The American Conservative Movement

Throughout American history, there have always been strong conservatives arguing against new, progressive changes to the country because these individuals are extremely adamant about the nation's need for a small, noninvasive government that promotes the liberties and freedoms of the people. As we learned in class, throughout the 1960s these people united under the Conservative Movement, a social movement that centralized around making the Republican Party much more conservative, shrinking the national government, deregulating and privatizing most major industries, and getting rid of liberal social aid programs like Social Security. It gained major traction in 1960 when the conservative Arizona senator, Barry Goldwater, wrote a book titled The Conscience of a Conservative which criticized the spread of liberal values under President Johnson's administration and argued for the decrease in government size, taxes and spending, education, and civil rights. Goldwater and many other disenfranchised conservative Republicans were tired of their party promoting the ideas that traditional conservatives were directly against so when he published this book, millions of Americans were able to connect to and support his somewhat extreme ideology. As a result, the modern Conservative Movement was born and began growing since Goldwater was able to get the support of Republicans and the party leaders and run for the presidency as the Republican Nominee during the 1964 election. Although he ended up losing the election to LBJ by a large margin due to his objectively unorthodox political platform and endorsement from extremist groups, conservativism was able to begin thriving in American politics and develop into a major ideology for the Republican Party. This was especially apparent when one of Goldwater's supporters, Ronald Reagan, began giving speeches promoting conservativism and successfully ran for the governor of California in 1966, a major feat which allowed him to eventually complete two full terms as governor. Over time, this movement grew even further throughout the South as it encompassed religious ideas and anti-liberal sentiments, making it into one of the key ideas for Republicans to believe in. And because conservative Republicans were against the economic and international policies of President Nixon and President Ford during the 1970s, Reagan became the prime candidate to represent conservative ideas for the Republicans, allowing him to win the presidency in the 1980 election and create political change. Obviously, this was very significant for the party as well as the country since Reagan ended up drastically changing American foreign politics and economics, especially with his heavily anti-Soviet ideals and beliefs in "Reaganomics." However, none of the major change and support towards Republican conservativism would have ever developed so quickly if it weren't for Barry Goldwater and The Conscience of a Conservative which is why it is important to acknowledge the significance of the book and its effects on our country's politics - it caused the Republican party to begin its transformation from a liberal, regulation-supporting organization into a conservative group focused on individuality and limited government. Its impacts can even be seen today in President Trump's administration, a group that supports the privatization of most industries in addition to the reduction of government regulation on corporate finances, which is why the ideals that Barry Goldman promoted throughout the 1950s are so important to acknowledge and pay attention to.