Reagan's Third Term

Book excerpt: What would Reagan do? In Reagan's Third Term, author Gib Kearney presents an exciting story of how one of America's most beloved presidents might have significantly altered history if elected to serve four more years. The book opens on Valentine's Day 1988 with news that a military coup has deposed Mikhail Gorbachev as leader of the USSR. After a series of missteps by candidate George HW Bush, congress revokes the 22nd Amendment, and Ronald Reagan wins reelection (beating Senator Ted Kennedy) by a landslide. But the world Reagan inherits is a dangerous place: on the verge of war with an expansionist Soviet Union and teetering on economic collapse. At home, the President struggles to advance a conservative agenda, confront a domestic coup d'etat, and choose a successor true to the Reagan Revolution. North Korea. New appointments to the Supreme Court. Abortion. School prayer. Israel, Iraq, Libya. Welfare. The Culture War. The demise of the Democratic Party. It's all there--and more. As a work of alternate history, Kearney's novel blends actual events and figures from the period with others that would have challenged and defined the Reagan presidency in fascinating new ways. Well-researched, and with an authoritative tone, Reagan's Third Term, is both comprehensive, and convincing, in its depiction of what might have been. Throughout, Ronald Reagan is presented as a heroic figure who stands tall and resolute in doing what is right, whether it concerns Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iraq, making changes to the US Constitution, overhauling welfare, or confronting a nuclear North Korea. The book also presents a very human side of Reagan, whether threatened by assassination, allegations of racial insensitivity, or struggling with dissent from within his own party. Above all, Reagan's Third Term is a fun and engaging read, full of twists and surprises. At the center of it all is a portrayal of Reagan guaranteed to delight his admirers; a man whose character provides him with the strength to take on the world, and transform it into something very different from the fractured and dangerous one we now inhabit. Learn more and preview additional excerpts at ReagansThirdTerm.com