First composed in 1980 using a razor blade and reel-to-reel tape recorder, the work is a satirical cut-up reworking of a 1979 interview between Former Governor of California Ronald Reagan and the American journalist Bill Moyers.
[1] Regular airplay on college and independent radio stations during the period saw the piece gain popularity and enduring influence, marking what the artist Jon Leidecker (AKA Wobbly) has labelled as "many people's first exposure to culture jamming.
An early precursor to Reagan Speaks Himself saw Kahn draw upon an interview with President Gerald Ford in which he argues that in order to "expand the economy, you have to stimulate the private sector.
[7] The magazine initially ran into trouble with the production of the disc, after the Florida-based manufacturers Eva-Tone Soundsheets Inc. refused to press the work after they deemed the tape "morally objectionable," recommending that the editors of Raw contact the President's "agent" in order to attain the written permission of Reagan.
The disc was eventually pressed in the Netherlands and was accompanied in the magazine by a full page illustration by the British artist Sue Coe of Reagan as a cashed up pig harbouring a klansman.