Ronald Reagan's March 31, 1976 Televised Address

Above, Ronald and Nancy Reagan during the 1976 Republican National Convention. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back in the 1976 presidential primary campaign, former Governor Ronald Reagan challenged President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination for president.

During the campaign, the Reagan campaign floundered as it had not won a single primary until the North Carolina primary in March.

Following that win, Citizens for Reagan purchased a half hour of airtime for Reagan to address the American people on March 31, 1976. The North Carolina primary win and the address of March 31 gave the Reagan campaign a much-needed shot-in-the-arm and he went on to win most of the state primaries thereafter.

At the 1976 Republican National Convention at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, I was a California Reagan delegate. During the balloting,  Ford won with 1187 votes to 1070 votes for Reagan. He later lost to Jimmy Carter during the general election. 

Above, Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri in 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This morning, I came upon Reagan's March 31 televised address on YouTube. This was the first time I watched it since 1976, even though I did make an audio recording during the broadcast.

The address by Reagan in many respects applies today with what we're going through with Biden and the Democrats, especially with current problems with Russia, energy and the economy.

Here is the video of that address: