Ronald Reagan: American Idol, BBC Four | reviews, news & interviews
Ronald Reagan: American Idol, BBC Four
Ronald Reagan: American Idol, BBC Four
The 40th president was whatever image suited the moment
Sunday, 06 February 2011
President Ronald Reagan looking stern - or is this just an act?
Aptly for a programme whose title invokes a show which is all style, no substance, the subject of Ronald Reagan: American Idol is image. What was Reagan really like? How much of his career as a Hollywood star did he carry into office? And why have certain images of Reagan endured? The first question, alas, is the one neither the film nor his biographers nor his family and friends have come close to answering.
Aptly for a programme whose title invokes a show which is all style, no substance, the subject of Ronald Reagan: American Idol is image. What was Reagan really like? How much of his career as a Hollywood star did he carry into office? And why have certain images of Reagan endured? The first question, alas, is the one neither the film nor his biographers nor his family and friends have come close to answering.
How can you be truly sincere when no one knows what you really think?
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