I've seen this video pop up here and there for a while now but never thought much of it till an episode of On The Media last week. In it they talk about past presidential insurgencies, like that of Barry Goldwater, comparing that to the current Trump phenomenon. Now I knew Ronald Reagan made a run at the Republican nomination in 1976 against a weak incumbent in Gerald Ford but I was unaware how close he came in 1968.
Although looking back it makes sense. Richard Nixon was coming off a string of losses to JFK and then losing the California Gubernatorial race to Edmund G. "Pat" Brown...
On the other hand Reagan was in a similar position to what Obama found himself in 2008. An up and comer in his party. Having just defeated that very same Pat Brown for Governor of California.
So by winning the California Primary 48 years ago. In the backyard of the top two GOP contenders. You have to wonder what if anything Reagan and or Nixon knew about RFK's fate?That he was never going to leave California alive.
We do know that right around that same time Reagan's attorney general (EdwinMeese) was blocking Jim Garrison from extraditing a keywitness (Loran Hall) into his JFK investigation.