# did Ronald Reagen consider to join the communists in his younger days **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 10, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-ronald-reagen-consider-to-join-the-communists-in-his-younger-days/102764 "2002-04-10T02:13:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![POWER\_station](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@POWER\_station](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/POWER_station)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-ronald-reagen-consider-to-join-the-communists-in-his-younger-days/102764/1 "2002-04-10T02:13:08Z")
I saw a documentary back in the 90’s about Ronald Reagen and his life. I seam to remeber that he considered to join the communist party when he was young. He was on a meeting, but changed his mind about it (or something like that). I also seam to remember that he was confronted about this in the 50’s - in the Macarthy period. (was he working with a union for actors in Hollywood ?) I’ve tried to search about this on the net, but didn’t come up with something good. So I ask people here ? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-ronald-reagen-consider-to-join-the-communists-in-his-younger-days/102764/2 "2002-04-10T02:20:29Z")
I doubt the confrontation part. Reagan was a friendly witness during the hearings and fought vigorously to rid Hollywood of Communists. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-ronald-reagen-consider-to-join-the-communists-in-his-younger-days/102764/3 "2002-04-10T02:31:24Z")
I saw the same show. Reagan did consider joining the Communist Party when he was a young actor. IIRC, he saw how the Party was “strong arming” actors in SAG and decided that it was not a good thing. From then on, he was a devout anti-Communist. ---
**Author:** ![KillerFig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/51bf81/32.png) [@KillerFig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KillerFig)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-ronald-reagen-consider-to-join-the-communists-in-his-younger-days/102764/4 "2002-04-10T03:19:00Z")
_Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan_, by Edmund Morris, contains an interview with historian and former Communist Party member Howard Fast. Here’s an excerpt: > [@](#): > > **Fast:** …Reagan got carried away by stories of the Communist Party helping the dispossessed, the unemployed, and the homeless. Some of his friends, people he respected, were Party members. So he turned to them. Said he wanted to become a Communist. > > **Morris:** Ronald Reagan? Oh, please. That can’t possibly be true. > > **Fast:** Ask anyone in the Party–it’s common knowledge. I was a member myself, you know, for fifteen years. Got a memoir coming out soon, called _Being Red_. > > **Morris:** Reagan asked some Communist friends– > > **Fast:** Not asked, told 'em. Said he was determined to join. They discussed it with the local party leader, who asked around, and the word came back that Reagan was a flake…Anyway, the said that Reagan couldn’t be trusted with any political opinion for more than twenty minutes. So the decision was taken to prevent him from joining, but to use him as a friend of the Party. Fast goes on to give Morris the names of some other actors and Communist Party members who could confirm the story; Morris reports that he did get a corroborating story from one of these people. This biography was authorized, but I seem to recall that when it was released, there was a fair amount of controversy regarding its accuracy, so take this all with a grain of salt. Take care. -KillerFig ---
**Author:** ![KillerFig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/51bf81/32.png) [@KillerFig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KillerFig)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-ronald-reagen-consider-to-join-the-communists-in-his-younger-days/102764/5 "2002-04-10T03:19:42Z")
_Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan_, by Edmund Morris, contains an interview with historian and former Communist Party member Howard Fast. Here’s an excerpt: > [@](#): > > **Fast:** …Reagan got carried away by stories of the Communist Party helping the dispossessed, the unemployed, and the homeless. Some of his friends, people he respected, were Party members. So he turned to them. Said he wanted to become a Communist. > > **Morris:** Ronald Reagan? Oh, please. That can’t possibly be true. > > **Fast:** Ask anyone in the Party–it’s common knowledge. I was a member myself, you know, for fifteen years. Got a memoir coming out soon, called _Being Red_. > > **Morris:** Reagan asked some Communist friends– > > **Fast:** Not asked, told 'em. Said he was determined to join. They discussed it with the local party leader, who asked around, and the word came back that Reagan was a flake…Anyway, they said that Reagan couldn’t be trusted with any political opinion for more than twenty minutes. So the decision was taken to prevent him from joining, but to use him as a friend of the Party. Fast goes on to give Morris the names of some other actors and Communist Party members who could confirm the story; Morris reports that he did get a corroborating story from one of these people. This biography was authorized, but I seem to recall that when it was released, there was a fair amount of controversy regarding its accuracy, so take this all with a grain of salt. Take care. -KillerFig