John Carlton with Ronald Reagan
Erie Playhouse
1954

Here's a snapshot from 1954 of John Carlton (before coming to Philadelphia) interviewing Ronald Reagan. Reagan had just served a couple terms as President (President of the Screen Actors Guild).

Reagan was in Erie to address workers of a nearby General Electric plant. At that time, Reagan was the host of GE Theater on television. Carlton was the morning man on Erie's WERC. John had triple the audience ratings of his nearest competition.

Broadcast Pioneers member John Carlton said that one of the questions he asked Reagan was whether he ever thought about entering politics (because of the success of his election as President of SAG). Reagan said that he never entertained the idea, but would give it some thought.

From the official archives of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
Photo originally donated by Broadcast Pioneers member John Carlton
All Rights Reserved

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com