It was on 27 October, 1964, that Ronald Reagan, viewed by many at that point as a semi-washed up ‘B-Movie’ actor, delivered a nationally televised political address that changed his career.
Reagan’s speech, titled, “A Time for Choosing”, was given on behalf of Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and was thought by many to make a more effective case for Goldwater’s ultra-right wing views than the candidate had made for himself.
The speech, and the effectiveness with which Reagan delivered it, brought him to the attention of the Republican establishment which would seek him out as a candidate for Governor of California in 1966, the first of Reagan’s successful political campaigns.