Ronald Reagan San Quentin's gas chamber. When Reagan was governor in 1969, he signed the Family Law Act, which was an amalgam of two bills that had been written and revised by the California State Legislature over more than two years. It became the first no-fault divorce legislation in the United States. Years later, no-fault divorce became Reagan's greatest regret. Reagan's terms as governor helped to shape the policies he would pursue in his later political career as president. By campaigning on a platform of sending "the welfare bums back to work," he spoke out against the idea of the welfare state.
Ronald Reagan He also strongly advocated the Republican ideal of less government regulation of the economy, including that of undue federal taxation. Reagan did not seek re-election to a third term as governor in 1974; he was succeeded by the Secretary of State, Democrat Jerry Brown, who took office on January 6, 1975. In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan soon established himself as the conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union, which became key components of his political base, while Ford