Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan, GCB, (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). Reagan was also a broadcaster, film actor, and head of the Screen Actors Guild before entering politics.

Early political career

Reagan began his political life as a Democrat, supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal. He gradually became a staunch social and fiscal conservative. He embarked upon the path that led him to a career in politics during his tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. In this position, he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on Communist influence in Hollywood. He also kept tabs on actors he considered disloyal and informed on them to the FBI under the code name "Agent T-10," but he would not denounce them publicly. He supported the practice of blacklisting in Hollywood. Concluding that the Republican Party was better able to combat communism, Reagan gradually abandoned his left-of-center political views, supporting the presidential candidacies of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 and Richard Nixon in 1960—all while Reagan was still a Democrat.

Related Topics:
Democrat - Franklin D. Roosevelt - New Deal - Conservative - House Un-American Activities Committee - Communist - Hollywood - FBI - Blacklisting - Republican Party - Dwight D. Eisenhower - 1952 - 1956 - Richard Nixon - 1960

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His employment by the General Electric company further enhanced his political image; he travelled widely as a GE spokesman, and was noted for his anti-Communist speeches. By the 1964 election, Reagan was an outspoken supporter of conservative Republican Barry Goldwater. His nationally televised speech "A Time for Choosing" electrified conservatives; soon after, several top Republican contributors visited Reagan at his home in Pacific Palisades, California, urging him to seek the governorship in 1966. Though these requests were initially "laughed off" by Reagan, he says in his autobiography, he eventually gave in, after countless sleepless nights.

Related Topics:
General Electric - Anti-Communist - Speeches - 1964 election - Barry Goldwater - A Time for Choosing - Pacific Palisades - 1966

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A Democrat

Ronald Reagan was a well known democrat before becoming a republican. Growing up his father was a staunch democrat. Reagan would remember how his father had refused to take him to the movie Birth of a Nation because of its racial stereotypes. He had bragged about his father not wanting to stay in a hotel because they did not accept Jews, his only alternative being to sleep in his car. Ronald Reagan himself had supported Roosevelt and gave speeches for Harry Truman. Reagan?s change came about in a time that the country seemed to be making a different turn. In the 1960?s during the Great Society, Reagan made a turn for conservatism. He began to campaign for Barry Goldwater in 1964.

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