My Father at 100

by Ron Reagan

February 6, 2011, was the one hundredth anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. To mark the occasion, Ron Reagan wrote My Father at 100, an intimate look at the life of his father--one of the most popular presidents in American history--told from the perspective of someone who knew Ronald Reagan better than any advisor, friend, or colleague. As he grew up under his father's watchful gaze, he observed the very qualities that made the future president a powerful leader. Yet for all of their shared experiences of horseback rides and touch football games, there was much that Ron never knew about his father's past, and in My Father at 100 he sets out to understand this beloved, if often enigmatic figure who turned his early tribulations into a stunning political career. Since his death in 2004, President Reagan has been a galvanizing force that personifies the values of an older America and represents an important era in national history. Ron Reagan traces the sources of these values in his father's early years and offers a heartfelt portrait of a man and his country--and his personal memories of the president he knew as "Dad."

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Presidents, Audiobook, Biography Memoir

240 pages, Audio CD

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific

An absolutely lovely account by a son about the father he loved.

I knew very much about Président Ronald Reagan before I read this book. His son said and run peals layers of the president’s life particularly in the early days.

It is informative and entertaining.

I highly recommend this book.

[Dank Bubba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the book, but didn't like much of Ron's attitude. Ron decided when he was 12 that he was smarter and more important than anybody else. I am a big Reagan fan, but don't expect him to be perfect or above criticism. But Ron is, as another review put it, a teenager still. The book is good in many places despite the various asides by Ron and well worth reading in other places where Ron forgets to add comments designed to "demonstrate" how superior he is for any liberal friends reading it. Most of this
attitude comes from an inferiority complex to his father's good looks, charisma and success. Ron claims not to understand his father but then claims that Ronald is ruled by his hidden ambition and heroic image of himself. How does Ron come up with that? Ron read some old high school writings of Reagan's and extrapolated Reagan's entire psyche. Some communist got hold of Ron at a very early age and led him down the path of close-minded liberalism. The book is still worth reading, but must be filtered to avoid believing any of the petty stuff Ron has yet to grow from. A few passages of over written descriptions of nothing important and a few "big" words that Ron looked up and forced in, but otherwise a good read.

[Tim Chavel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hesitate to buy this book because the younger Reagan who wrote it is so liberal. However, I found it on sale at BAM for $3.97 and decided to go for it. I have read so many books about Ronald Reagan and knew this was one I needed to read. I have read all of the other books by President Reagan's children and so this completes all of his children's books about him. The majority of this book is about President Reagan's life before his son is born. Therefore we read a lot of history about the President's family (Mom, Dad, and brother), about his boyhood, teenage years, college years, and then manhood. The earlier chapters Ron's liberal views really do not come in view, but once he starts talking about his Dad in politics they come in loud and clear. I'm still glad I read the book and was able to view the President from his youngest child's point of view. It's funny to hear Ron sorta act like Al Gore (who invented the internet; lol). Ron somewhat takes claim for the Star War defense system and for also getting his Dad ready for his comeback debate against Walter Mondale. Even though Ron's views differ greatly from his Dad's views I can still see that he loved his Dad. I still have to wonder what caused Ron to take views 180 degrees from what his father believed. I would recommend this book to those who like myself are Reagan fans. But I would encourage you to find it on sale.

[David Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not quite sure what brought me to read this. I know I saw Ron Regan on MSNBC and something must have come up about his father, and the upshot is I checked it out of the library.

A quick side note, checking out some of the Goodread’s reviews the Ronald Reagan fans sure have a problem with this book. I mean it is really, really, weird. This is a very personal book and when it goes into the president’s politics it is more his son working out how to deal with how they disagree. But for me it is overwhelmingly clear this son LOVES his father, even though they held very different views. If you disagree with someone you love how do you reconcile your views and theirs? Maybe you try to get a feel for where that person grew up and try and see what shaped them.

Like I said it is a personal story and he is clear on some of the things he was still trying to figure out about his dad. I found it moving and maybe even insightful.

He makes note that for all of his father’s warmth there was a distance maybe a barrier that no one could get past. Unless maybe it was his wife, they were matched. Perhaps it is this that grabbed me, in that I had a similar feeling about my father albeit in a much milder form.

I found this particularly interesting…

[his wife asks him...] “What do you love about your father?”….I have no trouble acknowledging one thing I deeply appreciate: He paid attention to what was going on in the physical world around him. Two hundred people were standing idly by that afternoon in Sacramento, including the parents of the little girl in question. Who noticed, in a pool full of thrashing, splashing kids, the one child in the melee who was lingering underwater a little too long? Pg. 120

And this fits with Ron Reagan’s conclusion that the thing that shaped Ronald Reagan and maybe even more strongly, his perception of himself, was his time as a lifeguard. The book ends on this note and I felt it really pulled all the threads together at the end.

He still has plenty of growing to do and many part yet to play. But his mold has been cast. For the entirety of his long life, he will remain, at heart, dedicated to the one role that came entirely naturally to him: lifeguard. Pg.191

In conclusion, I found this to be a well written, engaging, and satisfying read that humanizes somebody who is all too often viewed as a national symbol or even a saint.

P.S. Just in case anybody cares, I think Reagan was the start of a political way of thinking that may very well ruin this country. But that is a tale for another book.

[Kev Willoughby · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are a fan of Reagan, you won't like this book. If you are not a fan of Reagan, you still won't like this book. I am disappointed that Reagan's own son not only takes such a disrespectful attitude toward his own father, but waits until after his death to do so. Aside from the open disrespect toward his father's political views, Ron Reagan's choice of words throughout the book is an unnecessary distraction. He consistently uses words that no one uses in normal conversation, and the tone of writing is very entitled.

Aside from his political views and vocabulary, even if one enjoys tearing down the legacy of Reagan, the story is difficult to follow. Ron constantly jumps back and forth between the past and the present and back to the past again, and it is challenging to keep up with the timeline and the personal or political points he is attempting to make. If you are interested in the biography of President Reagan, steer clear of this one.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Irritating teenage tone

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let it be said that I credit some of my 30-year fascination with politics to President Reagan, who served while I was in high school and college. My political awakening unfolded as everyone around me seemed helpless under the spell of President Reagan's guileless gaze, causing me to ponder the difference between his magical world and reality. "Just because he says it doesn't make it so," my teenage self said, and thus began my interest in politics as an intellectual exercise to unearth details. I pride myself today in eschewing any more than cursory interest in all the political websites and communities; I might not be the first - it takes longer to figure it out on your own - but my conclusions are mine. I can thank President Reagan for teaching me to think for myself and dig deeper. Always.

And thus, you understand, I didn't read this book as a wistful tribute to my political bedfellow. Indeed, the opposite. And what I found was simply the most beautiful, moving tribute from child to parent I have ever read. We know Ron Reagan went his own way politically, and that the Reagans were conspicuously un-supportive and dismissive of his talents (Joffrey Ballet). But the bond between Ron and his father was deep and strong, and unlike the literary vitriol spewed by elder sister Patti, Ron's book is a respectful, often funny, tribute.

Realizing his father was a complex mass of contradictions, Ron embarked on a journey to understand his roots, going back to the family's humble beginnings in Ireland. As he travels the path of his family through Illinois and California, he weaves remembrances of his father, often detailing their disagreements in a most amusing and wry manner. One example (discussing his father's "unblinking innocence" of his nation as the "shining city on a hill"):

"There were some things about our country, its past, and come to think of it, life in general that Dad's internal construct of the world was not built to encompass, and I took it upon myself at a fairly early age to confront him...maybe I just enjoyed tormenting him. But it seemed, somehow, necessary."

Aside: I grew so fond of President Reagan through his son's eyes that I was greatly saddened by anecdotes of his ultimate decline; the deathbed scene had me in tears.

This book is a must read for Reagan Republicans, Reagan skeptics, progressive fans of Ron Jr., and anyone who misses what the GOP used to be. A high quality read of an elusive president by an articulate and loving son.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

The operative word in the title isn't "father", or even "100", it is "my". This is Ron Reagan's story, and his character interjects itself throughout this otherwise excellent book (downfall of the Soviet Union...ends up Ron kicked off that process, and he had a staring contest with Gorby). Ron's take on his family's and his father's past I found to be excellent, though. The first half of the book describes the President's family and life through high school, as well as the towns in Northwestern Illinois where Reagan grew up, then and now. Ron has inherited some of his father's way with a story, and he includes many anecdotes to make this enjoyable. The second half of the book includes Reagan's college years, the presidency, and his death. Read it for the stories, not for Ron's "wisdom".

[Patty Marvel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should begin by stating I'm not a fan of Ronald Reagan and even less a fan of his policies. Having said that, I enjoyed Ron Reagan's "My Father at 100" partly because it helped me to understand our 40th president. His story is told mostly in linear fashion with occasional sidesteps in the timeline to bring home a point or tell a story similar to the one digressed from. The reader clearly understands that while Ron didn't always agree with Ronald, especially in the areas of politics and religion, the younger man clearly loved and respected his father. Sympathies from the younger to the elder man are made especially clear in a recounting the story of a seventeen-year-old "Dutch" having to save a grown man who went for an after hours swim, one of seventy-seven saves the future president would make in his life guard career. The author dares the reader to put them in the young lifeguard's place and just try to imagine if they could've done any better. There is actually very little in the way of politics in this biography considering who the subject is, but the topic DOES come up and what is written is bound to offend some on the fringes.

The author states that some of what is happening today in modern conservative politics would NOT have sat well with his father (I so wish Ron Reagan had given more concrete examples and/or named names) and he's not the bad guy some on the left have made is father out to be - out of touch and perhaps a little too willing to block out bad news that disrupted the way he THOUGHT the world should work, but not deliberately heartless and distant. Still, this cluelessness might be understandable or even funny in some guy's dad, but not when that dad could have his finger on The Button. It's this "button" scenario I found the most fascinating. Ron Reagan states his father wanted to "save the world" from nuclear annihilation just as he spent his teenage summers back home in Dixon, Illinois saving erstwhile swimmers, hence his fondness of what became known in the press as "Star Wars," much to George Lucus' dismay.

The White House era stories the younger Reagan discusses the most are, naturally, the ones he had a small role in, including 1). trying to convince his father of sister Maureen's concerns regarding the "arms for hostages" deal that was indeed happening whether he wanted to acknowledge corruption or not (hence one of those frustrating moments when reality didn't coincide with his view of life), 2). visiting his father in the hospital after being shot and 3). an alleged staring contest between Ron and Mikhail Gorbachev just before one of the meetings the Russian leader had with the elder Reagan.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in history and/or politics, regardless of where the reader falls in the American political spectrum. Ron Reagan's writing style is light with bits of dry humor thrown in (always a plus for me) and there's very little tub-thumping for either fans or detractors to get wound up about (did I mention I'm a die hard Democrat?).* After all, this book isn't a political manifesto or a cold, hard history - it's written by an adult talking about his dad.


*Consider this attitude an example of Jon Stewart's plea that we all "take it down a notch for America."

[Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Father at 100

Ron Reagan

This is a wonderful book. If you think you didn’t like Ronald Reagan, didn’t like his policies or his politics -well - there are no politics in this volume. You will see this mortal man in a whole new light. If you have ever felt you liked Ronald Reagan, now you will like him the more.

Ron Reagan rolls smoothly back and forth along three lanes. There is a lane of coming of age, an account, piecemeal, of a boy growing to manhood. There is a second lane of a boy and his father and of their experiences, their differences, their love, their mutual disappointments, of the father rearing his son through passing years. The third lane is the son’s recent travels in America seeking out the houses where his father lived; visiting sites and people at Dixon, IL and other communities important for this account; spending extended time on the river beach where his father was a lifeguard through seven summers; visiting the campus of Eureka College and looking through his father’s scholastic record and his father’s grades, his father’s futile struggle with football and his triumphs as a swimmer.

Actually, there is a fourth lane. There is a notable chapter recreating 19th Century, rural Ireland and the Reagans’ Irish roots. Then, all along the way, there is comment on Jack and Nelle, Ronald Reagan’s parents. Author Ron pursues and lays out his grandparents’ stories and their characters so important to the life of his father along the way.

Ron Reagan has his father’s charisma. He’s a charmer. A little humor here and there. Great eye for consequential details. Cultivated sense of drama. The recounting of his father’s last days and hours could bring tears.

A wonderful book.

You may be surprised.

[Misty · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I was too young to be very political when Ronald Reagan was in office, my father, his contemporary, said until his own death that Ronald Reagan would go down as the best president in U.S. history. So, this was my motivation for reading the book. I found it interesting that President Reagan really did live something of a charmed life, and that his gift for oratory, impressive physique and athleticism gave him reason for the optimism in which he believed, and with which he led the country.

Ron, his son, kept a very healthy boundary between adoration oversharing. I really didn't want to know the ugly, tell-all details of their worst times, and Ron spares the reader those. However, for all his good intentions, the book often takes unexpected tangents from paragraph to paragraph; I found this confusing and distracting. And some of Ron's "imagined" details are just too much.

It was refreshing to read about a more civil, gracious time in politics, since my recent memory of the Republican Party is informed by vindictive, hateful rhetoric.

I do recommend this book, for a light read that informs about the formative years of an epic political figure.

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

7 March 2016: Rest in Peace Nancy; the Reagan Library is an American Institution and you were a wonderful First Lady. I will pay my respects to your grave when I can next visit the Library again in Simi Valley. God Bless.

Ron Reagan certainly has a sense of his Dad’s humor throughout the book; a humor largely gone from the current gridlock in Washington DC. One of the funniest things I believe he did intentionally was to inform the reader his Dad was the “forty-fourth” President of the United States on page 40. Ironic that the error of the son of the 40th President would occur on page 40? At first I believed this to be an editing error; however, the more I read through the book, and the more I came to understand what Ron was like himself as a child of the former Governor and then later President – it was easy to see that this was an attempt to play one more trick on his father. We all know that the 44th President is our current President Obama. Now, with no end in sight to the gridlock and lambasting, it seems the humor of President Reagan could be revisited – certainly the tone President Reagan had with then House Speaker Tip O’Neil was much different than what is currently the case.

I bought this book in 2011 after meeting Ron briefly – a cordial fellow in my opinion and one who doesn’t like to flaunt his self-importance merely because he is one of 4 children that President Reagan had through two marriages. Ron displays a good sense of humor at the right moments throughout the pages. Parts of this book flow very smoothly; and, yet other sections seem to drag on. In the end it is worth having read the book and Ron makes an attempt in the Epilogue to propose his views as to how the “Right” today at times will use the name and stature of President Reagan in almost (though he doesn’t come out and say it specifically) blasphemous way, while the “Left” will blame him for nearly everything. Seems the further away we move in time from President Reagan’s time in office – we all seem to lose the better parts of ourselves as Americans. This of course is nothing more than my opinion.

Ron does his best to keep the apolitical manner of this memoir intact. A memoir that walks the paths of Reagan family history beginning in Ireland; as the son Ron years in the small Illinois town of Dixon. Dixon, IL is at least where the family ends up; the later 40th President come of age at 11 years old as he has to help his drunken Father into the home – the Father was passed out on the porch. I will leave other interesting details of the life of President Reagan here so that others can pick the book up and read. It’s an honorable memoire that concludes at the death of President Reagan in 2004; age 93.

[Elizabeth Pruett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might not be the best book on Ronald Reagan, but it is from a unique perspective. Written by a man just a couple years older than my own parents, it is written by the president's youngest child. Ron Reagan had a complicated history with his father, and this book of memories and reflections helps to humanize an individual that was so much more than just a California Governor or President of the Unites States of America. He was a husband and a father who cared deeply, made mistakes, but always loved his family and hoped for their best.

One thing I like about My Father at 100: A Memoir is that it is not a political biography. It is about a son's journey to dive into his father's past as a boy and youth and relate to him in a way that is no longer possible. Walk where he walked. See what he saw. The author traveled to the places where his father was born, grew up, went to school and worked as a young man and tried to put himself in his grandparents and father's shoes.

Despite significant religious and political differences, it is obvious from Ron Reagan's reminiscences that he loved his father very much and respected him as a person of character even when they didn't agree. There are a few places where the author's tone seems slightly condescending toward his father, and I believe the vast divide in their personal worldviews was a conflict that even love could not make easy. Still, President Reagan's status as one of the good guys shines through.

I enjoyed the family history aspect of this story. We travel from Ireland to Illinois to California with five generations of Reagan men and see the family develop and persevere through both national and international crises. Fame aside, this was an intriguing look at how we are both shaped by our world and have a turn at shaping it back.

Overall, a good read, but not a comprehensive view of the 40th president of the United States. The author assumes you are already familiar with his subject and is just adding some details you might only get by reading a book written by himself, the son of the president.

[Emma Judge · Rating 3 out of 5]

"My Father at 100" Is written by Ron Reagan, who is well known for his liberal political opinion, which largely differ from his father. This book describes the Reagan Ancestry, all the way back to Ronald Reagan's great-grandparents. The author explains his ancestors struggle as they immigrated to the United States. The first 1/4 of the book is spent describing Reagan heritage. The author then begins to explain the life of Ronald Reagan; starting from the very beginning. Ron describes the family dynamics of Ronald’s family and his distant relationship between his brother and father. His first job was a lifeguard at Rock River. His lifeguarding experiences shaped the way he conducted himself and established a “heroic” characterization. For example, on page 198, Ron addresses the assassination attempt on Ronald, with a metaphor to his lifeguarding experience, ““He was meant to bring order to the world. He was supposed to be the lifesaver.” This heroic attitude was later reflected in his presidency and all throughout his life.
Ron includes other specific details and events, which shaped Ronald’s mentality and personality.


Ron describes his personal relationship with his father and reminisces on their memories together. These specific memories add a personalized and empathetic tone to the book. Specifically, Ron describes how him and his father used to hold swim races against one another. This specific detail showcases the bond between father and son, and ultimately a symbol of his father’s aging.
“My Father at 100” is incredibly well written, with creative vocabulary and rhythm. However, Ron incorporates the technique of a flashback to many scenes. While this tool is beneficial in relating the past to the present, this created confusion and made many of the passages difficult to follow. This book does not give historical insight to Reagan’s presidency but, instead, focuses on Ronald’s character development.

[Lizzy Tonkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked the author’s writing style, but sometimes it almost felt like he got lost in both his own & imagined memories as he recounted the story of his fathers life. I didn’t mind so much the backstory of the Reagan family history as I did the ramblings of Ron Jr.’s personal life. Also, on more than one occasion he seemed to take creative liberty in assigning thoughts to his father, which felt overly presumptuous.

[Pooch · Rating 5 out of 5]

After listening to the audio version of this book, I think I could enjoy listening to Ron Reagan read the phone book. Reading the printed book would have been a far different experience than hearing the son, author, and reader render the events in a voice reminiscent of his father. His voice makes the events even more personal and touching. Interweaving events from different time periods is smoothly executed and quite effective in that the author is calling upon the reader's memories of his father's public life while imparting more obscure and personal events in the life of the President.

The book discloses the strong similarity between Father and son: brio,arrogance, a certain sense of entitlement. Ron doesn't come off well in his gleeful recounting of an immature rejoinder to then Vice-President George H. W. Bush. The immaturity he describes in his father's early adulthood echoes in the immaturity of the son. Thinking he is staring down Gorbachev at a meeting with his father is just silly. His self-revelation is a surprising secondary story line.

I recommend this highly informative book of a son's reflections about his outstanding father. If possible, get it on audio.

[Vickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know exactly what I was expecting from My Father at 100 by Ron Reagan, and whatever it was, I don't think I found it.

Reagan takes the reader back into history: back to the family's life in Ireland and immigration to America. I did learn quite a bit of President Reagan's early life; he made lemon out of lemonade as many children of immigrants did. Reaching the pinnacle of holding the highest public office in the US is quite the achievement of a man from some humble beginnings.

However, I was hoping to get more insight into the father from the son. Yes, they had their moments of bonding and arguing, just like any other family. But I can't help but feel that either the son was held at arm's length or I just missed the point of the book.

Sorry to say but this was not one of my favorite memoirs.

Go Cards! L1C4!!

[Alex Helander · Rating 2 out of 5]

A biography on Ronald Reagan from his sons point of view. The format discusses the history of the late president while drawing to anecdotes of the author as the son. The writing is good at times and poor at others. The author has unnecessary insertions of his own beliefs and appears to rather arrogant and thinks of himself as being the smartest person around. Also, a lot of the content reference other biographies, like that of Edmund Morris, and is a knock off in style at times. I wish that there were more family anecdotes and inside looks at the president, but the book falls flat from its potential.

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you were expecting this to be a book about President Ronald Reagan and the author's relationship with him, prepare to be disappointed. Most of the book actually talks about Reagan's ancestors and early life, before Ron himself was born, and says shockingly little about Ron's own relationship with his father, or his mother or siblings, and Ron does not even talk about his own life.

The book begins by describing at length the paternal and maternal family lines of Ronald and his brother Moon, and Ron mentions having done his own research, and Ron's visits to the towns of Tampico and Dixon and Eureka College. Much of the rest of it talks about Reagan's childhood and his failed ambitions to become a star football player and his incredible swimming skill and how he was an extremely successful lifeguard when he was only a teenager-a much more dangerous job than it sounds, as the local river was treacherous and plenty of people could be careless. He speculates on the how and why Ronald Reagan gained the attitudes and ambition that he did.

Unfortunately he says almost nothing about Reagan's radio, movie, or political careers, or even his life with his father, except that they did not get along and mentions mainly how Reagan was dying of Alzheimer's disease at the end of his life. Whatever you think of Ronald Reagan, you will find very few facts about him in this book. Recommended for completists only.

[J Layne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving memoir of the beloved fortieth president of the United States, by his son.

The ending is especially moving. I was struck by how much time son Ron spent with his dad while he was in the White House. I think he truly loved his dad (in spite of all the friction that has been talked about), but he didn’t realize if his dad loved him. He certainly inherited his dad's gift for storytelling and articulateness.

I like this book because it is from a perspective that none of the Reagan biographers can possibly have—that of a son with his dad. I have read a multitude of books about Reagan, but this one gives a fresh perspective because Reagan was his father. I read things here and heard family stories that I have never read in any of the other Reagan books. Young Ron is a smart aleck in many ways, but he is an introspective person and knows enough that his father was a uniquely gifted man, and a truly great man on the world stage. Sad that he has rejected the God and Saviour of his father's life, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is a son's journey to try to find his father. And it is honest and painful at times.

[Mh Weyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admired Ronald Reagan so was curious to read this. But having read little of his private life, I knew nothing of this son. Ron Reagan was the baby of the family and only son to Nancy and Ronald. This book is less a book of who Ronald Reagan was and more of a story (self-proclaimed) about father-son relationships. I found the whole book a bit painful to read. First there was a lot of disfunction in Ronald Reagan’s (the elder) relationship with his father. And the relationship appeared to be quite tinged by the eyes of Ron Reagan (son). And son Ron Reagan’s own personal relationship with his father was full of its own pain and misunderstanding. I had not ever thought of Ronald Reagan as so old but he was indeed old enough to know a world before modernity while his youngest son, the author, is definitely of a different time period with far different political leanings and a self-proclaimed atheist. He claims to know his father far better than the media, but the book read as if he, too, struggled to understand his father and had many father wounds.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. Ron Reagan does a good job of showing just how much his President dad was a product of the 1800s, not the 1900s. His values, much like those of President Truman, came from growing up in a country where most people lived on or near farms. Much has been written about how Reagan really didn't let people in, instead spinning a compelling and reassuring story about himself that he presented to the world. But I wonder if that also was also common among men of that era--though Reagan certainly was a master at it. Ron Jr. doesn't go into Reagan's policies, but the book reinforced my impression of Reagan: That he was a cheerleader for the United States when many of its citizens wanted one. It required a kind of moral amnesia, and a fuzziness about or a reluctance to get into the details, and Regan was a master of those too. His self-fulfilled prophecy launched the religion that endures today.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to say about a book about former President Ronald Reagan by his son who hated everything he stood for while he was alive but who lives today only off his father's name? As the last Reagan child to write a book, Ron apparently was trying to mine territory uncovered by other family members and a slew of biographers — a tough task. So he toured the area of Reagan's early Illinois homes and by using both the scholarship on his father already available and guessing at the past, he wrote this book. He also mixes the past with events he experienced with his famous father. While fawning over the young Reagan, young Ron seems to want to be seen in exchanges with his father as just a little smarter, just a little more clever, just a little more athletic and, of course, a lot hipper. Kind of a smarmy read.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Father at 100 by Ron Reagan is a loving ‘true life’ portrayal of President Ronald Reagan by someone who knew him the best, his son. I was not a big fan of Reagan’s politics but I have to confess that Reagan knew how to be a leader. I was reluctant to even read the book at first. I was concerned that it would be some ‘overly sentimental’ tribute. But I am glad that I did. The book is well written. Ron relates many interesting ‘first hand’ experiences about his father. He describes the ‘real’ Ronald Reagan. I found it most interesting to read about their relationship. This is a ‘five star’ book.

[Kimbolimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ron Reagan is Ronald Reagan's youngest son. He shares his personal narrative of his father recognizing that many other biographies and autobiographies have already been written. It was interesting to hear his perspective and rumination son his fathers life...some may be far off base but maybe not. As he says at the end of the book, Ronald Reagan was our president for 8 years but Ronald Reagan was his father all his life. I loved how he started the story 100 years prior to his fathers birth. This book spans 200 years. With barely a glance at the presidency.

[Hans Hoffmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those books that has sat on my shelf for 10 yrs complete with Autograph. This is not really a political book but a reflection of a son on his father and what made him. Starting in Ireland and discussing the immigration of his family to the US. About “Dutch’s” mother and father. Eventually landing in Illinois and finally Dixon, IL. It never really even gets to his time in Hollywood, stopping just short. It actually was a really enjoyable read and offers a perspective of Ronald Reagan not usually discussed.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being half Irish I found the Irish history info that was detailed in the beginning of the book quite interesting. But the book is filled with historic tidbits that have no bearing at all on Ronald Regan. It seems as though it was just a lot of filler to bulk up the book. I honestly got tired of it and bored after a while. Got to the point where I only skimmed through the rest of the book. In that case I cannot grant too high of a review. It's definitely not your typical book about a former president.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give it a 3.75. interesting book - relatively well written. A story about Ronald Reagan's family before they came to America and then more history of the time before Ronald was born. Interesting tidbits about Ronald growing up and through college.

I was hoping for more stories on when Reagan was governor and president but that time period is pretty much skipped over. The last chapter included his life with Alzheimer's and then on his death bed was touching.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really well written book and a joy to read. The only reason it didn't get five stars from me is that it felt somewhat unbalanced. There was virtually no mention of politics for the first 191 pages, and then Ron began to share anecdotes from his dad's time as president. These anecdotes were ok, they just threw me for a bit of a loop since I had gotten used to reading nothing political for 85% of the book.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written and narrated by Ron Regan. It does not shed any new light and does not provide any new insight into understanding Reagan. But, there are several amusing anecdotes provide by Reagan's son.