37 Years Ago in Time

With a recall election looming, California's extraordinary politics are in the spotlight again. Back in 1966 the nation was astonished to find a has-been movie actor, RONALD REAGAN, running strongly against incumbent Governor "Pat" Brown:

Crisscrossing California from Roubidoux to Rialto, from Taft to Twentynine Palms, Republican Ronald Reagan, 55, has been running 18 hours a day as if the Dead End Kids were after him (they were in at least two of his movies). And to the surprise of Republican pros and the chagrin of the Democratic hierarchy, the candidate from Warner Bros. has turned out to be the most magnetic crowd puller California has seen since John F. Kennedy first stumped the state in 1960...A polished orator with an unerring sense of timing and his listeners' mood, Reagan can hold an audience entranced for 30 or 40 minutes while he plows through statistics, gags and homilies...When he is through speaking, the crowds engulf him, clutching at his arms, reaching to grasp his hand, clasping him on the back. "You're wonderful!" women cry. Men shout, "Good luck!" --TIME, Oct. 7, 1966