Reagan's Revolution

I heard an interesting interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show this afternoon with author Craig Shirley who has written a new book, "Reagan's Revolution". From the title I would have assumed it was about the Reagan presidency, but interestingly enough it is the story of Reagan's failed 1976 primary run against President Gerald Ford. Many political observers consider this the true beginning of the Reagan Revolution.

Even though Reagan lost the nomination to Ford, he won the hearts of many Republicans, and in fact won more votes than Ford in the 30 contested primaries. Reagan's speech at the Kansas City convention that year set the table for his ascendancy to the top of the GOP ticket in 1980, and then to the White House.

The book includes many stories from that campaign, both positive and negative, and how with just a little better planning, Reagan could have won the nomination. Whether any Republican could have beaten a Democrat in the aftermath of Watergate is another story, but it would have been an interesting campaign.

One of the stories that I found fascinating was that after losing 5 straight primaries, the Reagan campaign was $2 million in debt and could no longer afford a chartered jet. Reagan continued the campaign by taking commercial flights. Can you image Ronald Reagan and his team standing in line at the airport with their tickets in hand waiting to board a commercial flight? I wonder if Reagan ever thought about those days as he boarded Air Force 1 a few years later.

This is the behind the scenes stuff that I enjoy reading, and if you'd like to get it, you can order it here.