Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America

The election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 - which few saw coming - gave rise to a new generation of conservatism, ended the half-century-long dominance of the New Deal - Great Society coalition, reversed America's downward slide, and ultimately brought about the end of the Soviet Union. In "Rendezvous with Destiny" - the long-awaited follow-up to his widely praised account of Reagan's insurgent campaign that nearly wrested the Republican nomination from President Gerald Ford in 1976 - Craig Shirley tells the incredible story of how Reagan triumphed. To write "Rendezvous with Destiny", Shirley gained unprecedented access to 1980 campaign files and conducted more than two hundred insider interviews. The result is the first comprehensive history of the hard-fought 1980 campaign, a gripping account that follows Reagan's unlikely path from his defeat on the GOP convention floor in 1976, through his underreported wilderness years, through the grueling primaries and general election campaign, to his ultimate victory on election night in 1980. Filled with countless untold stories - including the never-before-reported account of how Reagan's campaign got hold of Jimmy Carter's debate briefing book - "Rendezvous with Destiny" reveals how Reagan successfully battled the headwinds of the national media, the Republican Party establishment, and even his own campaign team to become one of America's greatest chief executives.