L first met and interviewed RonaldnReagan in late August 1974 at the Washington-BaltimorenFriendship InternationalnAirport motel. During the 45-minute oncameraninterview, 1 asked Mr. Reagannwhether, in the wake of Mr. Nixon’snWatergate-related resignation, Mr. Fordnhad consulted him on the selection ofnNelson Rockefeller as Vice-President.nCandidly, he said no. Could not such anlack of consultation with the most importantnleader of the conservative wingnof the GOP indicate that the liberal wingnof the Republican Party was out to cutnhis throat in August 1974 and to denynhim the nomination in 1976? Genuinelynsurprised by the question, Reagan expressednthe belief that he did not thinknhis “Mends” Ford and Rockefeller wouldndo such a thing. We now know this isnexactiy what happened in 1976. Pressednrepeatedly on the point, Mr. Reagan becamennervous and uncharacteristicallynevasive. He was saved by the harmlessnexplosion of a TV light that terminatednthe interview. I realized that what hadnbeen said about Reagan was true; he hasnthe luck of the Irish. Another commentnis fitting in this context. As Lyndon B.nJohnson once said: “If you walk into anroom and you don’t know who is for younand who is agin you, you’re in the wrongnline of work.”nThe Reagan debacle of 1976 illustratednthis perfectly. John Sears, whom Mr.nReagan had chosen to run his presidentialncampaign, made all of the wrong politicalndecisions. The country got Carter-nMondale as a consequence aft:er an ineptnpolitical campaign waged by the Ford andnDole pragmatists. Despite Sears’s demonstratednincompetence, Ronald Reagannset off a political storm by making itnTwo Reasons to ReadnHILLSDALE REVIEWnI. The Writers You KnownRussell Kirk, Ralph Mclnerny, Joseph Sobran, Sheldon Vanauken, Jeffrey Hart,nMarion Montgomery, Edmund Opitz, Ralph de Toledano, Richard Brookhiser, JohnnO’Sullivan, E. Michael Jones, Gerhart Niemeyer, Andrew Lytle, James V. Schall,nGeorge Gilder. . .nII. The Writers You Don’tnEvery good journal of opinion depends on authors with established reputations.nBut a magazine which is alive and fresh needs the impetus of writers whose qualitynof prose and ideas are not guaranteed with their byline. The Hillsdale Review isntwice the bargain you’d expect from glancing at the names on the cover. In it you’llnfind these writers, whose short meditations on American culture are marked by annironic wit and a principled reflection that are hard to come by. We’ve soughtncontributors who have that zest that comes from having to live up to the standardsnset by the big names. Columns on literature, film, music, science, and politics treatnthe underlying trends seldom covered in the glossy magazines and ponderousnscholarly quarterlies. If you’re looking for something other than the usual rehash,nread the names you don’t know-yet-in The Hillsdale Review.nTo subscribe, please send $5.00 for one year (four issues) to:nThe Hillsdale Review, 911 Sunset Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45205nnnknown that Sears would run his 1980npresidential campaign. In August 1978 anluncheon attended by 100 conservativenleaders was held on Capitol Hill to try tonstill the storm. Everyone at the luncheonnwanted to ask Reagan about Sears. Asnone of the few members of the newsnmedia present, I rose and bluntly put thenquestion of Sears to Reagan: “How cannyou justify retaining such a political turkey?”nReagan became flushed and defensive,ninsisting that it was unfair to characterizen”my friend” in such terms. Henhad fiill confidence that Sears would donan outstanding job in the 1980 campaign.nI replied that Sears raised a fundamentalnquestion that had haunted his two termsnas Governor of California: a staff seemingnto act contrary to his stated principlesnand policy. Hours before the 1980 NewnHampshire primary Ronald Reagan wasnforced to fire John Sears to save his presi-n•MMM33nOctober 1983n