Pure Goldwater

At this important crossroads in modern political history, we submit that the late Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona was an extraordinary and important voice that resonates today. He was a devoted public official whose candor and role on the national stage holds particular importance today for Americans across the political spectrum. His character and style of courtly conservatism represented all that is good in American politics, and his approach is worthy of both understanding and emulation.

Recently, we discovered that throughout his adult life - before, during and after his thirty years in the U.S. Senate - Goldwater paused from time to time to gather his thoughts and put them down in written form, albeit on an irregular basis yet with sufficient frequency to create a meaningful collection. This unpublished private journal is the basis of our book Pure Goldwater, an extraordinary work that combines the Senator's own writings with our analysis, which was published yesterday by Palgrave Macmillan. This unique material is timely in this election year because it reveals like no other the life, times, and thinking of a political figure whose devotion to politics and public service were iconic. At the same time, it serves as a reminder of what conservative ideals really are, and how they have been distorted by those who now claim the label.

The material was not written for publication (although he left it behind knowing others might be interested in it), and it is far more intimate and revealing that his co-written and previously published autobiographical works. It is a scrapbook of historical material, much of it information that he never discussed during his life, like the fact that when Gerald Ford became president he offered the vice presidency to Goldwater who turned down the job. There are details about his relationships with presidents since Eisenhower, and his soured relationship with his hand-picked successor John McCain. Simply stated, this is a collection of material that reveals the heart and soul of a political figure who remains important to this day.

A basic reason why Barry Goldwater still matters, aside from his being a historical figure and fascinating personality, is found in the way he viewed others and his work. He rejected contemporary devise tactics and approaches to campaigning for elective office and governing, all of which emerged while he was on the national stage. Goldwater would have found more in common with the brutal honesty of a Ron Paul than the flip-floppers, spinners and poll-tested position takers. His beliefs are all built on the importance of individual freedom and, even more importantly for an elected official, on an overriding need for honesty in public service. Without complete candor, he did not believe that one could effectively promote and protect American freedom.

Goldwater has been described as "an American original." He could be described as a role model as well. No, he was not close to perfect, but as the words which he left behind show, this man of the twentieth century--who sought to move forward by relying on the proven wisdom and principles of public service developed in the nineteenth century--provided us with a legacy of a common sense conservatism that drew on the best behavior of the past to address the problems of the present and future.

We have assembled and published this book because we believe his way of thought, his outlook and manner, and his reliance on timeless wisdom and eternal truths should not be forgotten in the 2008 election, not to mention the rest of the twenty-first century.

Comments

[Liberal2]

Won't do, gentlemen. Goldwater will be remembered as the man whose political thought gave rise to Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1, and finally Bush 1/2. Goldwater helped resurrect conservatism after conservatism led the nation into the Depression, supported Nazi Germany, demanded continued trade with Japan after it invaded China. Goldwater was part of the group that demanded we defend South Vietnam from the dirty ol' commies.

[0zzy]

hahahaha. Oh, wow, you make me laugh. Nixon? No. Reagan, yes. The Bush's were thanks to Reagan for picking him as his VP, not because Barry Goldwater believed in the Constitution. Conservatism did NOT lead to the "great depression", it was the Federal Reserve, which was opposed by the Republicans and promoted by the Wilson Democrats. And support of Nazi Germany? I do believe that the democrat president, once again, went to WW1 and put all the debt on Germany. The Treaty of Versailles is to blame, not Goldwater. Pearl Harbor was a direct result of our sanctions on Japan, not to say we deserved it - just saying "demanding trade" with Japan is not some evil scheme by the "conservatives".

Now, I wish he didn't get involved with Vietnam, but not everyone is perfect.

[charon]

Ozzy, I don't where you studied history, but you are seriously misinformed. Um, ignoring the role that the laissez faire approach to the stock market played in causing the Great Depression, allowing buying stock on 10% margin, along with the low wages of the masses that kept consumption well below production and caused a rising backlog of unsold production, seems a bit disingenuous. And while our sanctions against Japan did motivate them to bomb Pearl Harbor and attack our bases in the Philippines in pursuit of oil from the Dutch East Indies (Royal Shell Oil), our sanctions were motivated by the horror and outrage felt at the Imperial Japanese brutality in China and Manchuria. We would have eventually had to confront the Japanese imperialists, or they would have conquered most of east Asia, and posed an even greater threat than they did.
And re-read about the Versailles conference. Wilson opposed reparations; they were sought by France and Great Britain, who outvoted the US. In fact, I believe Wilson spoke quite stridently against them, believing they would undo the peace.

[Stirner]

"Goldwater would have found more in common with the brutal honesty of a Ron Paul than the flip-floppers, spinners and poll-tested position takers". Well, that "brutal honesty" is the reason that I and many more will vote for Ron Paul. I hope that the neoconned Republicans who vote for McCain/Lieberman will be able to take the brutal honesty of a bloody war with Iran -- for that's what they will get in return for their vote. Well, sheep do get sheared (and sometimes slaughtered)..

[mommadona]

My first taste of Goldwater was his emphatic statement that the nuclear bomb would be used again by the United States of America - for it's political goals.

I was just a teenager and I hated him then, and I still hate him for this very reason.

NO man should EVER have the audacity to be god.

~A member of the Collateral Damage masses - ie: MOST of the humans living in this world under some sort of political system run by fragile and ego-bound men.

[PioneerKing]

Sen. McCain fails to mention that "...and his soured relationship with his hand-picked successor John McCain."
Folks buy this book it's quite a read and has some interesting tidbits on Sen. McCain.