Summary
In the last years of Ronald Reagan's life, his voluminous writings on politics, policy, and people finally emerged and offered a Rosetta stone by which to understand him. From 1975 to 1979, in particular, he delivered more than 1,000 radio addresses, of which he wrote at least 680 himself. When drafts of his addresses were first discovered, and a selection was published in 2001 as Reagan, In His Own Hand by the editors of this book, they caused a sensation by revealing Reagan as a prolific and thoughtful writer, who covered a wide variety of topics and worked out the agenda that would drive his presidency. What was missed in that thematic collection, however, was the development of his ideas over time. Now, in Reagan's Path to Victory, a chronological selection of more than 300 addresses with historical context supplied by the editors, readers can see how Reagan reacted to the events that defined the Carter years and how he honed his message in the crucial years before his campaign officially began.
The late 1970s were tumultuous times. In the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, America's foreign and domestic policies were up for grabs. Reagan argued against the Panama Canal treaties, in vain; against the prevailing view that the Vietnam War was an ignoble enterprise from the start; against détente with the Soviet Union; against the growth of regulation; and against the tax burden. Yet he was fundamentally an optimist, who presented positive, values-based prescriptions for the economy and for Soviet relations. He told many inspiring stories; he applauded charities and small businesses that worked to overcome challenges.
As Reagan's Path to Victory unfolds, Reagan's essays reveal a presidential candidate who knew himself and knew his positions, who presented a stark alternative to an incumbent administration, and who knew how to reach out and touch voters directly. Reagan's Path to Victory is nothing less than a president's campaign playbook, in his own words.
Author Biography
Martin Anderson is the Keith and Jan Hurlbut Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Table of Contents
| Foreword | |
| Introduction | |
| A Note on Editorial Methods | |
| 1975 | |
| 1976 | |
| 1977 | |
| 1978 | |
| 1979 | |
| Appendix: Ronald Reagan's Radio Addresses 1975-1979 | |
| Notes | |
| Acknowledgments | |
| Index | |
| Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved. |
Excerpts
Introduction Ronald Reagan's rise to national political prominence began on October 27, 1964, when he gave a televised campaign speech on behalf of Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona), the Republican nominee for president. Speculation about Reagan running for president began following what became known as "the speech." During the next decade, Reagan's national political profile grew -- and so did speculation about a presidential bid. On November 8, 1966, Reagan defeated Edmund "Pat" Brown, the two-term incumbent, for the governorship of California by a million-vote margin. In 1968, he became a "favorite son" candidate for the Republican nomination for president, briefly challenging Richard Nixon at the convention in Miami Beach, Florida. On November 3, 1970, he was reelected California's governor by defeating Assemblyman Jesse Unruh by a half-million votes. In 1972, he actively campaigned on behalf of President Richard Nixon's reelection effort. When he stepped down as governor of California in January 1975, Reagan was a seasoned political figure who was widely considered to be a future Republican presidential nominee.It soon became clear from Reagan's actions that he was determined to run for president of the United States. As the popular ex-governor of California, he could have moved on to the private sector, giving speeches, serving on corporate boards, perhaps even making a movie or two -- and making lots of money. He didn't. President Gerald Ford offered him the prestigious post of ambassador to Great Britain; he turned it down. He could have gone to Washington and served in President Ford's cabinet as secretary of commerce or transportation. He said no to the president.Instead Reagan followed a different path -- a path that eventually led to victory, to becoming the 40th president of the United States.Reagan faced a daunting gauntlet as he took his first steps along that path in 1975. The country had just gone through the trials of the Watergate political scandal. In January a bleak national poll was announced to Republican state chairs meeting in Chicago. It showed that "only 18 percent of the American people identified themselves as Republicans." President Nixon was forced to resign on August 9, 1974. Democrats made substantial gains in the November 5, 1974, elections in both houses of Congress and in state legislatures.On February 6, 1975, Reagan had his 64th birthday, one year short of when many people retire. While he had a growing band of supporters, many thought he was too old and had misgivings about his health and endurance. They doubted he could survive the long run for the presidency, to say nothing of governing for four -- and perhaps eight -- years.Many thought he was far too conservative, a Neanderthal throwback, even more so than Barry Goldwater, whom Lyndon Johnson had defeated by a landslide just ten years earlier. He had no major financial support and his full-time staff was only half a dozen or so. Moreover, few politicians were in his corner -- only one U.S. senator, Paul Laxalt of Nevada, and a couple of members of Congress.Finally, and most important, Reagan faced the prospect of running against an incumbent president -- a Republican one. It is tough enough to run against an incumbent president of another party, but it is nigh impossible to take out one of your own in a primary fight. In Republican circles, running against a president of your own party was "just not done."But Reagan ran.It was not supposed to happen this way. With Richard Nixon's election to a second term in 1972, Reagan's staff expected him to be running, if he chose to do so, for an open seat, not against an incumbent, let alone an incumbent of his own party. The field of candidates for the Republican nomination of 1976, they thought, might include Charles Percy, Republican senator from Illinois; John Connally from Texas, who had been Nixon's secretary of the treasury; an
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