Lou Cannon Dies at 92; Journalist Chronicled Reagan as an Author

Lou Cannon, who explored the enigmas of Ronald Reagan in biographies that portrayed the 40th president as an intellectually lazy dreamer who got his worldview in part from movies but who, with intuition, charm and a principled patriotism, led the nation to relative peace and prosperity, died on Friday in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 92.

His death, in a hospice, was confirmed by his son, Carl, who said the cause was complications of a stroke.

A celebrated journalist and author, Mr. Cannon covered Reagan for decades, first in California during the first of Reagan’s two terms as governor, and then as the senior White House correspondent for The Washington Post during Reagan’s two-term presidency in the 1980s, an era of rising American confidence that set the stage for nuclear détente and the end of the Cold War.