Beschreibung:

ARCHIVE OF REAGAN LETTERS WRITTEN AS GOVERNOR. 39 Autograph Letters Signed (“Ronald Reagan,” “Ronald,” “Ron,” and “RR”), 41 pp, 4to and 8vo, various places including Sacramento and Pacific Palisades, June 20, 1966 and June 19, 1967, being original drafts of Reagan’s correspondence during his campaign and from his first year in office, some with copies of related correspondence, mild toning and spotting throughout. Together with 11 3½ by 5 inch color snapshots of Reagan, c.1967, including public appearances and on board planes, plus 2 8 by 10 glossies of Reagan as Governor. For much of his political career, Reagan’s practice was to draft his correspondence by hand, then give the originals to secretaries to be typed. This lot features a collection of his drafts from a former secretary, and includes correspondence covering some of the most pressing issues of his administration. One of the most interesting letters is a response to criticism of his handling of the 1967 state budget crisis, in which he proposed massive cuts including the incredibly unpopular budget reductions for the University of California system and the mental health system. Here, Reagan describes why the budget fight turned so ugly so fast: “We had no intention of seeing the matter of the U. budget on the front page. Faced with a fiscal-crisis we invited the U. administrators to what we thought would be a series of meetings to work together on a way to meet the problem of maintaining educational quality & at the same time get their help in meeting our need for economy. Within 24 hours of the first meeting the U. launched an attack via the press charging us with having a hard & fast position destructive of the U’s goals. This was a totally false & dishonest charge leading to all the uproar that followed and I might add was an eye opener to those of us who had expected better from the so-called intellectual elite. / With this experience fresh in mind word was leaked to us of the same kind of attack with regard to the mental health program. We were forced to move first and issue an abrupt announcement of our plan. The present attack on this issue is inspired more by the resistance of some to any reduction of govt than it is by concern for the mentally ill.” This collection also includes correspondence with Governors of Nevada and Montana, a thank you note to Clare Booth Luce for the gift of a painting, a letter to the National Review asking them (for a second time) to forward their subscription to Sacramento, a letter to his Los Angeles barber regarding upcoming legislation relating to the state board of cosmetology, and original drafts of the general responses and thank-yous required of the office. See illustration.