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Reagan took religious values into the presidency that he learned from his [[Disciples of Christ]] background at home and at Eureka College, a Disciples school. He was strongly influenced by Ben Hill Cleaver, the minister of the First Christian Church<ref>The formal name of the denomination is the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).</ref> in Dixon, Illinois, during the 1920s, and by Reagan's mother, Nelle, an active member of the church. At many points the positions taken by the Disciples Church of Reagan's youth coincided with the words, if not the beliefs of the latter-day Reagan. These positions included faith in Providence, the association of America's mission with God's will, belief in progress, trust in the work ethic and admiration for those who achieved wealth, an uncomfortableness with literature and art that questioned the family or challenged notions of proper sexual behavior, the presumption that poverty is an individual problem best left to charity rather than the state, sensitivity to problems involving alcohol and drugs, and reticence to use government to protect civil rights for minorities. Reagan's experiences in the church and with the Cleavers provided early training in public speaking and offered a way of learning in which acting played a central part. Reagan's use of the jeremiad and his fusing of Judeo-Christianity <ref>[https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganreligiousliberty.htm Ronald Reagan]. National Affairs Campaign Address on Religious Liberty (Abridged) - delivered 22 August 1980, Dallas Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas.</ref><ref>Tom Freiling (2003). ''Reagan's God and Country: A President's Moral Compass''. p. 19.</ref><ref>Reagan, R. (2005). Memorial Services in the Congress of the United States and Tributes in Eulogy of Ronald Reagan, Late a President of the United States. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office, [https://books.google.com/books?id=L-Oup8TM63MC&pg=PA24 p. 24].</ref><ref name=ae1966/> and patriotism into a civil religion also have their roots in this early period. For her part, Nelle was a pillar of the church and the one who provided stability to the shaky Reagan family when the head was drunkard and a poor provider. She helped spark her son's interest in acting and believed the stage could be a force for noble purposes.<ref>Stephen Vaughn, "The Moral Inheritance of a President: Reagan and the Dixon Disciples of Christ." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(1): 109-127. 0360-4918</ref>

[[Image:Reagangovernor.jpg‎|left|thumb|275px|Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan at the Victory celebration for California Governor at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California 11/8/66.]] In the 1966 gubernatorial campaign, conservatives generally supported Reagan over George Christopher, the Republican mayor of [[San Francisco]].  Already at the 1966 campaign Reagan began to stress Judeo-Christianity.<ref name=ae1966>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/reagan/ The American Experience | Reagan]. [http://www.shoppbs.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/filmmore/transcript/transcript1.html Enhanced Transcript].<blockquote><small>Lyn Nofziger, Press Secretary: They looked at Ronald Reagan, that dumb actor and they said, oh man, this is the guy we want to run against. He has no political experience, ah he's not going to be able to handle himself well . Stu Spencer: So we devised a technique where he would give his twenty-minute speech and incidentally Ronald Reagan wrote all his own speeches when he ran for Governor in 1966. He'd give the twenty-minute speech and we'd open it to twenty minutes of Q and A for... for the people there at the meeting or the press, and if he could handle those questions we felt we could get over the hump of here's an empty person who doesn't know anything about government or doesn't have any real ideas. Reporter: Ronnie, where do you stand on the death penalty. Reagan: You just expressed a question which is also as much on the minds of the people in the state as Berkeley. This too is a question asked all over the state. And as I've answered to those other people, I would tell you I think all of us have wavered back and forth on this issue because of our Judeo-Christian background our questioning as to our right to take human life. But I believe we have the right to take human life in defense of our own.</small></blockquote></ref> Reagan defeated Christopher, and incumbent [[liberal]] [[Democrat]] [[Pat Brown]] in the general election, taking fifty-three of California's fifty-eight counties. Reagan's strategists wanted to emphasize libertarian support for smaller government and less taxation, as the state verged on a revolt against high property taxes. As student and black unrest exploded in the headlines, Reagan's call for [[Law and order]] won the votes of former liberals. Reagan's victory marked the end of New Deal liberalism in California.<ref>Dallek, Matthew. "Liberalism Overthrown." ''American Heritage'' (1996) 47(6): 39+ Fulltext online at Ebsco</ref>