Reagan's 1968 By Gene Kopelson

The Never-Before-Told Story of Ronald Reagan's 

First Quest for the Presidency

"Kopelson has provided an extensively detailed and carefully documented account of Ronald Reagan's first foray into presidential candidacy. Particularly fascinating is the author's original research, which reveals how a highly successful president of a prior era-Dwight D. Eisenhower-provided invaluable advice and encouragement to Reagan, which helped to shape the leadership and accomplishments of our 40th president."

--The Honorable Edwin Meese III, former Attorney General

With the presidential election heating up daily and the media, the GOP and Republican Nominee, Donald Trump constantly making references to President Reagan's much-admired accomplishments, comes a very unique book about our 40th President.  Heralded by Hon. George P. Shultz, Secretary of State under President Reagan and renowned Reagan historians alike, Reagan's 1968 Dress Rehearsal: Ike, RFK, and Reagan's Emergence as a World Statesman is an inspiring never-before-told history of how Ronald Reagan began to restore pride in America when he first ran for president in the late 1960s.

Author and historian, Gene Kopelson's tireless research uncovered findings based upon never-before-analyzed critical archives.  Against the backdrop history of Reagan's first campaign for the presidency, it can now be revealed that behind the scenes, none other than former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was Ronald Reagan's hidden political mentor. In fact, throughout the 1960s, Ronald Reagan was tutored by former President Eisenhower on how to enter politics, how to run his 1966 gubernatorial primary, and then general election campaigns. Eisenhower even counseled Reagan on how to fight charges of antisemitism and critiqued Reagan's speaking style.

Reagan followed Eisenhower's political advice virtually to the letter, and indeed Reagan based his 1966 campaign theme on Ike who said he would endorse Reagan for president if he were the 1968 nominee, urged him to run for president as California's favorite son, and may actually have favored political winner Reagan over loser Nixon as the 1968 Republican nominee.

In Reagan's 1968, you'll learn that:

• Ronald Reagan ran for president for the first time in 1966-68 and did so deliberately with the goal of stopping Richard Nixon from achieving a first-ballot convention victory at the '68 GOP convention.  
• During many weekends during 1967-68, Reagan left Sacramento and crisscrossed the country to seek delegates, building a network of financial backers and setting up grassroots activist campaign staffs for the critically-important Wisconsin, Nebraska and Oregon primaries. 
• During Reagan's first quest for the presidency, Ike's mentorship of Reagan expanded into world affairs. While Reagan was the leading Republican hawk on Vietnam, his strategic calls for winning the war, and specific military and geopolitical tactics, came directly from mentoring by Ike. Reagan saw Vietnam through the lens of Eisenhower and Korea.
• Ronald Reagan's major public political foe during this era was Robert Kennedy.  Reagan trounces RFK during a 1967 debate on Vietnam.  Many Republicans did not want to see another Nixon-Kennedy debate fiasco for 1968 but rather a winner - Reagan as their nominee. Once RFK declared his candidacy in March, 1968, Reagan re-energized his campaign, which culminated in 5 scathing White Paper speeches attacking the foreign affairs failures of the Kennedy-Johnson years, tying RFK directly to them.
• Presidential candidate Reagan achieved almost 11% of the vote in the Wisconsin primary, then 22% in Wisconsin and Oregon. As favorite son, he won all California delegates and before the GOP convention, there were more votes cast for Reagan than for Nixon. Delegates couldn't wait to vote for Reagan on the second ballot.

Eisenhower's direct influence on Reagan continued until the end of Reagan's presidency. President Reagan saw his agreements with Gorbachev to lessen nuclear stockpiles, and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and communism, as his own official direct fulfillment of President Eisenhower's goals. Other crucial issues associated with President Reagan (tearing down the Berlin Wall, freedom for Eastern Europe, creating an anti-ballistic missile defense shield, siding with Israel versus staying neutral in the Mideast, how to deal with hostages and negotiate with communists and eventually to win the Cold War through peaceful means) all began during Reagan's first presidential campaign.

Ronald Reagan's 1968 campaign was a crucial dress rehearsal for his ultimate triumph in 1980. During 1968, Reagan became a world statesman and shaped his crusade to restore pride in America. For Reagan, Ike's tutelage was critical. Indeed, Ronald Reagan now may be seen as one of Dwight Eisenhower's proteges and his major political heir. This political mentorship changed America's national priorities through the end of Reagan's presidency, whose effects still are very much with us today.

Go here to see Gene and the book featured on C-SPAN.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gene Kopelson is president of the New England chapter, and on the Board of Trustees, of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, an active Churchillian, and a holocaust educator. As an historian, he has published works on Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet, Ronald Reagan's 1966 campaign and Mexican American voters, the 1968 Nebraska and Oregon Republican primaries, and Washington State Republican politics in the 1960s. His research on Reagan and Eisenhower was featured in 2015 at the 125th Commemoration of the Birth of Dwight Eisenhower at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.  Kopelson is a popular speaker and frequent guest on talk radio.