Ronald Reagan Part 2

By 1967, the transition to passionate conservative for Ronald Reagan was complete, and the new governor of California finally secured a distinguished office to bring his brand of conservatism into the mainstream of California politics. Translating that success into victory for a general Presidential election, though, was going to be far more difficult. How do you get a country to embrace the message “that government is not the solution, it’s the problem,” right off the back of LBJ’s Great Society legislation breakthroughs? Both Republicans and Democrats, at this point, had embraced expanding the size of the Federal Government, was Reagan truly unique in wanting to reverse that trend?

In this episode of Unpresidented, we examine Reagan’s determination and persistence to finally secure the Presidency after going through two losing campaigns in 1968 and 1976, and what societal factors made his brand more appealing as the nation approached the 1980s. We also discuss the volatile highs and lows of his Presidency, and how he was able to keep his popularity consistently high after having one of the worst first two years in office. Two episodes of Reagan still feel underwhelming in covering all of the implications of his Presidency and career, as his legacy lives on in much of the culture and politics that we see today.

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