Overview

One week after Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy for governor of California, the San Francisco Chronicle gibed: ""It was simply a flagrant example of miscasting."" Reagan was tanking, and his businessmen backers panicked. Their bold experiment was about to fail. Then a think-tank friend suggested the expertise of two UCLA social pyschologists. Kenneth Holden and Stanley Plog agreed to take the job only if they could have three full days alone with Reagan. The candidate and his backers agreed, and the three men disappeared into a Malibu beach house. Those three days remade the bumbling neophyte into an articulate, confident politician whose devastating sound bites shredded the opposition. Holden or Plog remained by Reagan's side for the rest of the campaign, feeding him information about California's problems, teaching him to handle the press, writing his position papers, and helping develop the programs he offered, all while battling factions of the campaign team who seemed determine to sabotage their own man. Not everyone who voted for Reagan supported his positions, but voters preferred his honesty and forthrightness to the waffling of other politicians. Reagan won by a landslide. Holden and Plog had shaped an actor into a governor, but they were also turning a governor into a president. Here is the untold story of how they did it.

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A Sacramento Bee Hot Summer Read <br> A fascinating account. <br>-- Sacramento Bee <br> A little known story with historical importance about the early days of the Reagan legacy and a great story about two young men's influence on the early political life of the 'Great Communicator.' A fun and interesting read! <br>--John Miller, former national finance co-chair, Mitt Romney for President, 2008 and 2012 <br> In 1984, George Orwell warned that it doesn't take a military boot against your neck to oppress you. The government can do it by using what Orwell called 'newspeak' to hide truth, distort language, and keep the public in the dark. That may be the biggest threat to freedom. Refreshingly, The Making of the Great Communicator tells a different story--how two quick-witted communication coaches liberated Ronald Reagan to convey his love of freedom, his vision for America, and his common-sense wisdom. This is a fast read, a gripping story, and an inspirational slice of history. <br>--Betsy McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York State<br> Ronald Reagan's story is so quintessentially all-American it could have been created by a skillful novelist or playwright. Clearly his success had everything to do with his impressive communication skills. Yet as Ken Holden's very personal memoir of the shaping of the future president makes clear, Reagan's real genius was his willingness to listen and take counsel from savvy coaches like Holden who sensed early on that, while Reagan was a middling movie star, he had the humility, kindness, and empathy to inspire and lift the common man, to reenergize a discouraged nation, and change the course of the world. <br>--R. B. Scott, author of Mitt Romney <br> Before there was President Reagan, there was Governor Reagan, and before Governor Reagan there was Kenneth Holden helping to transform an already exceptional communicator into a great one. This is the story of how that came to pass. It's great history an

A Sacramento Bee Hot Summer Read A delightful read ... keen observations of California politics ... The story of Reagan's ascension is simply fascinating. -- Chico Enterprise-Record A fascinating account. -- Sacramento Bee A little known story with historical importance about the early days of the Reagan legacy and a great story about two young men's influence on the early political life of the 'Great Communicator.' A fun and interesting read! --John Miller, former national finance co-chair, Mitt Romney for President, 2008 and 2012 In 1984, George Orwell warned that it doesn't take a military boot against your neck to oppress you. The government can do it by using what Orwell called 'newspeak' to hide truth, distort language, and keep the public in the dark. That may be the biggest threat to freedom. Refreshingly, The Making of the Great Communicator tells a different story--how two quick-witted communication coaches liberated Ronald Reagan to convey his love of freedom, his vision for America, and his common-sense wisdom. This is a fast read, a gripping story, and an inspirational slice of history. --Betsy McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York State Ronald Reagan's story is so quintessentially all-American it could have been created by a skillful novelist or playwright. Clearly his success had everything to do with his impressive communication skills. Yet as Ken Holden's very personal memoir of the shaping of the future president makes clear, Reagan's real genius was his willingness to listen and take counsel from savvy coaches like Holden who sensed early on that, while Reagan was a middling movie star, he had the humility, kindness, and empathy to inspire and lift the common man, to reenergize a discouraged nation, and change the course of the world. --R. B. Scott, author of Mitt Romney Before there was President Reagan, there was Governor Reagan, and before Governor Reagan the

A little known story with historical importance about the early days of the Reagan legacy and a great story about two young men's influence on the early political life of the 'Great Communicator.' A fun and interesting read! <br>--John Miller, former national finance co-chair, Mitt Romney for President, 2008 and 2012 <br> In 1984, George Orwell warned that it doesn't take a military boot against your neck to oppress you. The government can do it by using what Orwell called 'newspeak' to hide truth, distort language, and keep the public in the dark. That may be the biggest threat to freedom. Refreshingly, The Making of the Great Communicator tells a different story--how two quick-witted communication coaches liberated Ronald Reagan to convey his love of freedom, his vision for America, and his common-sense wisdom. This is a fast read, a gripping story, and an inspirational slice of history. <br>--Betsy McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York State<br> Ronald Reagan's story is so quintessentially all-American it could have been created by a skillful novelist or playwright. Clearly his success had everything to do with his impressive communication skills. Yet as Ken Holden's very personal memoir of the shaping of the future president makes clear, Reagan's real genius was his willingness to listen and take counsel from savvy coaches like Holden who sensed early on that, while Reagan was a middling movie star, he had the humility, kindness, and empathy to inspire and lift the common man, to reenergize a discouraged nation, and change the course of the world. <br>--R. B. Scott, author of Mitt Romney <br> Before there was President Reagan, there was Governor Reagan, and before Governor Reagan there was Kenneth Holden helping to transform an already exceptional communicator into a great one. This is the story of how that came to pass. It's great history and a great read. <br>--David Pietrusza, author of 1960--LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign

Author Information

Kenneth Holden earned his PhD in clinical psychology from Ohio State University. At UCLA, he met Stanley Plog, and they founded Behavior Science Corporation (BASICO), a market research and consulting firm that focused on businesses, government, and election polling. After they sold BASICO, Holden joined California State University at Northridge as an assistant professor, later becoming a director with the Hawaii Mental Health Division. He lives in Chico, California, where he remains active in various volunteer organizations.

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