HBO Documentaries is presenting another great piece of documentary. In this case Eugene Jarecki´s Reagan, debuting February 7 on HBO; it explores an iconic american president.
A glamorous leading man with the common touch, a dedicated “Cold Warrior” who helped negotiate the most sweeping accords in history with the Soviet Union and a staunch proponent of smaller government, Ronald Reagan remains an enigma even to many of his closest advisors.
A fresh examination of the fascinating paradoxes surrounding the man, the myth and his legacy, Eugene Jarecki’s insightful documentary REAGAN follows the 40th president’s rise from small-town lifeguard to revered architect of the modern world. This textured study investigates how Reagan’s homespun political vision fueled a seismic career, one whose reverberations still shape American life. Following its Jan. 23 debut at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, REAGAN makes its HBO debut MONDAY, FEB. 7 (9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), during the week of his 100th birthday.
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 11 (7:30 a.m., 7:00 p.m.), 16 (2:30 p.m., midnight), 21 (12:30 p.m.), 24 (6:00 p.m.) and 26 (3:45 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Feb. 9 (8:00 p.m., 4:05 a.m.) and 13 (5:00 p.m.)
Watch HBO Documentary Reagan Trailer Video
Balancing the conflicting versions presented by colleagues, historians, supporters and family, while combining archival footage, never-before-seen interviews and the words of Reagan himself, Jarecki assembles a rich portrait of a contradictory figure who spun his movie stardom into political gold and became the leader of the free world.
Tracing his subject from small-town boyhood to heady Hollywood days, Jarecki discovers a man whose offhand amiability masked a steely resolve. When his acting career faltered after World War II, Reagan reinvented himself, first as president of the Screen Actors Guild, then as a pitchman for products ranging from cigarettes to laundry soap. He eventually landed the role that would send him down another path, as official television and corporate spokesperson for General Electric. Reagan’s travel on behalf of the company to small towns around the nation provided him with a unique political education as he gave speeches and mingled with GE’s workers. The one-time FDR enthusiast and supporter of the New Deal gradually abandoned his liberal roots for more conservative pastures.
By the 1960s, his transformation was complete. Standing beside archconservative Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican nominee for president, Reagan became a charismatic voice for conservatism in America. As the civil unrest of the era exploded nationwide, Reagan rode the white, working-class backlash all the way to Sacramento and two terms as governor of California.
Reagan’s willingness to allow the National Guard to confront demonstrating students with tear gas and attack dogs earned him a reputation as a tough traditionalist. The support and admiration of the so-called “silent majority” buoyed his unsuccessful campaigns for the presidential nomination in 1968 and 1976, and in 1980, he topped the GOP field to run against and beat incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter.
Once in office, Reagan proved more pragmatic than dogmatic. After campaigning for lower taxes, his administration raised taxes in six of the eight years of his presidency. Regardless, his charm and affability won the hearts of the American public, which overwhelmingly reelected him in 1984.
He denounced the U.S.S.R. as an “Evil Empire,” demanded that the Soviets “tear down the [Berlin] Wall” and authorized the ambitious Star Wars Initiative to keep America militarily dominant. But at the same time, Reagan was engaged in negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev that resulted in a sweeping agreement to reduce their nuclear arsenals.
His administration was rocked by the Iran-Contra affair after it emerged that arms had been sold in exchange for hostages and then, against the will of Congress, the proceeds had funded Nicaraguan “freedom fighters.” REAGAN takes an in-depth look at the scandal, which almost derailed his presidency, offering details on the president’s role and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger’s refusal to turn over cabinet meeting notes.
Jarecki also explores how Reagan’s personal beliefs aligned with his public policies and finds that this stalwart symbol of conservative family values was also quietly open-minded on social issues.
Since Reagan left office in 1989, his name has become a mantra for Republican politicians seeking credibility, symbolizing a return to traditional values and a strong stand in the culture wars against liberal “elites.” But the truth, as Jarecki reveals, is far more complex.
Others featured in the documentary include former White House chief of staff James A. Baker; former White House senior advisor Pat Buchanan; former White House speechwriter Peter Robinson; Arthur Laffer, economist and architect of trickle-down economics; former CIA operative Frank Snepp; Ronald Reagan Legacy Project founder Grover Norquist; son Michael Reagan, who works to keep the legacy alive; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Frances Fitzgerald (“Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars and the End of the Cold War”); official biographer Edmund Morris; Annelise Anderson and Martin Anderson, co-authors of two best-selling books about Reagan; author Will Bunch (“Tear Down This Myth”); author Lou Cannon (“Reagan”); author Thomas Frank (“What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America”) and journalist Dan Rather.
Eugene Jarecki is an award-winning dramatic and documentary filmmaker and author. His 2006 film “Why We Fight” won multiple awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and a Peabody Award. Jarecki’s prior film, “The Trials of Henry Kissinger,” was released to critical acclaim in more than 130 U.S. cities, won the 2002 Amnesty International Award, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and has been broadcast in more than 30 countries. In his most recent film, “Freakonomics,” Jarecki collaborated with other acclaimed documentarians to create an omnibus documentary based on the bestselling book of the same name by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
HBO Documentary Films presents a Charlotte Street Film in association with BBC Storyville; a film by Eugene Jarecki; produced by Eugene Jarecki and Kathleen Fournier; written and directed by Eugene Jarecki; editor, Simon Barker; music by Robert Miller; director of photography, Etienne Sauret. For HBO: senior producer, Lisa Heller; executive producer, Sheila Nevins. For BBC: executive producer, Nick Fraser.
Reagan is the reason…55 million People on this earth are dieing from Aids and when it was a little as 5 thousand people…Home Boy could had stopped it and…He refused to give the budget to this effected people…Because they where Gay.
I tried to Vote him out and knew the Damage he was doing to the Public and…He did not care about the programs and cut many things that where helping people.
When he died…I did not cry one Tear and…Did not care about Nancy being alone…She spent over a million dollars on Gold plates and silver and… Dressed to kill and..Seem to not care about people out there trying to struggle and…Keep there heads above water.
Betty Ford really rocked on so many levels…That is a True Blue Bomb Beautiful and kind loving thoughtful woman..Who saves peoples lives and…Has torched the world and…MADE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE…I HAVE DEEP RESPECT FOR HER And will always think she is wonderful but Nancy..Is Blood sucking and…Money Madam…Who simply out for herself and…I Don’t give a Butt about this woman…Nancy was the Boss in the relationship and she was Heartless and Destroyed many lives over and over and in Seattle 300 new cases happen each year and that is the legacy of Reagans…To be like Hitler and kill people for years to come?
What they did in the White House for 8 years still has the effects today…There Gift of early death for millions…I Did not cry one tear for Reagan…Matter of fact…He took over every chanel and…I was forced to put on a Movie instead of watching him…ALL THE BILLIONAIRES SO SAD TO SEE THERE KING DIE…The king of there pocket book.
Blood sucking rich people…All Cried for there Cash Cow..Who put little Business out of Business and left tax breaks for the rich man…Who has a House Big Enought to fit 10 familys into and has more cars then they have fingers.
He only cared about the Rich..Every one wants to live and die like King Tut…When you die Rich Greedy people of America…You can’t take it with you….. Reagan ignored the problem and…Put many americans in Danger…Woman and children and Parents are died…Because of him…His concern and worry about the people was tossed out the window and his care was careless and unconcerned.
I have no respect for the man and have no care for the man and….Though he was heartless leader and allowing people to die from aids is no differents in allowing people to die from other forms of diseases as well.