The Right Moment: Ronald Reagan's First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics

by Matthew Dallek

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195174076
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/08/2004
Edition description:	New Afterword
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.08(w) x 9.12(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Matthew Dallek, a former speechwriter for Richard A. Gephardt, earned his Ph.D. in American History from Columbia University in 1999. His articles and reviews have appeared in The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly , The New Republic, and other national publications. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Editorial Reviews

"Built on prodigious research in manuscript papers and oral history, grounded in sound judgment and fair-minded assessments, and sustained by a lively, fast-paced narrative full of vivid characters and telling anecdotes, The Right Moment represents political history at its very best."—The Chicago Tribune

"[Dallek] succeeds admirably in tracing the roots of the Reagan phenomenon to the turmoil of the 1960s."—The New York Times Book Review

"What I admire most about The Right Moment...aside from the clear, compelling, page-turning quality of Mr. Dallek's writing, is his ability to weave ideas, personalities, national trends, California political history and Sacramento insider politics into one seamless whole in less than 250 pages of text."—The Washington Times

"Gripping. In the place that brought us Watts riots and the Berkeley Free Speech movement, Mario Savio and Huey P. Newton, Hollywood and holistic health, another 1960s was playing out. Largely dismissed by commentators at the time and ignored by historians afterward, a new conservative order was rising.The story of California [through its] savvy right wing. "—The Washington Post Book World

"A refreshing and well-written book, and it tells a good story. Dallek shows Reagan not as an empty-headed actor memorizing lines, but as an intensely serious right wing ideologue, and a gifted proponent of his views. "—The Washington Monthly

From the Publisher

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.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Ronald Reagan's 1966 victory over incumbent California governor Pat Brown, not his capture of the White House in 1980, was the true start of the "Reagan Revolution" and the ascendancy of the Right. The race also marked Reagan's first try at electoral politics, and although he has been portrayed as a lightweight creation of his handlers, he proved himself an intelligent and highly skillful campaigner. Indeed, Reagan was able to distance himself from the far-right John Birch Society while taking full advantage of the openings presented by Brown's failed fair-housing proposal, the Watts riots, and campus unrest at Berkeley. This first book by journalist Dallek (e.g., Slate, the Atlantic Monthly), who based his work on dozens of interviews and substantial archival research, is a good political story written in a clear style. Recommended for all public and academic libraries.--Robert F. Nardini, Chichester, NH Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Library Journal

Reagan's victory over Brown is the subject of Matthew Dallek's engaging first book. Dallek, a speechwriter for the House Democratic leader, Richard A. Gephardt, contends that the Reagan revolution began not in 1980 but in 1966. And though Dallek's writing is not always as sophisticated as his research or as subtle as his analysis, he succeeds admirably in tracing the roots of the Reagan phenomenon to the turmoil of the mid-1960's.
—New York Times Book Review

Zachary Karabell

A focused look at the events leading to (and the ramifications of) Ronald Reagan's victory over incumbent Pat Brown in California's 1966 governor's race.

Kirkus Reviews