Biographer: Reagan Fought Elite Establishment His Whole Life; Obama ‘Facebook President’ Who Lacks ‘Understanding of American History’

On Breitbart News Sunday, Craig Shirley, the preeminent Ronald Reagan biographer and historian who has always understood grassroots conservatives, reminded listeners that the Washington establishment disdained Reagan much like it hates today’s top conservatives.

Noting that “RINOs” never embraced Reagan since he campaigned for Barry Goldwater, Shirley said he actually went to work for the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 1982 because Lyn Nofziger, Reagan’s top adviser and strategist, said there were not enough Reaganites at the RNC, which was populated mostly by establishment “Bushies” allied with George H.W. Bush.

Though Reagan’s birthday may not be as celebrated as it should be, Shirley noted that his birthday is still recognized more than Jimmy Carter’s or George H.W. Bush’s. He told host and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon that Reagan fought the establishment and the elites his whole life.

President Barack Obama is no Reagan. And Shirley said Obama purposely told Christians to get off their “high horse” at the National Prayer Breakfast in order to “push buttons” and “stick a thumb in the eye of hosts.” He called Obama “our nation’s first Facebook president” who is “skilled in the study of himself.” Shirley said Obama has never shown a “sophisticated understanding of American history” and rarely quotes any of the Framers or Founders.

Shirley said his book on Reagan’s post-presidency will be published in September. And in news that will delight Americans, he said there are “a dozen more Reagan books” that he would like to write, including one on the 1984 campaign. Shirley is the author of two of the most indispensable books ever written on Reagan — Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America and Reagan’s Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All.