{"product_id":"the-working-class-republican-ronald-reagan-and-the-return-of-bluecollar-conservatism-isbn-9780062475268","title":"The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this sure to be controversial book in the vein of \u003cem\u003eThe Forgotten Man\u003c\/em\u003e, a political analyst argues that conservative icon Ronald Reagan was not an enemy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal, but his true heir and the popular program’s ultimate savior.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConventional political wisdom views the two most consequential presidents of the twentieth-century—FDR and Ronald Reagan—as ideological opposites. FDR is hailed as the champion of big-government progressivism manifested in the New Deal. Reagan is seen as the crusader for conservatism dedicated to small government and free markets. But Henry Olsen argues that this assumption is wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Working Class Republican\u003c\/em\u003e, Olsen contends that the historical record clearly shows that Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal itself were more conservative than either Democrats or Republicans believe, and that Ronald Reagan was more progressive than most contemporary Republicans understand. Olsen cuts through political mythology to set the record straight, revealing how Reagan—a longtime Democrat until FDR’s successors lost his vision in the 1960s—saw himself as FDR’s natural heir, carrying forward the basic promises of the New Deal: that every American deserves comfort, dignity, and respect provided they work to the best of their ability. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOlsen corrects faulty assumptions driving today’s politics. Conservative Republican political victories over the last thirty years have not been a rejection of the New Deal’s promises, he demonstrates, but rather a representation of the electorate’s desire for their success—which Americans see as fulfilling the vision of the nation’s founding. For the good of all citizens and the GOP, he implores Republicans to once again become a party of \"FDR Conservatives\"—to rediscover and support the basic elements of FDR (and Reagan’s) vision.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eSince when are the Republicans the party of the common man? Since Reagan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDonald Trump’s election has led many to wonder if the Republican Party remains the Party of Reagan. In fact, President Trump’s election gives Republicans their last, best hope to re-Reaganize the GOP. Political analyst Henry Olsen reveals that the simplistic antigovernment Reagan most Republican politicians invoke is a myth. The real Reagan was a lifelong fan of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and supported the robust safety net FDR’s New Deal created and inspired. In \u003cem\u003eThe Working-Class Republican\u003c\/em\u003e, Olsen argues that Reagan successfully wooed working-class voters—the “Reagan Democrats”—by convincing them that he was preserving, not rejecting, Roosevelt’s legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Olsen shows in this provocative work, Reagan developed a unique conservative philosophy that enhances freedom while using government to actively help Americans receive what they deserve, provided they work to the best of their abilities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePresident Trump’s robust defense of American manufacturing and the safety net was closer to Reagan’s and FDR’s visions than anything Republicans have offered since the Reagan era. It’s no wonder, then, that he was the first Republican nominee since Reagan in 1984 to carry all five of the Reagan Democrat-dominated midwestern states—Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—and with them, win the presidency.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story of Reagan’s rise and his importance for today’s America and Republican Party has never seemed as fresh and as relevant as it does in \u003cem\u003eThe Working-Class Republican\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“With this nuanced portrait of Ronald Reagan’s political evolution and maturation, Henry Olsen challenges many of his fellow conservatives to rethink, as Reagan did, the art of the possible in the America that the New Deal made.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGeorge F. Will, Columnist, Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Henry Olsen, one of the sharpest and most indispensable political analysts alive today, saw Trump coming when almost everyone missed it. Now he sees in Reagan what others missed. Agree or not \u003ci\u003eThe Working Class Republican\u003c\/i\u003e promises to ignite a whole new fight over Trump, Reagan and the meaning conservatism. ” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJonah Goldberg, Senior Editor, National Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Working Class Republican\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating, highly readable analysis of Ronald Reagan’s particular brand of conservatism.  In Henry’s excellent book, we learn that Reagan was hardly the ideologue many of his biggest detractors (and fans) presume, but felt that energetic government sometimes could and should be deployed on behalf of America’s working class. By shining some much needed light on modern conservatism’s most important figure, Henry Olsen has also showed the Republican Party a way forward.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJ.D. Vance, New York Times bestselling author of Hillbilly Elegy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An urgent warning for conservatives: If you admire Reagan - listen to him. What you learn will surprise you - and may save you.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDavid Frum, Senior editor, The Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Henry Olsen’s original and remarkable book argues that the Republican Party can only win national electoral majorities if it goes beyond appeals to ideological conservatism and gains the support of working class voters in the nation’s heartland. These voters, once known as Reagan Democrats, do not look at politics through the lens of political theory, but in terms of “helping people like us.”  Abandoned by Democrats and largely forgotten, at least until this year, by Republicans, this voting bloc is the lynchpin of our electoral system. And it was at the core of how Ronald Reagan always viewed the American voter. ” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJames W. Ceaser, Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThough Ronald Reagan is one of our most beloved presidents, he’s also one of our most misunderstood. In The Working Class Republican, Henry Olsen brings to light the real Reagan. Far from a rigid ideologue or an “amiable dunce,” he was a New Dealer at heart who wanted to make the economy work for all Americans, whether rich or poor. - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eReihan Salam , Executive Editor of National Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadside Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888425332965,"sku":"NP9780062475268","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062475268.jpg?v=1730229062","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-working-class-republican-ronald-reagan-and-the-return-of-bluecollar-conservatism-isbn-9780062475268","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}