View source for A Time for Choosing

{{Short description|1964 speech by Ronald Reagan}}
{{Infobox event
| name = "A Time for Choosing" speech
| image = Ronald Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" speech October 27, 1964.webm
| image_size = 
| caption = In support of Goldwater, Reagan delivers the address, "A Time for Choosing"—the speech launched Reagan to national prominence in politics
| date = {{Start date|1964|10|27}}
| time = 
| duration = {{Duration|m=29|s=33}}
| venue = 
| place = [[Los Angeles County, California]], U.S.
| coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LON|region:US-CA_type:event|display=inline,title}} -->
| also_known_as = "The Speech"
| participants = [[Ronald Reagan]]
| filmed_by = 
| type = Televised campaign speech
| notes = {{Wikisource-inline|A Time for Choosing|the speech|single=yes}}
}}

"'''A Time for Choosing'''", also known as "'''The Speech'''", was a speech presented during the [[U.S. presidential election, 1964|1964 U.S. presidential election campaign]] by future [[President of the United States|president]] [[Ronald Reagan]] on behalf of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate [[Barry Goldwater]]. "A Time for Choosing" launched Reagan into national prominence in politics. He uses antithesis and rhetorical questions to convey a serious tone to the audience.

== Background ==
Many versions of this speech exist since it was altered over many weeks.  Contrary to popular belief, however, the speech was not given at the [[1964 Republican National Convention]] in San Francisco, California as a nomination speech for presidential candidate [[Barry Goldwater]]; [[Everett Dirksen]] gave that nomination speech, while [[Richard Nixon]] introduced Goldwater prior to his acceptance speech.  Reagan, though he campaigned for Goldwater, did not use "A Time for Choosing" until October 27, 1964, when it was part of a pre-recorded television program, ''Rendezvous with Destiny'' (the title of the program was used by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in his June 27, 1936 speech to the [[1936 Democratic National Convention]]).{{sfn|Shirley|2014|p=13}} In his autobiography, ''[[An American Life]]'', Reagan recalled going to bed that night "hoping I hadn't let Barry down."<ref name="An American Life">{{cite book |last=Reagan |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Reagan |year=1990 |title=An American Life: The Autobiography |url=https://archive.org/details/americanlife00reag |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanlife00reag/page/143 143] |isbn=0-671-69198-8 |access-date=31 March 2014 |quote=When it was over, the others in the room said I had done well. But I was still nervous about it and, when I went to bed, I was hoping I hadn't let Barry down.}}</ref>

Speaking for Goldwater, Reagan stressed his belief in the importance of [[Small government|smaller government]]. In the speech, Reagan revealed his ideological motivation: "The [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers]] knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing."<ref name="pbs-tfc">{{cite web |title=A Time for Choosing |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/40_reagan/psources/ps_choose64.html |archive-date=September 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110922065445/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/40_reagan/psources/ps_choose64.html |url-status=dead |work=[[The American Experience]]: The Presiendents |publisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=April 17, 2007}}</ref> He also said, "You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream – the maximum of individual freedom consistent with law and order – or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism."<ref name="pbs-tfc" /><ref>Richard A. Harris, Daniel J. Tichenor. ''A History of the U.S. Political System: Ideas, Interests, and Institutions'', Vol. 1.  Santa Barbara, [[California| CA]]: ABC-CLIO, 2009. p. 384</ref> The speech raised $1&nbsp;million for Goldwater's campaign,<ref name="agpi">{{Cite news |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | title=Actor, Governor, President, Icon |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18329-2004Jun5.html |date=June 6, 2004 |access-date=January 26, 2008 |last=Cannon |first=Lou |page=A01}}</ref> and is considered the event that launched Reagan's political career.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cannon |first=Lou |author-link=Lou Cannon |title=Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio |date=11 December 2001 |publisher=[[PublicAffairs]] |isbn=978-1891620843 |pages=36}}</ref><ref name="peter">{{cite book |author1=Peter Schweizer |author2=Wynton C. Hall |title=Landmark Speeches of the American Conservative Movement |year=2007 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |access-date=April 26, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SZbijMUHMQMC&pg=PA41 |page=42 |isbn=978-1-58544-598-1}}</ref><!--this cite ONLY for "launched Reagan's political career" -->

== Aftermath and legacy ==
"A Time for Choosing" has been considered one of the most effective speeches ever made by an eventual presidential candidate.  Following "A Time for Choosing" in 1964, ''Washington Post'' reporter [[David S. Broder]] called the speech "the most successful national political debut since [[William Jennings Bryan]] electrified the 1896 Democratic Convention with his '[[Cross of Gold speech|Cross of Gold' speech]]."<ref name="WPOST">Hayward, Steven F. (October 23, 2014). "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-ronald-reagans-a-time-for-choosing-endures-after-all-this-time/2014/10/23/d833c49e-587a-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html Why Ronald Reagan's 'A Time for Choosing' endures after all this time]". ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Nevertheless, Barry Goldwater lost the election by one of the largest margins in history. Soon afterward, Reagan was asked to run for [[Governor of California]], which he did and won the election in 1966.  When Reagan won the White House in 1980, [[George Will]] of ''The Washington Post'' referred back to "A Time for Choosing" and said, "Goldwater won the election of 1964... it just took sixteen years to count the votes."<ref name="WPOST" />

In 2014, [[Steven F. Hayward]], Professor of Public Policy at [[Pepperdine University]] and Reagan biographer, looked back at the speech and said, "at the time, critics thought the speech was too emotional; while others thought it was too controversial. But after the speech, it was clear that Ronald Reagan and his ideas were simply irresistible."<ref>{{cite web |last1=F. Hayward |first1=Steven |title=Professor |date=24 October 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulQ7kJIhZqg |via=YouTube |publisher=Ronald Reagan Foundation |access-date=July 11, 2022}}</ref>

"A Time for Choosing" ushered in a conservative movement in American politics at a time when the country was looking for strong leadership following [[John F. Kennedy]]'s [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]], and while experiencing both a growing [[welfare state]] and a raging [[Cold War]].<ref name="WPOST" /> Reagan's speech in 1964 not only made him the leader of this movement but also earned him the nickname "The Great Communicator" in recognition of his effective oratory skills.{{fact|date=February 2024}}  Among Reagan's admirers, "A Time for Choosing" is known simply as "The Speech".<ref>{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=I. |year=2016 |title=Reagan: American Icon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WaWmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP62 |access-date=2024-02-01 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78672-050-4}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|A Time for Choosing audio recording.ogg|date=2023-09-13}}
* Bimes, Terri (2002). "[http://escholarship.org/uc/item/08s0f26b#page-1. Ronald Reagan and the New Conservative Populism]".  Institute of Governmental Studies.
* {{cite book |author=Friedenberg, Robert V. |title=Notable Speeches in Contemporary Presidential Campaigns |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HCkiBLkglDMC&pg=PA143 |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood |pages=143ff |isbn=978-0-275-96785-7}}
* Kiewe, Amos, Davis W. Houck, & Davis L. Houck (1991).  ''A Shining City on a Hill: Ronald Reagan's Economic Rhetoric, 1951–1989''. Greenwood.
* Mann, Robert (2019). ''Becoming Ronald Reagan: The Rise of a Conservative Icon''. Potomac.
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Patterson |editor-first1=Eric D. |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-39987-4 |editor-last2=Morrison |editor-first2=Jeffry H. |title=The Reagan Manifesto: "A Time for Choosing" and Its Influence |publisher=Springer |date=2016 |isbn=978-3-319-39987-4}}
* {{cite book |author=Perlstein, Rick |title=Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus |url=https://archive.org/details/beforestormbarry0000perl_k0s0 |url-access=registration |year=2009 |publisher=Nation Books |pages=509ff |isbn=978-1-56858-412-6 }}
* Ritter, Kurt W. (1968). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10570316809389549 "Ronald Reagan and 'the speech': The rhetoric of public relations politics"]. ''Western Journal of Communication'' 32#1 pp.&nbsp;50–58.
* {{cite book |last=Shirley |first=C. |year=2014 |title=Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qlA6AwAAQBAJ |publisher=Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ORD) |isbn=978-1-4976-3638-5 |access-date=2025-03-01}}

{{Ronald Reagan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Time For Choosing, A}}
[[Category:1964 in American television]]
[[Category:1964 in California]]
[[Category:1964 speeches]]
[[Category:1964 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Barry Goldwater]]
[[Category:October 1964 in the United States]]
[[Category:Speeches by Ronald Reagan]]