Ronald Reagan lived in the public eye for more than fifty years as an actor and politician. He appeared in 53 Hollywood movies, from Love is on the Air (1937) to The Killers (1964). Never highly touted as an actor, his most acclaimed movie was King's Row (1942) while his favorite role was as George Gipp in Knute Rockne--All American (1940). He served as president of the Screen Actor's Guild from 1947 to 1952 and again in 1959 where he led the fight against communist infiltration in the film industry and brokered residual rights for actors.
Reagan made his debut on television 7 December 1950 as a detective on the CBS Airflyte Theater adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel. After a dozen appearances over the next four years on various shows, Reagan's big television break came when Taft Schreiber of MCA acquainted him with G.E. Theater. Reagan hosted this popular Sunday evening show from 1954 to 1962, starring in thirty-four episodes himself. Reagan was one of the first movie stars to see the potential of television and, as host, he introduced such Hollywood notables as Joan Crawford, Alan Ladd, and Fred Astaire to their television debuts. He also became a goodwill ambassador for G.E.--plugging G.E. products, meeting G.E. executives, and speaking to G.E. employees all over the country. This proved fine training for his future political career as he honed his speaking skills, fashioned his viewpoints, and gained exposure to middle-America.
In 1964, Reagan began a two-season stint as host of Death Valley Days which he had to relinquish when he announced his candidacy for governor of California in January 1966. During his terms as Governor of California (1966-74), Reagan made frequent televised appearances on Report to the People.
The hinge between Reagan's acting and political careers swung on a nationally televised speech, "A Time for Choosing," on 27 October 1964. This speech for Barry Goldwater, which David Broder hailed as "the most successful political debut since William Jennings Bryan electrified the 1896 Democratic convention with his 'Cross of Gold' speech," brought in over one million dollars for the Republican candidate and marked the beginning of Reagan's reign as the leading conservative for the next twenty-five years.
By 1980, the year Reagan was elected president for the first of his two terms, more people received their political information from television than from any other source. Reagan's experience as an actor on the screen and on television gave him an enormous advantage as politics moved fully into its television era. His mastery of the television medium earned for him the title, "the great communicator." He perfected the art of "going public," appealing to the American public on television to put pressure on Congress to support his policies. The rhetoric of this "prime-time president" suited television perfectly. Whether delivering a State of the Union address, eulogizing the crew of the Challenger, or speaking directly to the nation about his strategic defense initiative he captured the audience's attention by appealing to shared values, creating a vision of a better future, telling stories of heroes, evoking memories of a mythic past, exuding a spirit of "can-do" optimism, and converting complex issues into simple language the people could understand and enjoy.
He understood that television is more like the oral tradition committed to narratival communication than like the literate tradition committed to linear, factual communication. As Denton puts it, in video politics, "how something is said is more important than what is said." Reagan surmounted his numerous gaffes and factual inaccuracies until the Iran-Contra affair, when it became apparent that his style could not extricate him from the suspicion that he knew more than he was telling the American public.
His administration also greatly expanded the Office of Communication to coordinate White House public relations, stage important announcements, control press conferences, and create visual productions such as That's America, shown at the 1984 Republican convention. Image management and manipulation increased in importance because of television. Reagan's aides perfected a new political art form--the visual press release--whereby Reagan could take credit for new housing starts while visiting a construction site in Fort Worth or announce a new welfare initiative during a visit to a nursing home.
Ronald Reagan was an average television actor but a peerless television politician. Both Reagan and his staff set the standard by which future administrations will be judged. As Schmuhl argues in Statecraft and Stagecraft, Ronald Reagan represented not only the rhetorical presidency, but the theatrical presidency as well.
