Summary of An Interview with Gil Troy by Varvara Tsepkova

Gil Troy introduces his book, Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980's, describing how the actor turned president revolutionized the American politics and defined the America as we know it today.

At first the author goes through Ronald Regan’s presidency, the 80’s. Gil Troy suggests that while Ronald Reagan is often viewed as a right-winged leader, he was in fact a centrist. He also states that while Reagan often talked to the people of America of their classical values and in simple terms, he was, in fact, leading a great cultural revolution that impacted all the of aspects of the modern life. For example, while he is often viewed as an opponent to many of the minorities’ rights, it was during Ronald Reagan’s presidency that those minorities integrated the American society as equals to occupy the place they occupy today.

Then the author talks in more details on Ronald Reagan’s talent as a politicians. Troy describes the president’s talent to make the masses believe in a broad vision and in fact appropriating and using every possible event to back it up. He also mentions the ability of the president to speak to hearts of the people, not only in his speeches, but also in the campaign posters.

Finally underlines the immortality of Reagan’s legacy by pointing out the lessons that today’s politicians have learned from him and, most importantly, the lessons they still have to learn. Going from politics to everyday life, the author reminds us that most of the ideas and concepts that define our life today didn’t even exist before the 80’s. Some were introduced by Ronald Reagan, some were helped by him, and some were merely not prevented by him. However, many important aspects of the America we know today came with Ronald Reagan, whether we like it or not.