Muhammad Ali, the boxing champion and cultural icon who passed away Friday night at the age of 74, didn’t shy away from anything, not even politics.

Ali was not afraid in the ring or of bucking trends. In the 1984 election, after endorsing his friend and Democrat Jesse Jackson in the primary over eventual nominee Walter Mondale, Ali switched parties and threw his support behind the reelection bid of President Ronald Reagan. As the New York Times reported at the time, Ali explained his change by saying, ”He’s keeping God in schools and that’s enough.”

Ali even allowed his image, along with fellow boxing legends Joe Frazier and Floyd Patterson, to be used in a billboard for the Reagan reelection campaign.