Reply #13: More on GE's grooming of Ronald Reagan as its corporate political spokesman, by

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Thomas Evans, author of "The Education of Ronald Reagan: The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of his Conversion to Conservatism"

According to Evans's astonishing and chilling corporate history, in the 50s and 60s GE apparently employed 3,000 paid political organizers to influence local and statewide elections for corporate benefit. Ronald Reagan apparently became the centerpoint of a massive, near-fascist corporate political organizing effort, in large part focused on Reagan's weekly appearance on the long-running CBS TV series, "GE Theater".

From http://hnn.us/articles/32681.html :

"History News Network, 1-08-07

The GE Years: What Made Reagan Reagan, By Thomas W. Evans

In my book, The Education of Ronald Reagan: The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of his Conversion to Conservatism , I trace Reagan�s evolution from liberal to conservative, from actor to politician. ... When he joined GE in 1954, Reagan was a Democrat and a self-described 'New Dealer to the core.' One of the early photos in the book shows him at the White House -- the Truman White House -- where he was thanked by the president for his strong support in the 1948 election. ...

However, on October 27, 1964, two years after he had left GE, Reagan delivered a nationally-televised speech in support of conservative Barry Goldwater. ... Supporters and critics alike thereafter referred to Reagan�s remarks as 'The Speech.' The dean of the Washington press corps referred to it as 'the most successful political debut since William Jennings Bryan�s �Cross of Gold� speech in 1896.' In 1966, Reagan was elected governor of California. As Reagan later commented, he had been giving The Speech for years, in a variety of versions, in his role as GE�s 'Traveling Ambassador.' ...

GE vice president Boulware .... was placed in charge of all of GE�s labor, public and community relations. ... Boulware believed in 'going over the heads of the union leaders' directly to the employees. He ... created a new position, Employee Relations Manager, and 3,000 of them joined with 12,000 supervisors to bring the company�s message home. The ERMs used skills that the company had developed in the manufacture and sale of its products to win the hearts and minds of its workers. Boulware called this 'job marketing.' Two of the publications that emanated from Boulware�s operation were distributed weekly: one ... was a newsletter to GE supervisors and to local 'thought leaders,' who could influence municipal and state elections. A slick monthly magazine often tied Reagan�s GE Theater news to ideological messages. And a defense quarterly, featuring GE�s efforts in the field, was enhanced by commentary from leading experts (e.g. well-known academics and occasional Cabinet officials) on military and geopolitical matters. ... An article in the defense quarterly presaged the Reagan Doctrine and contains the earliest mention of what later became the strategic defense initiative.

In time, Lemuel Boulware and GE CEO Ralph Cordiner mounted a national grass roots campaign, recruiting major corporate allies, creating schools where GE employees and others could learn the fundamental political skills to win elections, developing shareholder lists for political mailings, and turning GE workers into 'communicators' and 'mass communicators' (Boulware�s words) who could spread the message ... to a decisive number of local voters. In the course of this Ronald Reagan was taken out of the plants and put on what he called 'the mashed potato circuit' of civic forums largely in the south and smaller states, often towns where GE dominated the economy. ... In due course, the 'great communicator' was born. In today�s parlance, most of these states turned from blue to red. Ronald Reagan developed a vision of America during his GE years. He learned to reduce his views to a few simple precepts and, as he entered politics, he went over the heads of party leaders, using the banquet circuit and television to present his powerful message. ...