Long before he was elected president, Ronald Reagan was a governor with national ambitions, but his staunch conservative beliefs meant he had no clear path to the White House.
However, according to one scene in the new movie: Reagan (PG-13) A 1970 prophecy predicted the rise to power of the Great Communicator.
Singer Pat Boone was there and remembers it well.
“It was at a prayer meeting at the Governor's Mansion with President Reagan and Nancy,” Boone told Crosswalk Headlines.
Boone, now 90, and his late wife, Shirley, became friends with Ronald and Nancy Reagan when their children attended school together in the 1960s. (The Boones started families when they were young, the Reagans became parents later in life.) Boone also supported Reagan's political career, and was his delegate to the 1976 Republican National Convention.
“Shirley and I [pastor] George Otis [and] “A businessman and some Christians came from Los Angeles to Sacramento to attend a Kathryn Kuhlman rally,” Boone said. “It was in a big arena downtown. It was mostly a worship service, but people were being healed at her rally. It was really amazing, so we went.”
After Kuhlman's event, the group drove to the Governor's Mansion and met with President Reagan.
“We just had tea and cookies and talked about what we'd just experienced,” Boone said. “Reagan was very interested because he was a Christian, and as we were leaving, George Otis said, 'Governor, would it be OK if I just said a quick prayer before I leave?'”
Reagan agreed.
“So we sat in a circle, held hands and each of us led a part of the prayer,” Boone said.
Finally, the moment came for Otis to pray.
“I called him 'The Electric Man' because when he was 'filled with the Holy Spirit' and he was talking about Jesus and the Holy Spirit, his hands were shaking. It was like an electric current was running through his body. He was holding Reagan's right hand,” Boone said. “And as he was finishing up his prayer, he said, 'Lord, we thank you so much for this country, for our freedoms, for California, for this man.' And he stopped praying, took a breath, and we waited for him to finish praying.
“Then, in another voice, we heard him say, 'Son, I am pleased with you. If you continue to walk upright before me, you will live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.' And there was another silence, and George finished the prayer with his own voice, and we looked up at Reagan, and his eyes were watering because he had felt the current coming from George Otis's hands, and all he could say was, 'My goodness, that's amazing.'”
“It was a prophetic statement that if he continued on the straight and narrow path he had led as governor, he would one day become president,” Boone said.
But after Reagan lost the Republican nomination in 1976, his supporters began to wonder whether that prophecy had come true.
Reagan had no intention of running again in 1980, but Nancy helped change his mind during a meeting with other supporters, Boone said. She reminded her husband of the words of his pastor.
“[Reagan] “'Yeah, but you thought he was a weirdo,' she said. 'Well, maybe it was, but maybe it was true. Maybe it was true.' So Reagan ran again, and as we all know, he won,” Boone said.
Reagan won the Republican nomination and defeated Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter in the 1980 general election. Boone called Reagan on election night.
“I was in Washington for some reason and the news anchor said, ‘This former governor of California is definitely going to be president.’ So it occurred to me … I called. [Reagan] The phone rang from Washington. [Reagan answered]I said, 'May I call you President?'”
Boone reminded Reagan of the prophecy.
“I said, ‘Do you remember that night in Sacramento when you heard those words? [when] Were we working together to get you a place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?”
“He said, 'I've thought about it a lot over the last few months.'
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Fraser Harrison/staff/Fox Photos/Stringer
Michael Faust He has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years, and his work has appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star and Knoxville News Sentinel.
