Before Ronald Reagan became the fortieth American president, he was a competent Hollywood actor, between the late 1930s and early 1950s. He acted with some of the biggest stars of classic cinema, such as Ginger Rogers, Doris Day, Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn. This background would make him the first president with a true command of his public image. His presidency perfected the use of slogans and punchlines, association with pop culture figures, and the staging of a television persona. The Reagan Show analyses and deconstructs this politics of spectacle, finding in it the seeds of what would become the rise of Donald Trump.