the doubts, hesitations, and fears swirling… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
One of the most important things liberals don't understand about conservatism, obscured by too much lazy talk about conservatism's various 'wings,' is… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Whatever you think about his intelligence, what's unquestionable is that Reagan had extraordinary emotional intelligence. He could sense the temperature of a… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Reagan's emotional intelligence, his ability to suss out people's longings and to channel them for political purposes, was better than just about… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Prediction is structurally inseparable from the business of punditry: It creates the essential image of indefatigable authority that is punditry's very architecture;… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
While writing books about the past, I think about the present. It's not intentional, but somehow my books end up being written… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Why was Barack Obama attractive to people in 2008? If you think about Barack Obama, there's all this anxiety about society, just… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
When the 2008 victory of Barack Obama and the defeat of grumpy old John McCain began looking, um, inevitable, I started fielding… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Here is a truism about the psychology of politicians: there is almost nothing so soul-definingly traumatic for them as losing an election.… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Part of the fantasy certain pro-reform Republicans like to broadcast about Hispanics, family-oriented, churchgoing traditionalists, is that they are somehow natural conservatives,… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
When conservatives talk to one another, pay attention: they say what they want to do, and mean it. And will do just… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
I love trade magazines - any trade's magazine: by entering into what is taken for granted in a world not your own, you better… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
When the 2008 victory of Barack Obama and the defeat of grumpy old John McCain began looking, um, inevitable, I started fielding inquiries about… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Watergate got us to think of leaders as mere mortals. America began to think of itself in a very different way - I would… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Part of the fantasy certain pro-reform Republicans like to broadcast about Hispanics, family-oriented, churchgoing traditionalists, is that they are somehow natural conservatives, just waiting… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
The history of American higher education over the twentieth century is an extraordinary one, the story of the creation of a powerhouse set of… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
The only times during my religious instruction I remember hearing God's name invoked with any sincere conviction at all was in the oft-repeated and… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
As a general rule of thumb, Democrats do better in national elections when the year's defining issue is economic fairness, and Republicans do better… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Computers have cut-and-paste functions. So does right-wing historical memory. — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Empirical debunking cannot reach the deepest fear of the reactionary mind, which is that the state - that devouring leviathan - will soon swallow… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
I think that all politicians who aspire to the presidency are a little nuts, but for different reasons. What kind of person aspires to… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
Chicago's privatization mania began during Mayor Richard M. Daley's administration, which ran from 1989 to 2011. Under his successor, Rahm Emanuel, the trend has… — Rick Perlstein Copy Share Image
