Ronald Reagan in Hollywood: Movies and Politics Hardcover - 1994

From the rear cover

Ronald Reagan in Hollywood explores the relationship between the motion picture industry and American politics through the prism of Reagan's film career at Warner Bros. During the Great Depression, World War II, and the postwar era, the Hollywood film industry served as a "grand, worldwide propaganda base" for those who wanted to use movies to influence attitudes about patriotism, national defense, communism, the welfare state, race, sex, and civil liberties. Reagan thrived in this environment. During his years in Hollywood, from 1937 to 1952, he formed many of the ideas that he later carried into his presidency. Not merely a star, Reagan simultaneously became an articulate industry spokesperson and skilled propagandist, playing an important role in "the battle to capture the minds" of humanity in the struggle against communism. By the time he left Warner Bros, in 1952, Reagan has abandoned his New Deal liberalism and had become a militant anticommunist. Based on interviews with President Reagan and others, formerly secret FBI files, and material from more than 150 archival collection, Ronald Reagan in Hollywood is the most comprehensive book on the subject, providing an incisive analysis of Reagan's important formative years.