Early political career of reagon

　　Ronald reagan arrived on the political scene in 196 4 with a television address designed to revive sen. Bar ry goldwater's campaign for the presidency.after the sp eech, a group of businessmen suggested that reagan run for governor of california. Even though he was a recent convert to the republican party,this was not a handicap in california, where political affiliation is of little practical consequence. Reagan captured the republican a ffiliation is of little practical consequence. Reagan c aptured the republican nomination for governor in 1966 over five other candidates, with 64.7% of the votes. Du ring the general ELECTION campaign against DEMOCRATIC i ncumbent Edmund G.Brown, Sr, Reagan spoke out against c ampus radicals and welfare cheaters. Brown, by his own admission, did not take reagan seriously as a challenge r until it was too late.

　　Reagan won the governorship by a margin of nearly o ne million votes, the largest plurality plurality by wh ich a sitting governor had ever before been defeated th roughout american history . the importance of californi a in national politics and the size of his margin of el ection brougnt reagan recognition as a politician of na tional stature.

　　Ronals reagan's eight years as governor of Californ ia brought home to him the difference between the words he had spoken over the years and what could actually be accomplished once in office. For six of those years he was confronted by a relatively unfriendly democratic le gislature, and shoting out the responsibility for his a ccomplishments and failures as governor has been diffic ult. Many observers have noted that his record was not as good as the claimed but not as bad as his critics ma intained. Reagan concentrated on three major goals duri ng his gubernatorial years, and he succeeded in having an impact on all three-although not always the one he s ought. The three touchstones of his administration were taxes and goverment spending, welfare reform, and highe r education.