Marked by civil unrest and shaped by the Cold War, the 1960s was a tumultuous time in the United States. People often associate that decade with liberal counterculture, but it was also an important and formative time for American conservatives.
Enter Barry Goldwater, a Republican Senator who decided that what his party needed was a good old-fashioned manifesto. More than 60 years later, The Conscience of a Conservative remains enshrined as an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the roots of the modern conservative movement.
The book didn’t do much for Goldwater’s own political career, by the way; he served five terms as a senator for Arizona, but he was never elected president. (Lyndon B. Johnson beat him by a landslide in 1964.) Still, Goldwater’s often credited with stirring up something—call it team spirit—that has had far-reaching political implications, stretching all the way to Donald Trump and beyond.
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