gene kopelson. he is a cancer doctor by trade, but also an accomplished historian. he has written about theodore roosevelt, about washington state politics in the 1960's, about the holocaust and other subjects. his talk tonight will focus on his first book called, "reagan's 1968 dress rehearsal" and it tells the little-known story

gene kopelson. he is a cancer doctor by trade, but also an accomplished historian. he has written about theodore roosevelt, about washington state politics ie

please join me in welcoming gene kopelson. [applause] gene: thank you for coming on a beautiful sunny seattle day. the audience should know that it really was. thank you to the other people here at the discovery center. keith, who originally helped, tessa, and also c-span. i would like to go back to give you the rationale for why i wrote this book. to me, the 1980's, the age of ronald reagan was really a golden age for america and for the world. ronald reagan, unlike today, had a strong military, he created a booming economy, he created 20-25,000,000 jobs, he defeated communism with the help from others, but he was a primary mover without firing a shot. he brought freedom to millions and he restored pride in america. so i set out to try to find out how and why he first sought the presidency in the 1960's. you notice, we will talk about eisenhower, but i would not be surprised if you asked how eisenhower had to do with ronald reagan? and didn't eisenhower spent the 1960's on the golf course until he passed away? i found out that