Nation: Plain Talk in the Puzzle Palace

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After the ritual visit to Gettysburg, where he won Dwight Eisenhower's inimitable endorsement as "a Republican, I believe" and "a man of great integrity and common sense," Ronald Reagan last week braved Washington's skeptical scrutiny. Most of his fellow Republicans, though impressed by the actor's runaway victory in California's G.O.P. gubernatorial primary (TIME, June 17), were either unaware or dubious of Rea gan's move toward the center since he supported Goldwater in 1964. In a candid, eloquent speech before the National Press Club, the newcomer left no doubt of his present views.

Reagan, 55, served his audience the Hollywood hors d'oeuvres that they expected. Watching his old movies on the late show, he said, "is like looking at a son you never knew you had." Then he set out to expound his political views. "I've never advocated selling the Post Office or abolishing social security," Reagan declared, adding that "Americans are united in their determination that no area of human need be ignored." However, he reasoned, "the big question is not whether—but how, and at what cost—these problems will be solved. I respectfully suggest we do more by keeping California tax dollars in California than by running them through these puzzle palaces here on the Potomac."

In place of the Great Society, Reagan called for a "Creative Society," in which, as he put it, government would "no longer be substituting for the people, but recognizing it cannot possibly match the great potential of the people." That awareness is the Westerner's proudest legacy. Reagan reminded his audience: "We built the West without an area-redevelopment agency. San Francisco, destroyed by fire, was rebuilt by Californians who didn't wait for urban renewal."

After finishing his set speech, the Californian deftly fielded a volley of questions from the floor. Did the candidate have any presidential ambitions? "It's taken me all my life," he allowed, "to get up the nerve to do what I'm doing—and that's as far as my dreams go." If, as many professionals predict, Reagan unseats Democratic Governor Pat Brown in November, his dreams—and the Creative Society—may go farther.