I would say a little more than that, by 1964, he was making history at the 1964 convention, Reagan first emerged nationally as a conservative in 1947, he testified as a friendly witness before the House of Un-American Activities Committee, already becoming known as on the right before that. By 1952, Reagan publicly endorsed Eisenhower in 1952, and then in 1956, and then for Nixon in 1960, and you know that he was earning a reputation as a conservative speaker in the late 1950s.
Yes, I know that, I was there. I too have read all the books.
The point is that back then we were all - even in San Francisco - “conservatives”, by modern standards.