Page History: Reagan Radio Commentaries

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Page Revision: Thursday, 03 January 2019 11:18

Shortly after leaving the governorship of California, Reagan was approached to do radio, 3-4 minutes per day, 5 days per week. He recorded these shows from 1975 until 1979, with a break of roughly 9 months in 1976 while he challenged President Gerald Ford for nomination as the Republican candidate for President in the 1976 election.

Early on in their broadcast history, they were called "Viewpoint with Ronald Reagan" but later called the "Reagan Radio Commentary".

Several hundred of the commentaries were produced during the time, with wide ranging topics, foreign and domestic, political and popular culture.

A selection of these commentaries can be heard in the audiobook "Reagan In His Own Voice" and can be read in "Reagan In His Own Hand." Portions of the book are available via Google Books.

Reagan's hand-written notes and records of the commentaries can be found at the Stanford's Hoover Institute.

November 2018: Your humble administrator has begun slowly purchasing MP3s of the recordings available from the Hoover Institute to continue his research. Descriptions of the broadcasts will be made available as they they are listened to.

December 2018: Apparently, Hoover Institute has a cap on how much of the collection may be purchased. I was told via email it is 10%, but they allowed my last order to go through and I ended up with about 22%. It will have to do.

January 2019: My goal for the new year is to convince the Reagan Foundation to allow me to purchase the remaining MP3s available at the Hoover Institute. Ideally, I'd like to get usage rights, perhaps I'd start a podcast with the broadcasts. But I need help getting their attention. In Encroaching Control, Reagan says, "40,000 letters in Congress is considered evidence of a trend in public thinking."

Tweet to the Reagan Foundation and let's see if we can convince them together.

1975

In 1975, Reagan produced 21 collections containing 215 recordings.

1976

In 1976, Reagan produced 7 collections containing 102 recordings.

Reagan left the air between November 20, 1975 and August of 1976 while he campaigned for President against Gerald Ford. Ford would ultimately defeat Reagan in the primary process, but lose to Jimmy Carter in the general election.

1977

In 1977, Reagan produced 17 collections containing 177 recordings.

1978

In 1978, Reagan produced 16 collections containing 256 recordings.

1979

In 1979, Reagan produced 15 collections containing 218 recordings.

In the book Reagan, In His Own Hand, Reagan's last broadcast is dated on October 25, 1979 as he states that, "You'll understand tomorrow why I can no longer bring you these commentaries" and he would later make his announcement that he would run for President again in 1980.