Reagan was elected Governor of California two years before Nixon won the Republican nomination and then was elected President. He was going to take over at the end of Nixon’s second term in 1976, but then Nixon resigned in 1973, and Reagan had to take on an incumbent, Gerald Ford. He lost that fight but went on to become our 40th President when he was 70.
So his Italian American namesake needs to be a little patient, just like the Gipper was.
reaganproject.blog 