Ronald Reagan ALS Re: Black Panthers, MLK Assassination, Governor Recall, & 1968 Republican National Convention - Outstanding Content! -

Reagan Ronald

Ronald Reagan ALS Regarding Black Panthers, MLK Assassination, Governor Recall, & 1968 Republican National Convention - Outstanding Content!

 

1p autograph letter inscribed overall by future 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), then Governor of California, and signed by him as "Ron" at lower right. The letter is undated, but has been docketed by the recipient as "7-25-68" in the upper right hand corner. On cream stationery. The recipient's blue marker slash does not affect the legibility of the text. A minor closed tear located along the right edge, else near fine. 6" x 9".

 

This letter to an unknown friend named "Chuck" contains sensational content relating to the political and cultural climate of 1968, when Governor Reagan faced animosity from multiple fronts. In the letter, Reagan mentions that he was a target of the Black Panthers, as well as of a recall movement tasked with forcing a special election prior to the 1968 Republican National Convention.

 

"Dear Chuck,

 

You were more than kind to write as you did + both Nancy + I are grateful.

 

There have been some threats, and apparently I'm one the Black Panthers have named as front of the [illegible] if Huey Newton should be convicted; also in retaliation for the King murder.

 

The recall movement is really a political gimmich [sic] + I'm doubtful it will get anywhere at all. Some who've deflected have been quoted in the press as saying there was no real effort to bring about a recall, but merely to create an embarrassment prior to the Convention.

 

Again thanks + thanks so much for the letters in my behalf.

 

Sincerely

 

Ron".

 

The Black Panthers was a leftwing organization that had been established just a few years earlier in 1966 by cofounders Huey P. Newton (1942-1989) and Bobby Seale. Newton was an activist graduate student who wanted improved social conditions for black Americans, changes achievable through violent means if necessary. On October 28, 1967, Newton had been arrested for fatally shooting Oakland police officer John Frey, and he was later charged with voluntary manslaughter. Reagan anticipated hostility from the organization if Newton was convicted--which in fact he was--in September 1968. Newton was sentenced to a 2-15 year prison sentence but was released in 1970.

 

Reagan also speculated in the letter that he would be targeted "in retaliation for the King murder." Baptist minister and Civil Rights champion Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) had been slain in Memphis, Tennessee just three months earlier, on April 4, 1968.

 

The recall movement to replace Reagan as Governor of California was organized as early as the fall of 1967. The movement was spearhead by disaffected educators, labor organizers, and the elderly who not only wanted to remove Reagan from Sacramento but also destroy his chances of a presidential nomination. Reagan's predictions proved correct, however; he was not recalled. Reagan attended the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida in early August 1968, finishing in third place for his party's nomination behind Richard Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller. Reagan served as Governor of California between 1967-1975.

 

The "threats" against Reagan eventually manifested some thirteen years later. President Reagan was wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. only a little after two months into his first presidential term, in March 1981.

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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