The article doesn't include the famous quotation to which Mark Shields alluded. But it does give some idea of how Reagan's appeal to far-right groups dogged him in that campaign:
In 1962, Reagan raised money for a Southern California Republican congressman and John Birch Society member, John Rousselot. ...The article goes on to explain that the FBI was in possession of a report claiming that Reagan had been a member of the John Birch Society but the claim was never substantiated. Reagan himself denied that he was ever a member and (carefully) criticized the Birchers, as his 10/28/66 speech to the Commonwealth Club of California: "I'm not a member, have no intention of joining, never have been a member, not going to ask their support."
[FBI director J. Edgar] Hoover's top aides took special note when Reagan appeared on Jan. 9, 1966, on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Reagan was asked why he hadn't disavowed the John Birch Society, a group known for its far-reaching conspiracy theories.
Robert Welch, the society's founder, contended President Eisenhower and other leading U.S. officials had been communists and traitors. The group claimed to have thousands of members nationally and chapters throughout Southern California.
Under pressure to clarify his stand on the society for months, Reagan had issued a press release saying he never was a member of the group and disagreed with Welch's "reckless and imprudent statements."
On "Meet the Press," Reagan said he had not condemned the society itself because the Burns committee had looked into the group and found "nothing of a subversive nature."
The FBI, Reagan added, "has found nothing requiring an investigation of the John Birch Society."
Tags: john birch society, ronald reagan
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