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The Conscience of a Conservative

by Barry Goldwater, C.C. Goldwater (Editor), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Afterword), Sean Wilentz (Introduction)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 784 ratings · 101 reviews

In 1960, Barry Goldwater set forth his brief manifesto in "The Conscience of a Conservative." Written at the height of the Cold War and in the wake of America's greatest experiment with big government, the New Deal, Goldwater's message was not only remarkable, but radical. He argued for the value and importance of conservative principles--freedom, foremost among them--in c...more

Paperback, 144 pages

Published March 1st 2007 by Princeton University Press (first published January 1st 1960)

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Feb 27, 2013 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Back in the day he was the man.

"Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival."

"There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when thre is no hope of victory, beause it is better to perish than live as slaves." Winston Churchill

"The first thing he (the...more

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Oct 07, 2008 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars

George Will's latest compilation includes his foreward to this publication. His forward was compelling enough to motivate me to interrupt reading Will and take up this short piece.

I must confess that I was disappointed to find the book lacking (in my opinion) much of the substance required to offer a sense of "conscience" to traditional conservative political philosophy. I respect the work for its thorough and concise treatment of a variety of subjects central to contemporary conservative though...more

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Aug 25, 2008 James rated it 3 of 5 stars

As the political season is upon us, I recently decided to read Barry Goldwater’s “The Conscience of a Conservative.” I was a bit surprised at what I read. There was little concern for the social agenda which has dominated conservative conversations in recent years. One might argue that back in 1960 at the book’s writing, the “culture wars” were not on anyone’s radar screen. Even in later life, however, Goldwater sparred intensely with religious and social conservatives. Their agenda does not see...more As the political season is upon us, I recently decided to read Barry Goldwater’s “The Conscience of a Conservative.” I was a bit surprised at what I read. There was little concern for the social agenda which has dominated conservative conversations in recent years. One might argue that back in 1960 at the book’s writing, the “culture wars” were not on anyone’s radar screen. Even in later life, however, Goldwater sparred intensely with religious and social conservatives. Their agenda does not seem to be Goldwater’s.

Goldwater’s agenda is freedom. His primary observation of human nature is its diversity. Each human being is unique, and it is the responsibility of each individual to realize his or her full potential. When government must exercise control, that action should occur at the most local level possible. Politics, for Goldwater, is “the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of the social order” (pg 5). In modern parlance, Goldwater is probably more libertarian than conservative.

Every other concern of Goldwater flows out of this agenda of freedom—the defeat of the Soviet Union, his reverence for the rule of law, the importance of federalism, his opposition to federal welfare programs, and his disagreement with court decisions and legislation on desegregation. The last is probably the most controversial. Goldwater agrees with the proposition that racial segregation in schools is wrong, but he believes that Brown vs. Board of Education is wrongly decided as an encroachment of the federal courts on what is a state issue. For some, they view Goldwater’s position as an issue in semantics hiding racism. Others saw a man who desegregated his family department stores and worked to end segregation in the Arizona National Guard and in the schools and restaurants of Phoenix. Those facts, alas, are not in the book. Nonetheless, one still wonders how the agenda of freedom applied to unenforced civil right laws dating back to Reconstruction or the judicial activism of “separate but equal.”

In the preface of my edition, George Will suggests that Goldwater’s conservatism was greatly influenced by his Arizona upbringing. The spirit of the West certainly promotes individualism and a desire for limitless opportunity. Perhaps, being raised in Texas, I found some attraction in Goldwater’s agenda of freedom. Moreover, I agree with Goldwater that there are human needs for which the government cannot provide. Unfortunately, since this book was about government, Goldwater had little to say about meeting those needs. Goldwater is silent on what is most important. Similarly, the Declaration of Independence hails the importance of the “pursuit of happiness” but is silent on what happiness actually is. Apparently, the individual has the freedom to decide. This isn’t a criticism of the book, but it reminds me that politics isn’t the source of my salvation. Instead, a free society merely gives me the opportunity to seek it.(less)

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Jul 01, 2012 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book really opened my eyes to true Conservative principles-- unlike those that are presented by the modern Republican Party. Many of the ideas expressed in this book are very relevant to the problems we deal with today. That is, except for the last (and largest) chapter that dealt with the Soviet threat. I really appreciated all Mr. Goldwater put forth in this book and it will definitely shape the political decisions I will make in the future.

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Aug 06, 2011 Jack added it

Shelves: politics-and-social-thought

Goldwater's manifesto is surprisingly resonant with today's teaparty movement. At his core, Goldwater is a strict constitutionalist, not a historical "prototypical conservative" as he seems to claim. As he navigates various issues form states' rights, civil rights, agricultural aid, labor, and welfare, his guiding light is an unfailingly unimaginative and strict interpretation of the constitution. Goldwater hails the constitution as the end all be all of political beacons, and in doing so implic...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Philip rated it 5 of 5 stars

Most people today are only aware of the conservative movement through the lens of the neo-conservatives, whose big government approach to liberties and states’ rights has resulted in some of the chaotic and destructive measures such as the Patriot Act. Further, the effect of the Religious Right on the conservative movement has often resulted in a bigger government which seeks to enforce Christian ethics from the government down to the populace. These modern voices of conservatism have nearly dro...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Joseph Serwach rated it 5 of 5 stars

I bought this book because it's widely considered to be a classic and because I knew it inspired both Ronald Reagan and a very young George W. Bush.

But Barry Goldwater was also overwhelmingly crushed in his 1964 run for the White House so I didn't read it right away (it sat on my shelf a long time though its a really quick read).

What is startling is how relevant and timeless many of these arguments are more than 50 years later. Consider this passage, written a half century ago, seemingly more...more I bought this book because it's widely considered to be a classic and because I knew it inspired both Ronald Reagan and a very young George W. Bush.

But Barry Goldwater was also overwhelmingly crushed in his 1964 run for the White House so I didn't read it right away (it sat on my shelf a long time though its a really quick read).

What is startling is how relevant and timeless many of these arguments are more than 50 years later. Consider this passage, written a half century ago, seemingly more relevant now than then:

"Conservatism, we are told, is out-of-date. The charge is preposterous and we ought boldly to say so. The laws of God and of nature, have no dateline. The principles on which the Conservative political position is based have been established by a process that has nothing to do with the social, economic and political landscape that changes from decade to decade and from century to century. These principles are derived from the nature of man, and from the truths that God has revealed about his creation. Circumstances do change. So do the problems that are shaped by circumstances. But the principles that govern the solution of the problems do not. To suggest that the Conservative philosophy is out of date is akin to saying that the Golden Rule, or the Ten Commandments or Aristotle's Politics are out of date.''

His chapter on Right to Work, for example, makes arguments that are worth considering in 2013 as Michigan becomes the nation's 24th RTW state and as the challenges of monopolies and concentration of power are debated.

Goldwater argued: "Right to Work laws derives from the Natural Law. They are simply an attempt to give freedom of association the added protection of civil law... Let us henceforth make war on all monopolies whether corporate or union.. The champions of freedom will fight against the concentration of power wherever they find it.''

His chapter on the need to fight to win the Cold War (offense rather than defense/avoid war at all costs) is still relevant mainly because we now know that is precisely how the Cold War ended: Goldwater disciple Ronald Reagan offered up a four word strategy for ending the Cold War: "We win, they lose," that was followed in the 1980s, hastening the collapse of Communism.

In 2013, conservatives and libertarians as well as assorted Tea Party followers seem largely divided and lost. They could each learn a thing or two by reading "The Conscience of a Conservative."(less)

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Feb 28, 2013 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As the back of the book states "it covers topics such as education, labor unions and policies, civil rights, agricultural policy and farm subsidies, social welfare programs, and income taxation." These issues are discussed largely via the position on policy that a conservative would take.

If you are looking for an exhaustive treatise on the philosophy of conservatism then look elsewhere. What Barry Goldwater does in this book is layout the basic tenants of conservatism when handling the major is...more

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Apr 13, 2010 Logo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Barry Goldwater would have no place in the Republican party of today. His political thought here is far more in line with what most of us would classify as libertarian. To hear any modern republican claiming Barry Goldwater is a clear example of ignorance speaking or outright lies. The neocons and the religious right should read this book and either come clean about not being truly conservative, or straighten themselves out.This book is basically a statement of Goldwater's position on various to...more

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Mar 23, 2009 John Maniscalco rated it 4 of 5 stars

When Goldwater wrote this in 1960, it was the first articulation of the modern conservative platform. Goldwater makes the case that, unlike the left which measures man in only economic terms, the right includes consideration of man's spiritual needs, of which the desire to be free is paramount. In short, he advocates a strict constructionist view of the Constitution, local control, and the empowerment of individual rather than the collective. What will strike readers as they read this book is th...more

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Apr 19, 2010 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Goldwater (or Bozell, the ghostwriter) articulates a vision of conservatism that we now consider to be more along the lines of modern libertarianism. Ironically, the political philosophy espoused within this book was ultimately used as a platform for Reagan, who made pronouncements such as "government isn't the answer to our problems, government is the problem," while concurrently expanding government influence significantly.
I have to say that I admired the authors arguments for their strict co...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Kimberly rated it 4 of 5 stars

I do not agree with Goldwater on all points, but the book was very good. Take away the spin of today's media, and you will find the source of libertarian politics in the United States today. Goldwater started a revolution in conservative politics, and outlines his positions quite well.

I can easily see multiple counterarguments and holes in the analysis - E.g., He states that Congress' use of the Spending Clause to regulate states essentially strong arms states to the point where they have no ch...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Kevin Bensema rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: political-theory

Though wikipedia informs me that Mr. Goldwater was an Episcopalian, the first thing that struck me about his book was how *Catholic* some of his logic was. He references subsidiarity, talks about natural law, and makes the case for Conservatism as serving not only the material but spiritual needs of a man.

Barry Goldwater puts his philosophy of government in very simple, if not rigorously defined, terms - liberty should be maximized insofar as the preservation of social order allows. He then arg...more Though wikipedia informs me that Mr. Goldwater was an Episcopalian, the first thing that struck me about his book was how *Catholic* some of his logic was. He references subsidiarity, talks about natural law, and makes the case for Conservatism as serving not only the material but spiritual needs of a man.

Barry Goldwater puts his philosophy of government in very simple, if not rigorously defined, terms - liberty should be maximized insofar as the preservation of social order allows. He then argues that the balance between order and liberty has tipped entirely in favor of order. He criticizes numerous government programs, and politicians who think first about the perceived necessity of a new program before determining that such a program is a legitimate function of government.

While his economic theory is pretty standard libertarianism, if clearly argued and well thought-out, his foreign policy is a different animal entirely. Mr. Goldwater criticizes the wasteful spending on various unfriendly regimes, noting that such expenditures often allow troubled Communist governments to temporarily fix economic problems and fund the suppression of unrest. He marks out a rather cold and perhaps dangerous policy of confrontation. I agree that when facing an enemy bent on defeating you, you must aim for victory yourself. Refusing to recognize oppressive foreign governments as legitimate also seems to make sense in the context of the Cold War. However, his recommendation that the United States develop clean, tactical nuclear warheads for deployment in limited wars against the Soviet Union seems ill-advised. He sets up a dichotomy, where the Soviet Union can either risk global nuclear destruction or local nuclear defeat at the hands of America's superior tactical nuclear weaponry. However, this ignores the possibility that the Soviets would retaliate to the use of tactical nuclear weapons not with widespread strategic nuclear force, but with the heavy-handed deployment of the USSR's quite formidable strategic arsenal in a tactical setting. A long-range piece of artillery works just fine pointed at a nearby enemy - there is no reason to expect that a ballistic missile capable of striking New York would be any less capable of striking an American Air Force base near Hungary. Rather than forcing the Soviets to back down, the threatened use of tactical nuclear weapons seems more likely to end in a local atomic bloodbath than local victory.

I think Goldwater errs in focusing his military strategy on a tactical nuclear weapons platform. He seems to forget the praise he layered on the productive forces of free enterprise earlier in the book, and assumes that a free and unfettered American economy could not produce more conventional "capital goods" of war to counter the Soviet manpower advantage. Hindsight is 20/20, but we saw exactly that happen. The American F-4 Phantom proved to be immensely superior to the Soviet MiGs of the Vietnam era, and the F-15 and F-14 dominated the 1970s airspace.(less)

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May 05, 2011 Sam Webster rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have studied far too much history to ever fall into the trap of saying that the politics of the past used to be better, and I will not do so here. The politics of the past were just a divisive and just a dirty as they are now, and it is a sort of folly to wish for a return to values and practices that we have idealized, but which never really existed. I will say, however, that Barry Goldwater was a different breed of politician. There were few like him in his day and there are few now, but eve...more

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May 08, 2013 Fred Kohn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: political

Everyone interested in political thought should read this book. It is interesting to see how little has changed over the years in right wing politics. I was hoping to get some deep thought from this book- there wasn't much. Goldwater clearly knows little about the Constitution or about economics. What struck me like a ton of bricks was the pessimism of conservatism even back then. In 1960 Goldwater thought society was falling apart. They were in the midst of "economic chaos," their foreign aid p...more

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Nov 22, 2011 Marius rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an interesting book, a throwback to the earliest stirrings of movement conservatism. I am a liberal who has become increasingly curious about why modern conservatism has become much less of an ideology and far more of a religion.

This book does the job.

Senator Goldwater's prose is excellent and even inspiring at times. His primary thesis is that the expansion of individual freedom is the primary and only legitimate goal of government. The blueprint for the activities through which this...more This was an interesting book, a throwback to the earliest stirrings of movement conservatism. I am a liberal who has become increasingly curious about why modern conservatism has become much less of an ideology and far more of a religion.

This book does the job.

Senator Goldwater's prose is excellent and even inspiring at times. His primary thesis is that the expansion of individual freedom is the primary and only legitimate goal of government. The blueprint for the activities through which this expansion is to be achieved is the US Constitution read through the eyes of the so called "originalists", those whose reading of the constitution can be politely called....traditional. The arguments advanced about the role and conduct of government are internally consistent and he is clearly passionate about his positions. And this book lays them out without apology and without guile.

And there ends my praise. This book also encapsulates exactly what I personally find distasteful about conservatism. It sees the evils of the world as unfortunate things which government power cannot be used to ameliorate. So segregated schools were terrible but it was the power of the segregating state to remedy it (the same state enforcing the segregation), not the federal government. Money from taxes is a "confiscation" of wages not something done via the aegis of a democratically elected body. Welfare, no matter how meager somehow weakens the human stock, no matter the carnage wreaked by the desperation and destitution of poverty. Conservatism comes off as a theoretical construct which seems to not take into effect how people actually are....how they actually act....the things they actually deal with everyday. Conservatism comes off as a paranoid construction whose only function is to preserve a sclerotic version of the past based on blind faith that if we just hew to the tenets of a simpler time, American will be great "again". Even in the 1950s, conservatives were predicting the fall of the Republic.

It is a good book, at times comical, at other times frightening, on occasion even humorous. But it confirms why I could never be a conservative. And for some, it perhaps confirms why they ARE conservatives. (less)

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Feb 24, 2013 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As concise and lucid a summation of the basic tenants of conservative thought as you are likely to find anywhere. Much of this book is extremely prescient, and I was shocked by how well the book addresses so many of the hot-button social and economic issues Americans face today. With his chapter on the pitfalls of government stimulus packages, it almost feels as though Goldwater is confronting George W. Bush and Barack Obama head-on. The only section that's dated is the stuff pertaining to the a...more

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Jun 27, 2009 Murray Stokely rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Obviously I am not at all a conservative, but I get really tired of reading the same view point of american social, economic, and political history of the last 100 years from skilled liberal authors such as Paul Krugman. This is of course one of the most widely cited books about the modern conservative viewpoints and as such, as a quick read barely over 100 pages, provides a useful insight into the conservative worldview without the vitriol and ignorance of something like anne coulter.

The last c...more

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Dec 10, 2009 Jay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Was given this gratis at a dinner at the Goldwater Institute with Mary Matalin, Art Laffer and Jonah Goldberg. It had been 20+ years since I originally read it and it was along overdue revisit.

After 12 years in San Francisco, I have found myself marginalized politically and reluctant to admit that I am a conservative. I'm amazed at how applicable Goldwaters thoughts from 1960 are to todays political discourse and find myself reinvigorated for debate and once again proud to admit my political vie...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Zach rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: political-science

Concise, logical, and, especially in the hawkish sections on "tactical" nuclear war, bracing, this little tract makes one long for the simpler times of the 80's, not to mention the charmingly dialectical politics of the 60's. The ideas and controversies of our time seem so bland and muddled in comparison. Where Goldwater had an epic battle between the forces of freedom and the forces of despotisim, we have multiple wars against amorphous enemies resulting in unsatisfying conclusions. Instead of...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Robert Morrow rated it 1 of 5 stars

I often read books written by people who have views that are vastly different than mine (I mean, what's the point of reading what you already agree with?). Still, I was hoping for at least a relatively intelligent presentation of the conservative viewpoint and was sorely disappointed. Everything pretty much boils down to "The Founding Fathers said it, so it must be right," which is as stupid as stupid gets. Conveniently ignoring that fact that we live in more complex society with somewhat more a...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics

Berry Goldwater was an interesting character. But this book wasn't a biography for that I will point you to Wikipedia. This book, The Conscience of a Conservative, was written in 1960 when many shifts were taking place in American politics. The New Deal Coalition, though waning, was continuing their fight to bring about radical change to the country, the "conservative" Republicans were capitulating, and the Cold War was in full swing and here is Mr. Conservative fighting it and laying out why an...more Berry Goldwater was an interesting character. But this book wasn't a biography for that I will point you to Wikipedia. This book, The Conscience of a Conservative, was written in 1960 when many shifts were taking place in American politics. The New Deal Coalition, though waning, was continuing their fight to bring about radical change to the country, the "conservative" Republicans were capitulating, and the Cold War was in full swing and here is Mr. Conservative fighting it and laying out why and how.
The whole book is great. I would have given it 5 stars but some of it is dated material. The first chapter is stellar. In that chapter he lays out the foundational principles that guided him on a daily basis as a Senator and through the book. "The Conservative's first concern will always be: Are we maximizing freedom?" is a good question many should ask who are in leadership today. There were many great quotes from him throughout the book. But again the first chapter was top notch.

What was likely the most stunning aspect for myself was the realization that the battle between conservative and liberal Republicans was alive and well as far back as the 1960's. I know that I shouldn't be that surprised. I know from my own interest in politics that no one always agrees and there will always be some which their longing for popularity out weighs their sense of responsibility. Today there are many who are willing to expand the government and excise more taxes to pay for it and call themselves fiscal conservatives.

At the time of this writing our government is days way from the "fiscal cliff" and the debate rages over how to avoid it. Maybe a quote from Mr. Conservative is in order.

"While there is something to be said for the proposition that spending will never be reduced so long as there is money in the federal treasury, I believe that as a practical matter, spending cuts must come before tax cuts. If we reduce taxes before firm, principled decisions are made about expenditures, we will court deficit spending and the inflationary effects that invariably follow."

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Oct 26, 2011 Jeff Carpenter rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: political-science

Published in 1960, this book is as relevant today as it was then. While reading this book, when not encountering dates or dollar amounts, it is easy to forget that this book is 51 years old. Mr. Goldwater comes across as a strict constitutionalist, although this is not the popular platform of the Republican party today, some people, myself included, believe it ought to be. Whether you call it conservativism, libertarianism, or Republican, it is basically common sense,imho.
Students of political s...more

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Feb 03, 2009 G. Branden rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: know-your-enemy

This book is not impressive given its near-scriptural reputation among conservatives, and is every bit the match of a contemporary political convention speech in terms of both puff and pabulum. There is practically no analytic depth on any of the numerous topics he (or, rather, his ghostwriter, L. Brent Bozell--see the front matter) forwards, and much of the book isn't even an argument, but just a recitation of assertions which are only weakly interrelated, if at all. Richard Posner (judge for t...more

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Nov 23, 2009 Skylar Burris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics, libertarian

When George W. Bush ran for the Republican presidential nomination as a “compassionate conservative,” I knew, without ever having read Conscience of a Conservative, that he did not understand conservatism as “a comprehensive political philosophy” (to use Barry Goldwater’s words). I suspected then that Bush’s so-called “compassionate” conservatism would bear little resemblance to the political philosophy I associate with conservatism. It is timely that this edition of Conscience of a Conservative...more When George W. Bush ran for the Republican presidential nomination as a “compassionate conservative,” I knew, without ever having read Conscience of a Conservative, that he did not understand conservatism as “a comprehensive political philosophy” (to use Barry Goldwater’s words). I suspected then that Bush’s so-called “compassionate” conservatism would bear little resemblance to the political philosophy I associate with conservatism. It is timely that this edition of Conscience of a Conservative should have been reprinted on the heels of the Bush administration. Under a Republican-controlled congress and the presumably “conservative” President Bush there occurred what George Will refers to in the introduction of this book as “the largest federal intervention in primary and secondary education in American history…the largest farm subsidies..the largest expansion of the welfare state…since Lyndon Johnson,” who, ironically, defeated Goldwater for the presidency in 1964.

This book is, unfortunately, a bit outdated. I had hoped for a concise overview of the philosophy, principles, and concerns of conservatives, and although I somewhat got that here, this analysis was a little too tied to the specific policy concerns of 1960, and thus it read more like a campaign tract than a philosophical apologetic. Nevertheless, the concerns Goldwater expresses in these pages still apply today, only, one might say…more so. Goldwater’s primary concern was to arrest the amassing of power in the hands of the federal government, a threat against which the Constitution was created to protect us, but which began to occur in the 20th century and has only increased since “The Conscience of a Conservative” was first published. Goldwater’s other primary concern was to win the Cold War, which has come and gone; but at least some of what he has to say on the matter could apply to today’s ideological and political war against jihadism.

Goldwater does give us a look at conservatism in a nutshell, however. He argues that political philosophy should not be concerned only with the material well being of men: “The root difference between the Conservatives and the Liberals of today is that Conservatives take account of the whole man, while the Liberals tend to look only at the material side of man’s nature... The Conservative believes that man is, in part, an economic, an animal creature; but that he is also a spiritual creature with spiritual needs and spiritual desires…Liberals, on the other hand…regard the satisfaction of economic wants as the dominant mission of society. They are, moreover, in a hurry. So that their characteristic approach is to harness the society’s political and economic forces into a collective effort to [i:]compel[/i:] ‘progress’ In this approach, I believe they fight against Nature.”

In speaking of spiritual man, Goldwater is by no means speaking as a religious conservative. Indeed, he loathed the so-called “religious right” that rose to power within the Republican party in the 1980’s. When asked if he thought we should allow gays in the military, Barry Goldwater, in characteristic glib fashion, replied, “You don't need to be straight to fight and die for your country; you just need to shoot straight.” Goldwater’s conservatism was of the libertarian republican variety, a small-government conservatism (very much unlike that of George W. Bush) that focused on individual liberty (“government governs best when it governs least -- and stays out of the impossible task of legislating morality”), individual responsibility, national sovereignty, and national interest.

Though Goldwater lost the presidential election, he did so in what George Will describes as a “spectacularly creative failure.” For a time, at least, the conservatives did seize the Republican party apparatus, and as a consequence, conservatism was not without its successes. The top income tax rate is no longer 91%, and likely never will be again. The Cold War has been won, and welfare (not the medical variety, which was expanded under Bush) is no longer quite the system of life-long, poverty-perpetuating entitlement it once was. However, today, despite these handful of successes, the Goldwater brand of conservatism has once again been relegated to a back corner of the Republican party.
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Dec 05, 2008 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A good read to get a look at the historical beliefs of the early to mid-century conservative/libertarian movement in the Republican party. Anyone interested in politcal history and theories should read this book. Although Barry Goldwater failed to win the presidency in 1964 he started a movement, that was unfortunately co-opted by those that were far removed from the original conservative/libertarian beliefs, that still lives today.

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Aug 10, 2011 Brian added it

This is a classic! Substitute references to Islamo-Fascists for Soviets, and you would think that Barry Goldwater just wrote this book within the past year rather than 50 years ago. Short, direct and to the point, this is a call to action for anyone interested in returning the United States to a federal government limited in scope to those specific areas covered by the Constitution.

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Jul 23, 2012 Amblingbooks.com marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, political

Former Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater lays out the conservative position both politically and economically that would come to dominate the Conservative Movement in America.

Listen to The Conscience of a Conservative on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.

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Jan 16, 2011 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a great little book. I discovered it over the weekend when by chance i started leafing through its pages, becoming immediately hooked and wanting to finish it without putting it down. It includes about as clear an explanation of conservative principles and how they apply to contemporary issues, as anything i've read. Written in 1962, it remains as relevant today.

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May 09, 2011 Noetic_Hatter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics, 2011read

A quick read that asks some tough questions that Conservatives should be asking themselves today. Instead of being focused on creating a theocracy, they should aim to get back to their libertarian roots. They would not recognize the Republican Party philosophy advocated by Goldwater.

Recommended as an important classic for all political viewpoints.

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/244909.The_Conscience_of_a_Conservative?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347489779l/244909.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/244909.The_Conscience_of_a_Conservative?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater[/url]

The Conscience of a Conservative

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