Gerard DeGroot was born in California and is Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews. He has published fourteen books and dozens of articles on various aspects of twentieth-century history. His book on nuclear weaponry (The Bomb: A Life) was published to considerable acclaim and won the Westminster Medal for Military Literature. The Sixties Unplugged, an iconoclastic history of the decade, won the Ray and Pat Browne Prize in 2008 for the best book on American cultural history. DeGroot is also a freelance journalist, contributing frequent op-ed columns and reviews to national newspapers in Britain and the USA. ‘A scintillating analysis of how American politics in the 1960s and the changing nature of the state of California came together to transform a third-rate Hollywood actor into a first- rate politician. DeGroot’s sharp and witty analysis of the state of American politics in the 1960s entertains as it enlightens. A brilliant achievement.’ Marilyn B. Young, Professor of History, NYU and author of The Vietnam Wars ‘Whether Democrats or Republicans, American politicians habitually compare themselves to Ronald Reagan. Gerard DeGroot’s bold and fast-paced book explores how that past-it Hollywood actor converted himself into a silver-tongued politician and president. In telling this entertaining and important story, DeGroot explains why Ronald Reagan’s transformational career matters today, perhaps more than ever.’ Nick Witham, University College London, author of The Cultural Left and the Reagan Era: US Protest and Central American Revolution Selling Ronald Reagan The Emergence of a President Gerard DeGroot Published in 2015 by I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd London • New York www.ibtauris.com Copyright © 2015 Gerard DeGroot The right of Gerard DeGroot to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. References to websites were correct at the time of writing. ISBN: 978 1 78076 828 1 eISBN: 978 0 85772 930 9 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available Typeset by JCS Publishing Services Ltd, www.jcs-publishing.co.uk Printed and bound in Sweden by ScandBook AB To Charlie Roe: a lovely man, and a believer in government H and to Marilyn Roe: of course Contents Introduction 1 1 The Speech 7 2 Hardening of the Categories 24 3 ‘You Guys Are Absolutely Crazy’ 55 4 Old Tactics, New Faces 85 5 Those Boys from BASICO 107 6 The Great Pretender 137 7 Drowning in Milk 164 8 ‘What Are You Going to Do About Berkeley?’ 179 9 ‘Who Shot Lincoln?’ 208 10 ‘Hey, This Guy Could Be President Someday’ 248 Notes 269 Bibliography 293 Index 301