Well-written and insightful, Reagan’s Soviet Rhetoric: Telling the Soviet Redemption Story offers an analysis of Ronald Reagan's shift from committed cold warrior to a position that admitted the possibilities of Soviet redemption and international peace. Attentive to context and perceptive in his interpretation, LaVoie's contribution to our understanding of Reagan's rhetorical strategies will interest students and scholars in political science, history, and communication, with an interest in the presidency, the Cold War, and the rhetorical construction of international relations.

Mary E. Stuckey, The Pennsylvania State University

"Reagan’s Soviet Rhetoric: Telling the Soviet Redemption Story provides a useful discussion of the evolution of Reagan’s rhetoric in relation to the international and domestic political context of the time.”

Robert C. Rowland, The University of Kansas

Mark LaVoie’s Reagan’s Soviet Rhetoric offers a unique and important reading of Ronald Reagan’s presidential addresses that will be of interest to historians, rhetorical critics, and scholars of the presidency. By examining Reagan’s pre-presidential oratory and connecting common themes related to anticommunism to Reagan’s presidential rhetoric, LaVoie demonstrates consistency and change in Reagan’s rhetorical attitude toward the Soviet Union. Challenging the idea that Reagan was a monolithic rhetorical agent, this book illuminates how Reagan’s rhetoric vis-à-vis the Soviet Union shifted over time in response to shifting political contexts, underlines Reagan’s dexterity as a public speaker, and amplifies contemporary understandings of how the 40th president of the United States used political rhetoric to achieve political ends.

Stephen J. Heidt