The Eleventh Commandment (Ronald Reagan)

The Eleventh Commandment was a phrase used by former President of the United States Ronald Reagan during his 1966 campaign for Governor of California. The Commandment reads: :"Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."

History

The 11th commandment was created by then California Republican Party Chairman Gaylord Parkinson to help prevent a repeat of the liberal Republican assault on Barry Goldwater that caused Goldwater's defeat in the 1964 presidential election. East Coast Republicans like Nelson Rockefeller labeled Goldwater an "extremist" for his conservative positions and declared him unfit to hold office. Fellow Republican candidate for Governor George Christopher and California's liberal Republicans were leveling similar personal attacks on Reagan. Hoping to prevent a split in the Republican Party, Parkinson used the phrase as common ground. Party liberals eventually followed Parkinson's advice.

Christopher would lose to Reagan in the Republican primaries, and Reagan would go on to defeat incumbent Governor Pat Brown.

External links

* [http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0402/0402eleventhcommandment.htm History of the phrase]
*cite web |url=http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/17/416583.aspx |title=the 11th commandment|accessdate=2008-03-09 |author=Brian Williams |date=2007-10-17 |work=The Daily Nightly |publisher=MSNBC