The popularity of great Americans frequently simmers before it boils, but the nation’s 40th President heard the kettle whistling from early in his administration. Ronald Reagan came to office in 1981 determined to face head-on foes of the great American experiment. He departed in 1989 adored by millions of fellow citizens and admired even by political adversaries.

Join Jay Stephen Whitney in this look at the life and work of Ronald Wilson Reagan through nearly 200 large-format photographs, with introductions and captions by the author, from Reagan’s infancy in 1911 through his youth, his career in television and film, the governorship of California, and his rise to the presidency. Discover why the legacy of President Reagan continues to gather momentum twenty years after the Great Communicator left the Oval Office.