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Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All

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All students of American political history, and most adults know that Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981 - 1989. What many people do not know is that his first real effort to be elected President started in 1976 - it is that campaign that Craig Shirley has recounted for us in fascinating detail in his new book Reagan's Revolution.

Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004) got his start in major politics by being elected governor of California. He later put together an 11th hour effort for the Republican Presidential Nomination against Richard Nixon, but he really didn't strive for the Presidency until 1976.

This book is a tale of the campaign, start to finish - it is almost an hour-by-hour blow of Reagan's efforts to unseat the incumbent President, Gerald R. Ford. From the time that Reagan joined the race until the convention in Kansas City was over, it was obvious that this was not going to be a "regular" political contest, as defined in the 20th century use of the phrase. Instead, Reagan brought a new zeal and style to the campaign, which made Ford and his team very nervous about their chances of claiming the nomination, much less being elected in their own right to the Presidency in 1976.

I tremendously enjoyed Shirley's writing style; this was an easy book to read, and watching the personable Reagan campaign, including his acceptance of the defeats, was fascinating to me. I personally do not remember the 1976 Presidential campaign, so this book is especailly valuable in that regard to me.

Craig Shirley has taken his first hand knowledge of Ronald Reagan and other members of the GOP to develop this book. Although he says that the '76 campaign really changed the world - it is only obvious within the context of this book that it revived the Republican Party and prevented it from going the way of the Whigs or the Know-Nothings of days gone by.

For anyone interested in the history of the modern Republican party, Ronald Reagan, or someone simply looking for a fascinating read about a modern campaign, this is a great book to consider and a very valuable addition to the literature available on recent American elections.

As Published in...
The Weekly Standard
January, 24, 2005

By Robert D. Novak

Ford Beats Reagan!
How conservatism won in 1980 by losing in 1976.

Shirley, well known in the political community as a campaign consultant and public relations practitioner, is not a professional writer but has produced a very readable first book. It is nicely paced, meticulously researched, and packed with anecdotes. He uses both primary and secondary sources, plus interviews with surviving participants to produce an account of events that occurred when he was a junior in college. He is the dispassionate narrator, avoiding use of the first person and seldom presenting his own views.

A writer recording recent history has the problem of what to do about participants' remembering events of thirty years ago in a way that always puts them in the best light. John Sears and Dick Cheney, who was President Ford's chief of staff, were interviewed by Shirley and get generally sympathetic treatment. Shirley did not interview Clarke Reed, the Mississippi Republican leader, or Robert Hartmann, Ford's longtime adviser, and they come off very badly.

SHIRLEY DOES NOT TRY to answer the questions that have been pondered in Republican circles for the past three decades. Could Reagan have defeated Carter had he been nominated? If he had, could a Reagan presidency have succeeded if he were elected before his views on taxes were fully developed? Was it the best of all possible worlds for Reagan to lose the 1976 nomination but to be ready to run in 1980?

Nobody knows. Reagan was indeed more fully prepared for the presidency in 1980 than he was in 1976. But if he somehow could have won that election, he would have saved the country the four years of the Carter presidency--providing a service to all Americans. Shirley's task is not to speculate on what might have been. He tells the story of a losing campaign that may have saved the country, and he does it well.

Craig Shirley's first literary attempt is a triumph. If you are a political junkie like me, you will love Shirley's narrative style of Ronald Reagan's near triumph over incumbent President Gerald Ford in the fight for the GOP nod in 1976. This wasn't just a battle between two men, but a seismic shift in the landscape of conservative politics. The GOP up until the mid seventies was dominated by what could be called the Rockefeller wing. Liberal to moderate Senators such as Jake Javits, Charles Percy, Edward Brooks, Clifford Case, Hugh Scott and Charles Mathias were the republican establishment. Conservatives in the senate like New York's James Buckley were an anomaly. Ronald Reagan and his conservative supporters were the outsiders and resented by the in power Rockefeller wing. As a result of the neither here no there liberal to moderate stance of the leadership, the Republican Party did not seem to stand for much other than they were not Democrats. Reagan in 1975 with reluctance announced his challenge to Ford, as he determined that it was time the GOP was painted not in "pale pastels" but in "bold colors". Though Reagan lost in 1976 the conservative brand on the Republican Party was now indelible. Conservative activists in the party were now not just fringe, but were now the dominant voice of the GOP. This holds true more than ever today. Reagan's shadow on the political landscape still looms large and will still be, presumably, generations from now. Here's hoping Craig Shirley attmpts another book on America's political scene.

The Feb 7 "Weekly Standard" has a huge profile of Benjamin Disraeli, the 19th Century statesman who transformed Britain's Tories from an aristocratic to an Everyman political party. Ronald Reagan had a similar transformational effect on the Republican Party.

Craig Shirley's new book illuminates a pivotal event in that process -- RR's hair's-breadth loss to Gerald Ford in '76. Without the near-miss Ford challenge, Shirley asserts, Reagan is unlikely to have ever been elected President, and the nascent Conservative Movement, which today dominates the Republican Party, may never have achieved critical mass nationally.

Most observers trace the roots of the Conservative Movement to Goldwater's failed bid in '64. But in the wake of Goldwater's shellacking, the national Republicans in the early '70s were still a genteel, neoliberal, "go-along-to-get-ahead" party, afflicted with intellectual lassitude, de-legitimized by Watergate and wallowing in permanent minority status.

It was Reagan and the band of fiery Conservative activists he attracted that shocked the Republican Party out of its torpor, and put it on the road to majority status. And '76 was when Reagan's Conservatives captured the party's soul, despite failing to oust a sitting President who skillfully leveraged all the advantages of incumbency to gain the nomination.

Throughout history, most insurgent campaigns have failed utterly; Reagan's failed barely. And Shirley recounts so many turns where the outcome could have been different: pulling out too soon in New Hampshire; almost capturing Wisconsin despite offering only token effort; failing to field a full delegate slate in Ohio, etc. At the Kansas City convention, there was the perfidy of the Mississippi Chairman, Clarke Reed, who reneged on a promise to deliver the state's entire delegation to Reagan. And John Sears's often-second-guessed decision to pre-announce Reagan's running mate, the moderate Richard Schweicker. (Shirley says opposition to the Pennsylvania Senator was intensified because some Conservative delegates confused him with his more liberal, Watergate-grandstanding colleague, Connecticut Senator Lowell Weicker.)

For me, Shirley's book also added critical insight into many aspects of the '76 campaign, such as the central role of Jesse Helms's forces in achieving victory for Reagan during the momentous North Carolina primary, which kept Reagan's flagging campaign alive.

Shirley's book is well researched and well crafted. Political junkies, regardless of their affiliation, will be held in thrall from cover to cover.

Craig Shirley has written a first class narrative of recent history in Reagan's Revolution.

It covers the 1976 Republican primary campaign, in which former California Governor Reagan challenged Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford-- the only man to serve as American President who was never elected President or Vice-President.

Shirley does a good job of telling the story from each side of the the face-off, including the presence of current Bush administration members Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, who were members of the Ford administration.

A great work that provides insight into an important event in American history that is not often covered in such depth.

Shirley's work is also easily readable, often reading like a good novel.

This is a brilliant book. As an extremely minor player in the drama of the '76 Republican Presidential race, I have an intense interest in the subject. Mr. Shirley has done enormous original research, and he has done a masterful job of explaining the historic context and ultimate impact of the Ford-Reagan race. Thank God for "amateur historians".

Craig Shirley's publication "Reagan Revolution" is a wealth for those who are seeking even even more information on Ronald Wilson Reagan. I remember thinking there needed to be a definitive account of the 1976 Republican primaries, and was glad to run across this account.

I enjoyed this book because there is so much new information about the 76 campaign and the inner workings of the Ford and Reagan teams. I felt like I learned much more about the Reagan team in 76 and really the great odds he faced in trying to unseat an incumbent president. It was especially neat to see how amazing Reagan was even without hardly any of the Republican Party establishment behind him. I think Reagan receives so much credit for his political skill, discipline, charisma, and intelligence just from this campaign.

Shirley is absolutely right in that he displays and unwraps the transformation of the GOP within this race. He understands the depth of the conservative moment, it helped since the author was a part of that movement. He also explains just how 76 was the launching ground for 1980. He understands that Ronald Reagan's political career was in many ways providential and revolutionary. Shirley's account is an exciting read and a descriptive and triumphant look at the greatest leader of the 20th Century.

An incredible log of facts brought about from extensive research that fills in all the gaps of Ronald Reagan's early days as he emerges onto the national scene.

I worked for the Illinois primary committee through the full 1976 primary campaign and then attended the convention with the Illinois delegation.
I worked with Reagan's California people during the primary and Charlie Black and Roger Stone during the Illinois primary. Shirley has captured the essence of that campaign and written a book that should be a primer for any young gun that seeks to influence national politics. Well done Craig! A+.

This is a great book for two reasons. First, it is a fascinating account of Ronald Reagan's 1976 campaign. I learned stuff I never knew before--Ford disliked Reagan, Goldwater campaigned against Reagan, etc. But second and most importantly, this book has incredible relevance for post-2008 Republicans looking for hope. Shirley's book was written in 2005, but one cannot miss how similar 1976 was to 2008 in regard to Republicans being out of power and with no direction. 1976 was even worse for Republicans and many of the claims of the media that were said then are said now--"If you elect someone really conservative you're committing political suicide." "If you want to be relevant as a political party stop talking about social issues." All of those things were said as Ronald Reagan picked up his campaign to change America. Not only is this a great read about Reagan it has principles for a conservative revolution that should not be missed. Yes, there will never be another Ronald Reagan, but the principles he stood for can be rekindled. Shirley's book is an unintended roadmap for Republicans looking for a way out of the wilderness.