Ronald Reagan's career in Hollywood prepared him for his second career in politics by providing stability and creating an image for his future image in politics. According to Pemberton, Love Is on the Air was the "first of Reagan's many roles as citizen-crusader, and it presented the prototype of the character he later played throughout his political career" (p.22). His usual roles film roles were idealistic heroes in action characters or the typical boy-next-door types. Though he did not have theatrical abilities to dominate the screen, his personality and character roles created an image of Ronald Reagan that helped prepare him for his second career in politics.
Reagan changed his political party affiliation in the 1950s because he "believed that the Democratic Party had been taken over by "tax-and-spend" liberals who had forgotten the warnings of Thomas Jefferson and Woodrow Wilson that government was a threat to liberty" (p. 48-9). Reagan turned toward conservatism, which offered a stable foundation with American ideas and values. Reagan preferred not to label himself, and believed in the need for both order and freedom for the American people.
Some important California Republicans approached Reagan about running for governor in 1966 for practical reasons. According to Pemberton, they "wanted a conservative who could win, and Reagan seemed the most likely candidate" (p.65). The California Republicans wanted Reagan to run for governor because they knew he was a credible leader who could influence the people. According to Pemberton, some felt Reagan was divided between ideology and pragmatism in the way he governed California. Reagan "used conservative rhetoric to keep his right-wing supporters happy, but he often acted in a pragmatic manner" (p. 75). Though Reagan leaned toward .
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