The next 50 years? I am old enough to vividly recall 50 years ago when the U.S. celebrated its 200th anniversary. It was 1976 and I was living in San Francisco. A group of us were gathered on the big night to go to the rooftop of an apartment building and watch a huge fireworks show. But it was very overcast and we saw almost nothing.
What were we thinking about America at that point, being so much younger then? It was after the end of the Vietnam War and Watergate and we were in the midst of a presidential election that a few months later saw Jimmy Carter become president.
From today’s perspective, it seemed so much simpler then, even though the issues and the rhetoric was just as vehement as today.
For myself, I was quite confused politically at that point. Ford was the GOP nominee but Reagan was clearly up and coming. His speech at the GOP nominating convention was inspirational and in stark contrast to the politics as usual of that day. Many in the country viewed his rise with particular concern. He was seen as a wild man from California who might trigger a nuclear war if he ever got to the White House.
Ford was dull and after the GOP’s disaster of Watergate and the loss in Vietnam, things weren’t ripe enough yet for a Reagan revolution, but ripe for a young country governor to win the highest office in the land. That was Carter.
That fall marked a huge adventure for me, personally. I got to get in Reagan’s face on the eve of the election. I was campaigning enthusiastically for a minor third party candidate that I thought could solve major problems of world hunger and peace. I was wrong.
Still, I had an uncommon opportunity to impact the election directly. It came in the final days before the election. I was in my San Francisco apartment when a call came from a higher up in our campaign. It was about the fact that Reagan, who was campaigning for Ford, was due to fly into the San Francisco airport as a stopover flying from Seattle to Los Angeles.
I was told the flight number and the arrival time. I had about an hour to get onto that plane. We were organizing for our man to get on national TV the night before the election. At that point we were siding with Ford.
So, I collected cash from my two roommates and jumped in a cab for the airport. I was able to get a ticket and rushed to board the flight. Stepping into the cabin, I saw Reagan and his aid Michael Deaver sitting in the third row. There was an open seat right in front of him and I dove for it, buckling myself in and waiting for takeoff.
Once airborne, I unbuckled the seatbelt and turned to look over the back of my seat directly at Reagan. He was a bit startled. I told him how important he was and that it was urgent that my candidate get on national TV to call out the threat to everyone and proposed that Reagan share the TV time with him.
At one point Reagan started to respond to me, but Deaver put his hand on Reagan’s arm so he sank back in his seat and remained silent.
I made my pitch, then returned to my seated position for the rest of the flight. When we landed, I waited as Reagan got up to leave, and reiterated to him how important he was and that he needed to do what I suggested. He looked back at me and exited.
A couple years later, I had a chance through a friend to attend a Reagan event in Fresno and my friend introduced me to Reagan. I described our earlier encounter and Reagan replied, “By golly, I remember that!”
That was 50 years ago now. So much has happened since.
