Californians for Reagan
In 1970, Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), a major fundraiser for Democratic candidates since Franklin Roosevelt, astonished Hollywood and the political world by joining the reelection campaign of California Governor Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) against Speaker of the California State Assembly Jesse Unruh (1922–1987), whom Sinatra disliked intensely. His Rat Pack pal and Democratic fundraiser Dean Martin (1917–1995) joined Californians for Reagan shortly after Sinatra. In October, Sinatra and Martin along with Republican entertainers Bob Hope and John Wayne (1907–1979) performed at a fundraising dinner for the governor, who remarked, “I have never ceased being proud of the people of the profession I belonged to.” Two years earlier, Reagan humorously implored Hope to perform at the National Republican Governors Conference.
In 1970, Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), a major fundraiser for Democratic candidates since Franklin Roosevelt, astonished Hollywood and the political world by joining the reelection campaign of California Governor Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) against Speaker of the California State Assembly Jesse Unruh (1922–1987), whom Sinatra disliked intensely. His Rat Pack pal and Democratic fundraiser Dean Martin (1917–1995) joined Californians for Reagan shortly after Sinatra. In October, Sinatra and Martin along with Republican entertainers Bob Hope and John Wayne (1907–1979) performed at a fundraising dinner for the governor, who remarked, “I have never ceased being proud of the people of the profession I belonged to.” Two years earlier, Reagan humorously implored Hope to perform at the National Republican Governors Conference.