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ix ACknowledgmentS I am deeply indebted to several people who had a direct hand in shaping this project. The most important is without a doubt Marty Medhurst, who helped guide this project from an idea to a finished product. Many know Marty for the world-class scholar that he is, but I am among the fortunate few who have had the privilege to call him mentor and friend. This is a much better work because of Marty’s insightfulness, precision, and patience. Several colleagues also offered helpful criticism when they read earlier drafts. To Barry Hankins, David nichols, and Jerry Waltman, thank you for your time and thoughtful critiques. To the three anonymous readers who reviewed the manuscript for inclusion in this series, thanks for your care, your helpful comments, and your vote of confidence. I have been saved from misinterpretations because of these readers, and several ideas now parade as my own because of their generous assistance. I also owe much to my colleagues and dear friends at Whitworth University , who provided generous financial support for this project and who sacrificed significantly to help me bring it to completion. The Faculty Research and Development Committee and the Weyerhaeuser Center were generous with their funds, and I am grateful. To Patrick Van Inwegen, Julia Stronks, and John yoder, my sincerest thanks for your sacrifices on my behalf—I am honored to call you friends. To Dean Michael Le Roy, thank you for your flexibility and generosity. And to Dale Soden, thanks for letting me talk through some of these ideas in the hallway. Several folks provided me with the indispensable resources necessary for a project of this nature. First is Dr. Kurt Ritter, Professor emeritus of x g ACknowledgmentS Speech Communication at Texas A&M University, who, on the eve of his retirement and having never met me, devoted the better part of a day—in his office, over lunch, and in his home—to providing me with resources on the religious life of Ronald Reagan, a subject on which his academic expertise is perhaps unmatched. I am also grateful to the staff at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for helping me locate important primary sources—and for providing me with the most spectacular workspace I have ever inhabited. A work such as this is also enhanced exponentially by firsthand accounts, and some thirty-plus years removed from some of the key events detailed in this work, there are few who are still able to provide these. For this reason, I am deeply indebted to several important individuals who generously gave of their time to answer my questions, many of them offering to connect me with others they knew who might possess better knowledge. Among these were former Reagan Attorney General edwin Meese; former Reagan campaign director Stu Spencer; former Carter aides Patrick Anderson ; Greg Schneiders; Phil Wise Jr.; and the late Jody Powell; evangelist James Robison; Ford aides Mike Ford and Tom Getman; and last but certainly not least, former presidential candidate Rep. John B. Anderson. Finally, I am grateful to Carey newman and the wonderful folks at Baylor University Press—first-rate professionals and first-rate people all. These and many others have made this work better. Surely, with so much good help, any errors of logic, fact, or judgment that remain are mine alone. ...

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