Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
From Ronald Reagan to Rodney King: Chronicling America in the Age of Optimism

From Ronald Reagan to Rodney King: Chronicling America in the Age of Optimism

Cannon, Lou
Hamilton, John Maxwell

Hardcover

Series: Media and Public Affairs

Biographies GeneralWriting InstructionGeneral Sociology

Publisher Price: $49.95

PREORDER - Expected ship date October 20, 2026

ISBN10: 0807187127
ISBN13: 9780807187128
Publisher: LSU Press
Published: Oct 20 2026
Pages: 536
Language: English

A giant of political journalism, Lou Cannon rose to prominence as state bureau chief for the San Jose Mercury News in the late 1960s, covering then-governor of California Ronald Reagan. In 1972, he became a political reporter for The Washington Post, one of the top newspapers in the United States, where he would remain until 2008. Best known for his coverage of Reagan's presidency, he also notably covered the brutal beating of Rodney King at the hands of the Los Angeles police department in 1991.

From Ronald Reagan to Rodney King recounts Cannon's lengthy career as a newspaperman during a period when newspapers of record were the most important source of current events. He had extraordinary access to top newsmakers, and his work had a rippling impact--influencing other journalists, sparking coverage on television, and appearing in newspapers around the globe. Some of the stories he covered--such as the end of the Cold War--changed the world. His journalistic influence in the latter half of the twentieth century was deep and wide-ranging.

Cannon is the primary source of his stories, but he was a careful reporter then and a careful historian now. He had the benefit of a written record of every story he covered, and he clearly refreshed his memory when necessary to check the facts. Rather than revealing his own opinions or feelings, Cannon narrates straightforward accounts of what he witnessed on the job. From Ronald Reagan to Rodney King will appeal to historians of twentieth-century journalism, the Cold War, Ronald Reagan, race relations, and policing.

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