The right moment : Ronald Reagan's first victory and the decisive turning point in American politics

Ronald Reagan's first great victory in the 1966 California governor's race is one of the pivotal stories of American political history, a victory that seemed to come from nowhere and has long since confounded his critics. Just four years earlier Governor Edmund Pat Brown was celebrated as the Giant Killer for his 1962 victory over Richard Nixon, & his liberal agenda reigned supreme.Yet in 1966 political neophyte Reagan trounced Brown by almost one million votes, marking not only the coming-of-age of Reagan's new conservatism but also the first serious blow to modern liberalism.Drawing on scores of oral histories, thousands of archival documents, & personal interviews with participants, Dallek offers a gripping new portrait of the 1960s that is far more complicated than our collective memory of that decade.Matthew Dallek is a historian & professor of political management at George Washington University’s College of Professional Studies. The author of The Right Moment & Defenseless Under the Night, his writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Politico, & other publications. He lives in Washington, DC.

Ronald Reagan's first great victory, in the 1966 California governor's race, confounded his critics. Two years earlier, the conservative movement had been pronounced dead. Now political neophyte Reagan trounced incumbent Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. The lasting legacy of that discordant time in America remains the rise of the conservatives.

Publishers Weekly

The so-called Reagan revolution, according to Dallek, did not begin in 1980 when Reagan won the presidency, but in 1966 when the conservative Hollywood actor, a former FBI informant with no political experience, won a landslide victory in the California gubernatorial race against two-term Democratic incumbent Pat Brown. In this briskly readable, insightful but unsurprising study, Dallek (who has been a columnist for Slate and a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, Salon and other publications) argues with some justification that the California election was a watershed event. Reagan, positioning himself as a champion of law and order, and as a bold-thinking conservative with fresh ideas and programs, distanced himself from the Republican Party's extremist right wing. Tapping into widespread frustration over high taxes, crime and bloated budgets, genial, telegenic Reagan--and the conservative movement--learned how to push the right buttons on key issues, turning welfare, urban riots and student protest into cudgels that could be used to bash liberals. Meanwhile, Brown greatly underestimated Reagan's appeal, and though Brown had a strong record on education and civil rights, his faith in the ability of big government to solve social ills was being challenged by entrenched poverty, the Watts riots and campus sit-ins. In Dallek's analysis, Reagan benefited immensely from a liberalism that had moved too far in a direction most voters were unwilling to go; Reagan's rhetorical commitment to smaller government and his support for a strong military budget would resonate for decades. Dallek's evenhanded, incisive critique will compel both liberals and conservatives to rethink their strategies. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

"Drawing on scores of oral history interviews, thousands of archival documents, and many personal interviews with participants. Matthew Dallek charts the rise of one great politician, the demise of another, and the clash of diametrically opposing worldviews. He offers a new portrait of the 1960s that is far more complicated than our collective memory of that decade. The New Left activists were offset by an equally impassioned group on the other side. For every SDS organizer there was a John Birch activist; for every civil rights marcher there was an anticommunist rally-goer; for every antiwar protester there were several more who sympathized with American aims in Southeast Asia. Dallek's compelling history offers an important reminder that the rise of Ronald Reagan and the conservatives may be the most lasting legacy of that discordant time."--BOOK JACKET. "Ronald Reagan's first great victory, in the 1966 California governor's race, is one of the pivotal stories of American political history, a victory that seemed to come from nowhere and has long since confounded his critics. Just four years earlier Governor Edmund "Pat" Brown was celebrated as the "Giant Killer" for his 1962 victory over Richard Nixon, and his liberal agenda reigned supreme. Yet in 1966 political neophyte Reagan trounced Brown by almost a million votes, marking not only the coming-of-age of Reagan's new conservatism but also the first serious blow to modern liberalism. Drawing on scores of oral history interviews, thousands of archival documents, and personal interviews with participants, Dallek offers a new portrait of the 1960s that is far more complicated than our collective memory of that decade."--Jacket Ronald Reagan's first great victory in the 1966 California governor's race is one of the pivotal stories of American political history, a victory that seemed to come from nowhere and has long since confounded his critics. Just four years earlier Governor Edmund Pat Brown was celebrated as the Giant Killer for his 1962 victory over Richard Nixon, and his liberal agenda reigned supreme. Yet in 1966 political neophyte Reagan trounced Brown by almost one million votes, marking not only the coming-of-age of Reagan's new conservatism but also the first serious blow to modern liberalism. Drawing on scores of oral histories, thousands of archival documents, and personal interviews with participants, Dallek offers a gripping new portrait of the 1960s that is far more complicated than our collective memory of that decade. Contents 7 Introduction: The Critical Years 9 One The Giant Killer 15 Two The Anticommunist 39 Three “Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, a Liberal?” 56 Four “Rim Ronnie Run” 76 Five “You've Got to Get Those Kids Out of There” 95 Six “A Bunch of Kooks” 117 Seven “Charcoal Alleys” 150 Eight The George Wallace of California 172 Nine The Search for Order 195 Ten Prairie Fire 234 Epilogue 262 Afterword 265 Notes 277 Acknowledgments 307 Index 311