Let’s talk about early voting: Ronald Reagan won the race for the White House 60 years ago. As columnist George Will joked, “it only took 16 years to count the votes.”

Just a week before the November 1964 presidential election, Ronald Reagan went on television to champion the cause of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. In Los Angeles, Reagan recorded a 30-minute campaign commercial, which was broadcast nationwide on October 27.

His speech was pre-recorded but presented as if it were a live broadcast. The program was “A Time for Choosing”, but often called simply “The Speech”, because its impact changed the trajectory of Reagan’s life. In today’s parlance, Reagan went viral.

Reagan began his speech by saying that he had spent most of his life as a Democrat, but now saw it appropriate to follow a different path. He argued for smaller government, that the government was beholden to the people and that Americans should reject the intellectual elite of any distant capital. The election was a choice between less government control and more individual freedoms.

He was disgusted by fiscal irresponsibility that was eroding the purchasing power of a dollar. Reagan was dismayed that the debt ceiling had been raised three times in 1964 and that the country had spent 10 times more on welfare than during the Great Depression. He criticized the United Nations and foreign aid, saying the billions sent abroad created more bureaucracy and were used to buy a yacht for the Ethiopian emperor, costumes for Greek undertakers and extra brides for the Kenyan government officials. In total, according to Reagan, 107 countries received aid from the United States. Today, 210 foreign countries and regions receive assistance from American taxpayers. The debt ceiling has been raised 70 times since 1964.

Reagan spent a lot of time attacking the bloated federal government, excessive bureaucracy, and property foreclosures. He said every day the government was spending $17 million more than it collected. Today, excess spending is $4.6 billion per day. Farm subsidies were also the enemy of free enterprise and an insult to the intelligent farmer. Reagan said the bureaucracy is so thick that the Department of Agriculture has one employee for every 30 farms. Today, there is one employee for 19 farms.

His speech praised the benefits of individual freedoms and the need for the country to always defend freedom and be willing to pay the price. Reagan despised communism and revered freedom.

“Should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Reagan asked, “Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard round the world?” He concluded by saying that Goldwater had faith in America and that Americans have a date with destiny, because the United States is the last best hope of man on earth.

The broadcast ended with an appeal for campaign funds. The money was collected the old-fashioned way: by flooding a post office box in Los Angeles. About $1 million was raised, a huge sum, considering that the combined Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns spent $20 million in the 1960 campaign.

Reagan’s performance was immediately noticed. Just two days after The Speech, a rural Plumas County newspaper wrote about a woman who said Reagan had changed her mind about voting: No voting for Goldwater, she’s going to vote for Ronald Reagan! And that’s how it all began. Predictably, Reagan said he had no desire to run; two weeks later, he studied the opportunity and ultimately decided to run for governor, winning two terms.

Reagan’s October 27 performance was not a hasty end to the campaign; it was the result of relentless practice and discipline. For years, Reagan had delivered The Speech, in different forms and to different audiences. His eight-year contract to host the General Electric Theater television program allowed him to tour GE factories and boost morale through his public speaking. His remarks focused on the evils of socialism and the benefits of freedom.

“A Time for Choosing” is an evolution of these earlier speeches, such as “Business, Ballots and Bureaus” from 1959. Reagan warned of the growing power of bureaucrats to shape policy rather than elected lawmakers in Congress. Reagan said the stifling regulations are “permanently frozen by civil service regulations, beyond the reach of any election.” This criticism foreshadowed the Supreme Court’s 2024 overturning of the Chevron Doctrine, a legal principle that granted federal agencies broad authority to interpret laws. In 1959 and 1960, Reagan delivered the Triple B speech in cities stretching from Chattanooga, Abilene, Spokane and even Honolulu. In 1961, a version of the speech was titled “Encroaching Control,” in which he called the governor of California a tower of jelly that swings to the left with every breeze.

He opposed Nixon’s candidacy for governor in 1962 and changed his voter registration to Republican that fall. The titles of his speeches changed to “The Price of Freedom” and “What’s at Stake?” » but the fundamental messages of fiscal responsibility and democratic freedom remained. Reagan spoke to anyone: Republican clubs, chambers of commerce, sororities, college campuses, real estate agents, Elks Clubs, Rotary Clubs and Lions Clubs. And he went everywhere.

Reagan crisscrossed California, from Barstow to Chico, speaking under the abbreviated banner “It’s Time to Choose.” Each speech could be adapted to the audience. Reagan dropped lines that didn’t pack a punch; he added and updated the evidence as the data evolved. He studied the rhythm and the pauses, choosing the appropriate moment to raise his voice or remain silent to absorb the applause or laughter. When Reagan became co-chairman of Goldwater’s California campaign, he added material about candidate Goldwater piloting his own plane to deliver medicine to flood-ravaged Mexico.