Conscience of a Conservative: A Classic Statement of American Conservatism - Softcover

Goldwater, Barry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1604598921 ISBN 13: 9781604598926

Publisher: Wilder Publications, 2009

Synopsis

Conscience of a Conservative is one of the defining political books of modern American conservatism, a compact and forceful statement of limited government, constitutional restraint, individual liberty, and anti-communist foreign policy.

Published in 1960 under the name of Barry Goldwater, the book helped turn the Arizona senator into a national political figure and gave a clear ideological shape to the conservative movement that would reshape Republican politics in the decades that followed. Its chapters address federal power, states’ rights, civil rights, agriculture, labor unions, taxation, education, social welfare, and the Cold War, setting out a political philosophy rooted in constitutional limits, personal responsibility, free enterprise, and resistance to centralized authority.

Conscience of a Conservative became a foundational text for postwar American conservatism and helped prepare the way for Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign and, later, the Reagan Revolution. Direct, unapologetic, and sharply argued, it remains an essential document for readers interested in conservative political thought, American political history, Republican Party history, libertarian conservatism, twentieth-century ideology, and the long debate over the proper size and power of the federal government.

About the Author

Barry Goldwater was an American senator from Arizona, the Republican nominee for president in 1964, and one of the central figures in the development of modern American conservatism. Known to supporters as “Mr. Conservative,” Goldwater became nationally identified with limited government, anti-communism, states’ rights, free enterprise, individual liberty, and constitutional restraint. His political career helped shift the Republican Party toward a more explicitly conservative ideological identity, influencing later conservative leaders and movements throughout the second half of the twentieth century.

Although Conscience of a Conservative was published under Goldwater’s name and became inseparable from his public identity, the book was largely ghostwritten by L. Brent Bozell Jr., a conservative writer and intellectual associated with William F. Buckley Jr. and the postwar conservative movement. The book’s impact, however, belonged squarely to Goldwater’s political moment: it distilled his message for a national audience and became one of the most widely read statements of American conservative political philosophy.

About this title

Product Description

Rare book

Review

"Goldwater's conservatism is not isolationism, nor is it a cold-blooded commitment to the 'haves' as against the 'have-nots.' It is the creed of a fighter who has both a warm heart and a clear mind." -- John Chamberlain

"There is more harsh fact and hard sense in this slight book than will emerge from all of the chatter of this year's session of Congress.... Sen. Goldwater is one of a handful of authentic conservatives.... ÝH¨e has the clarity of courage and the courage of clarity." -- George Morgenstern

The book lays out, clearly and succinctly, [Goldwater's] uncompromising views. Goldwater held freedom as the highest value in American society: freedom from law, freedom from government, freedom from anybody else's vision but your own. You can argue with him on the particulars, but there's something compelling about his quintessentially American notion of self-reliance.--David Ulin "Los Angeles Times "

The new "Conscience of a Conservative" takes what might be called the 'anti-fusionist' side in the Goldwater wars..."The Conscience of a Conservative" continues to be read today because it isn't a political tract, a soulless campaign book of the sort generated by every other modern presidential effort.--Daniel McCarthy "The American Conservative "

It is good that C.C. Goldwater brings us this new edition. It directs new attention to a political figure who, though fiery, was never mean-spirited or unfairly partisan.--Max J. Skidmore "European Legacy "
The book lays out, clearly and succinctly, [Goldwater's] uncompromising views. Goldwater held freedom as the highest value in American society: freedom from law, freedom from government, freedom from anybody else's vision but your own. You can argue with him on the particulars, but there's something compelling about his quintessentially American notion of self-reliance.
--David Ulin "Los Angeles Times "
The new "Conscience of a Conservative" takes what might be called the 'anti-fusionist' side in the Goldwater wars..."The Conscience of a Conservative" continues to be read today because it isn't a political tract, a soulless campaign book of the sort generated by every other modern presidential effort.
--Daniel McCarthy "The American Conservative "
Praise for the original edition: "Goldwater's conservatism is not isolationism, nor is it a cold-blooded commitment to the 'haves' as against the 'have-nots.' It is the creed of a fighter who has both a warm heart and a clear mind.
--John Chamberlain "Wall Street Journal "
Praise for the original edition: "There is more harsh fact and hard sense in this slight book than will emerge from all of the chatter of this year's session of Congress. . . . Sen. Goldwater is one of a handful of authentic conservatives. . . . [H]e has the clarity of courage and the courage of clarity.
--George Morgenstern "Chicago Tribune "
It is good that C.C. Goldwater brings us this new edition. It directs new attention to a political figure who, though fiery, was never mean-spirited or unfairly partisan.
--Max J. Skidmore "European Legacy "

Edition details

• Publisher: Wilder Publications
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1604598921
• ISBN 13: 9781604598926
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 76