Having gone to college in CA when reagan was governor, I suspect that this quote was probably true. You have to remember, back then, we only had newspapers and network news. There was no limbaugh, no talk radio, no fox news, no internet.
I don't recall anyone calling Reagan Hitler in those days, but maybe I didn't hang out with the right or should I say, wrong people? I know the college campus's erupted with those hippy freaks then, and Reagan took no crap off of them!