pearance at the state fair in Neshoba County, Mississippi—
the county where the infamous  murder of the three civil
rights workers had occurred—to praise “states’ rights” pre-
saged the posture toward civil rights his administration
would follow for the next eight years.

There is no doubt that Reagan’s sunny personality and

boundless public optimism soothed and inspired an elec-
torate that, while not supportive of the entire conservative
program, desperately wished to escape the failed national
governments of the s. His appeal captured the interest
of some number of black Americans, too: He drew  per-
cent of blacks’ votes. Although this figure continued the
downward trajectory of the GOP’s attraction to black voters,
it seemed to signal the willingness of some blacks to try Rea-
gan as an alternative to the seeming malaise gripping the na-
tion. It also helped that Reagan was vouched for by a small
group of newly visible and assertive black conservatives who
stood in opposition not only to the progressive views of the
black civil rights and political leadership but to moderate Re-
publicanism as well.

I knew firsthand that it was almost impossible to person-

ally dislike Ronald Reagan. In August , having readily
accepted the Urban League’s invitation to speak at its annual
conference in New York, he spent forty-five minutes visiting
with me at New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center,
where I was recovering from the attempt on my life; and he
brought with him his secretary, Ida Gaston, who had been

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