William f. buckley interview with ronald reagan

One in this talk/interview series hosted by William F. Buckley, Jr. In this edition, Buckley speaks with California Governor Ronald Reagan about his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. After introductions, Buckley begins by asking a hypothetical question to assess Reagan's ability to handle difficult situations: "What would you do if you were advised that a race riot had broken out in Detroit?" Reagan replies that he would stay uninvolved unless invited to intervene by the local authorities, and he talks about his handling of the campus riots during his tenure as governor of California in the 1960s. Buckley next asks Reagan a series of questions prompting the governor to talk about the following: his support for the proposal of Congressman Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) that all future United States bonds to be issued on a guaranteed purchasing power basis; his desire for American fuel-production independence by the year 1985; his strategies for dealing with unemployment; his plan to combat the national deficit; his belief that federal and municipal employees cannot be allowed to strike; his support for an amendment to return voluntary prayer to schools; and his plan for strategically utilizing agricultural production to influence the Soviet Union. Buckley then introduces Los Angeles Herald-Examiner associate editor Thomas Plate, who asks Reagan about the following topics, among others: the possibility that although Reagan is considered the front-runner in the primaries, he could end up losing the nomination to either George Bush or John Connally; his age; and the vitality of the Republican Party.

(Network affiliation varies; this program was also syndicated from 1966 to 1971 and from 1975 to 1977.)

Cataloging of this program was made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Theodore R. Stanley.

• NETWORK: PBS
• DATE: January 20, 1980 Sunday
• RUNNING TIME: 0:58:42
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:61386
• GENRE: Talk/Interviews
• SUBJECT HEADING: Politics, practical; Presidential candidates; Republican Party
• SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1971-1999
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

• Warren Steibel … Producer, Director
• Paul Sweeney … Associate Producer
• Dorothy McCartney … Researcher
• William F. Buckley, Jr. … Host
• Thomas Plate … Guest
• Ronald Reagan … Guest
• George Bush
• John Connally
• Jack Kemp