Historian Douglas Brinkley considers Ronald Reagan one of the top five American presidents of the 20th century.

Brinkley, who edited of The Reagan Diaries, says that it was Reagan's ability to connect with the population at large that distinguished him as a leader. In the book's introduction, Brinkley writes that Americans could see "something of themselves reflected in [Reagan] — a modern American unashamed of the nation's majesty and his own pride in time-honored traditions."

A fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, Brinkley is the author of The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

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