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GANNETT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL REPORT | Return to Reagan start | E-mail feedback

 

Reagan is sworn in as governor of California by Associate Justice Marshall McComb on Jan. 2, 1967.

1966-1976

Governor/Candidate

1966: Elected governor of California, defeating incumbent Pat Brown.

1970: Wins second California gubernatorial bid with 53 percent of the vote after declaring war on student unrest — particularly at Berkeley, which he considered a hotbed of Communism and promiscuity.

1971: Signs the nation’s first Welfare Reform Act designed to reduce welfare rolls. His other greatest act as governor was balancing the state budget.

1974: Sets out with wife Nancy for a national tour to gauge public support for a potential presidential campaign.

1976: Narrowly loses the presidential nomination to President Gerald Ford.

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