Jan 16, 2020
Ronald Reagan is often regarded as a champion of modern American conservatism, but the former president didn’t always hold these political beliefs. Reagan actually grew up in a New Deal family and voiced his support for the Democratic Party well into the 1950s. So how did he come to be such a prominent figure in the Republican Party?
In this week’s episode, Robert Mann joins Julian Zelizer to discuss Ronald Reagan’s political origins and transformation from a Democrat to a Republican, the subject of Mann’s book, “Becoming Ronald Reagan: The Rise of a Conservative Icon.” Mann discusses Reagan’s political philosophies as they changed in the face of communism and the aftermath of the Vietnam War.
Mann holds the Manship Chair in Journalism at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. He has authored several works, including “Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Barry Goldwater and the Ad that Changed American Politics” and “The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights.” Mann also has penned op-eds and book reviews in such publications as The New York Times, the Boston Globe, Smithsonian, Politico, Vox, and Salon.