Rick Perlstein on the Republican Party, From Reagan to Trump

Rick Perlstein on the Republican Party, From Reagan to Trump

Plus how Pramila Jayapal went from investment banker to community organizer.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Rick Perlstein talks about the rise of Reagan, from what seemed like a career-ending defeat in the 1976 GOP primary, to his narrow victory in the popular vote in 1980—and how the darkness of the culture war has shaped the Republican Party that Trump came to dominate. Rick’s new book, 1,100 pages long, is Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980.

Also, Pramila Jayapal, cochair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus—she represents Seattle in the House—explains how she went from being an investment banker as a young immigrant to a lifelong organizer. Her new book is Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman’s Guide to Politics and Political Change.

 

Support The Nation’s June Fundraising Campaign

With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.

We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we’re raising $20,000 to power The Nation’s independent journalism in the run-up to November’s immensely consequential elections.

It’s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you’ll donate today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x