With the death of Ronald Reagan in June 2004, I went looking for a book that would encapsulate the times and the man. Reagan's critics were always quick to point to his Bonzo movies in order to paint him as a simpleton, but this small collection of personally composed letters reveals a man who spent a great deal of his presidency writing. Dimwits don't usually have voluminous correspondence.

The book contains letters from Reagan to (mostly) Americans, written while he was President. Reagan's correspondence was a subset of all White House letters. At regular intervals, a staffer would pull representative letters from the overall stack of inbound mail and hand it over to the President. He took personal responsibility for the content of the replies to those letters. Reagan worked in long hand and then sent the letters back to the staff for typing. The book's editors note that Reagan took responsibility for the numbers and facts he cited; only rarely were his stats required to be changed by a staffer.

What this book reveals is a man with a clear and complete vision. His correspondence throughout the presidential years is consistent and well reasoned. Reading this collection gives one pause to think about the many criticisms of the man over the years. Reagan's writings disclose an experienced thinker with a deep and abiding faith in peace, America and God. Highly recommended.