In two years, Steve Bannon went from a fairly unknown newsman to the president's nationally known right-hand man.
Six months after Donald Trump's inauguration, public fascination with Bannon remains alive and well: Bloomberg Businessweek correspondent Joshua Green's new book "Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency" rocketed to the No. 1 spot on Amazon's list of top-selling books only a day after its release.
The book makes a strong case that Bannon was the architect of Trump's historic win last November. Green credits Bannon with urging Trump to amplify, rather than apologize for, his strong stance against illegal immigration early in his campaign.
It was Bannon, he writes, who encouraged Trump to build a political movement around the concerns of working-class Americans instead of running on an establishment GOP platform.
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And it was reporting on Bannon's Breitbart website that did much to shape Trump's populist leanings by the time he launched his campaign in June 2015, according to Green.
But what exactly is the worldview that has guided Bannon over the course of his lengthy career? Long before he became Trump's White House chief strategist, and before he was executive chair of Breitbart News, Bannon worked as an executive producer in Hollywood, producing 18 films from 1991 to 1999.
However, it was his 2004 documentary "In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed" that put Bannon on the map and first brought him to Andrew Breitbart's attention.
"In the Face of Evil," which was based on Peter Schweizer's book "Reagan’s War," tells the story of Ronald Reagan's 40-year battle against communism, which ended with triumph in the Cold War.
The movie reveals the top-secret plans of the Reagan administration and how they dismantled the Soviet empire piece by piece. It's a story of leadership and moral courage during the bloodiest century in the history of humankind.
However, the film is not merely a history lesson. As Bannon and the other filmmakers point out, a new enemy has arisen in the 21st century to replace the communist threat of the 20th century. That new enemy is Islamic fascism, which manifested itself most powerfully in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
In fact, 9/11 is what spurred Bannon to make "In the Face of Evil."
The documentary draws a parallel between the past century's war against communism and the current century's war against Islamic fascism. It shows they are both part of the ongoing war between freedom and totalitarianism, and therefore Reagan's words and deeds provide an important lesson for how the free world must combat the forces of evil today. With the worldwide Islamic terror threat having grown since 2004, the film is more relevant today than ever.
"In the Face of Evil” was ranked the best documentary film of 2004 by the Liberty Film Festival. Rush Limbaugh called it "a brilliant effort" and "extremely well done." William Booth of the Washington Post praised it as "an epic homage to Ronald Reagan and his war on Communism."
Mark Davis of WBAP Radio was effusive, labeling the film "a powerful reminder of what it means to stand up to evil. Parents, take your kids so that they will see what challenges America has faced in the past and how we met those challenges with toughness and success."
"In the Face of Evil" is available in the WND Superstore. The 110-minute DVD includes the following special features:
- A special introduction by Edwin Meese, Reagan's former attorney general
- Five of Reagan’s most significant and moving speeches
- Twenty of Reagan's three-minute radio addresses from the 1970s
- Reagan's greatest quotes accompanied by music and captivating images
- An expanded Timeline of Evil
- The original theatrical trailer
"In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed" is the project that put Steve Bannon on the map and first brought him to Andrew Breitbart's attention.