Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan
Encyclopedia
Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan a 1999 biography with fictional elements by Edmund Morris, a Kenyan-born writer now living in the United States, about Ronald Reagan
, the 40th President
of the United States
. There is much controversy about the book, cited by the Amazon.com
editorial staff as "one of the most unusual and critically scrutinized biographies
ever written." Some debate if Dutch should even be referred to as a biography at all. It was published by Random House
and edited by executive editor
Robert Loomis
.
, Morris was given the greenlight by the administration to write the first authorized biography of a sitting president, granting him behind-the-scenes access never before given to a writer at The White House. Apparently, these privileges were of little use; Morris claimed to learn little from their conversations or even from the President's own private diary.
Morris eventually decided to scrap writing a straight biography and turn his piece into a faux historical memoir about the President told from the viewpoint of a semi-fictional peer from the same town as Ronald Reagan: Edmund Morris himself. The person comes from the same town as, continually encounters and later keeps track of Reagan. The first time the fictional narrator sees him is at a 1926 football
game in Dixon, Illinois
. He asks a friend who the fellow running down the field "with extraordinary grace" is, and he is informed that it's "Dutch" Reagan.
The biography has caused confusion in that it contains a few characters who never existed, including scenes where they interact with real people. Morris goes so far as to include misleading endnotes about such imaginary characters to thoroughly confuse his reading audience. Elsewhere, scenes are dramatized or completely made up.
Regarding Reagan, Morris claimed, "Nobody around him understood him. I, every person I interviewed, almost without exception, eventually would say, 'You know, I could never really figure him out.'"
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, the 40th President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. There is much controversy about the book, cited by the Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
editorial staff as "one of the most unusual and critically scrutinized biographies
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
ever written." Some debate if Dutch should even be referred to as a biography at all. It was published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
and edited by executive editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
Robert Loomis
Robert Loomis
Robert Loomis is an executive book editor at Random House, where he has worked since 1957. He has been called "one of publishing's hall of fame editors."...
.
Background
After the unprecedented success of his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Rise of Theodore RooseveltThe Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is a Pulitzer Prize winning biography of President Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. It is the first in a trilogy, with the second volume Theodore Rex published in 2001 and the third volume Colonel Roosevelt in late 2010.The Rise covers the time period from...
, Morris was given the greenlight by the administration to write the first authorized biography of a sitting president, granting him behind-the-scenes access never before given to a writer at The White House. Apparently, these privileges were of little use; Morris claimed to learn little from their conversations or even from the President's own private diary.
Morris eventually decided to scrap writing a straight biography and turn his piece into a faux historical memoir about the President told from the viewpoint of a semi-fictional peer from the same town as Ronald Reagan: Edmund Morris himself. The person comes from the same town as, continually encounters and later keeps track of Reagan. The first time the fictional narrator sees him is at a 1926 football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game in Dixon, Illinois
Dixon, Illinois
Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 at the 2000 census. Named for its founder, John Dixon , it is the county seat of Lee County. Located on the Rock River, Dixon was the boyhood home of former U.S...
. He asks a friend who the fellow running down the field "with extraordinary grace" is, and he is informed that it's "Dutch" Reagan.
The biography has caused confusion in that it contains a few characters who never existed, including scenes where they interact with real people. Morris goes so far as to include misleading endnotes about such imaginary characters to thoroughly confuse his reading audience. Elsewhere, scenes are dramatized or completely made up.
Regarding Reagan, Morris claimed, "Nobody around him understood him. I, every person I interviewed, almost without exception, eventually would say, 'You know, I could never really figure him out.'"