Ronald Reagan was the first GOP president to openly appeal to Reactionaries. He didn’t actually do much for them, but they knew he was on their side, and at the time, that was enough. In a similar vein, George W. Bush completely understood the language of the religious right, and used it to great effect, but didn’t make a great effort to push their agenda. His father did nothing at all.
The Reactionaries thus were a fairly undemanding lot until the latter stages of the 2008 election, at which time the crowds were baying for Palin, not McCain. The Tea Party, which consisted of both CLs and Reactionaries, followed, with its emphasis on scorched earth legislative tactics and its open contempt for government and the establishment. Trump was the final piece of the puzzle.
What changed? In my opinion, two things. First of all, an African-American was elected president. That fact, in and of itself, was enough to persuade the white nationalist right that they were in danger. Second, they have Fox News to whip them up on a daily basis. That didn’t exist in Reagan’s day.
The bottom line is that Reactionaries viewed themselves as a “Moral Majority” during the Reagan years. Today, they think of themselves as an oppressed minority. It is the newly-acquired sense of victimhood that makes them so angry and dangerous.