Tuesday, October 27, 1964: 'A Time for Choosing'

On October 27, 1964, future president Ronald Reagan delivered a 30-minute television campaign speech for Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Later titled the "A Time for Choosing" speech, it raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Goldwater campaign and helped launch Reagan's political career.

     -- Summary by C-SPAN

Note: The speech, televised by NBC, had been taped a week earlier and was more a reflection of Reagan's own political views than it was an explicit endorsement of Goldwater. Estimates of how much money it raised vary widely, with some saying it ran into the millions.

* Watch the speech (video from Reagan Foundation): @

* Transcript (American Rhetoric): @

* "Why Ronald Reagan's 'A Time for Choosing' endures after all this time" (Stephen F. Hayward, for The Washingon Post, October 2013): @

* "Ronald Reagan and 'A Time for Choosing' " (Los Angeles Times, February 2011): @

* "The Myth of Reagan's GOP convention speech in 1964" (National Constitution Center): @

* Excerpt from "The Right Moment: Ronald Reagan's First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics" (Matthew Dallek, 2000): @

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