ABSTRACT
California was the great American success story in the 1950s and 1960s. On 3 January 1967 Reagan was inaugurated as governor of California. Ronald Reagan spent several months touring California, speaking to different groups and gauging the political climate. Reagan had often performed the role of citizen-reformer in films, and he played the part well because it exactly fit his self-image. Reagan sketched an optimistic vision of California blossoming under the freedom that would come with limited government and an unfettered marketplace. Democratic governor Edmund G. Pat Brown learned that Reagan was a natural and adroit politician. Reagan believed that the governorship could be handled easily by bringing in the best people possible, setting general policy for them, and then leaving them alone. He regarded himself as the salesman and chief spokesman for the administration rather than as the manager of government operations.
