Conservatism In America Since 1930

by Schneider, Gregory L.

• ISBN13: 9780814797983
• ISBN10: 0814797989
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-06-01
• Publisher: New York University Press

Summary

While there have long been libertarians, agrarians, individualists, collectivists, nationalists, and others who fit the contemporary label of "conservative," no cohesive conservative movement existed prior to World War II. How, then, did conservatism develop into such a powerful American political force?Tracing the history of conservatism from the concerns and ideas of the Old Right, through the Cold War, the "Gingrich revolution," and into the present,Conservatism in America Since 1930gathers a wide range of conservative writings and documents showcasing the development and protean character of the modern conservative intellectual and political movement.The book includes essays from Russell Kirk, Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, William F. Buckley, Jr., Ronald Reagan, and Pat Buchanan, among others, and highlights key debates between the movement's factions. Along with essays by these canonical conservative figures, the volume also contains excerpts from sources less frequently cited, such as the Twelve Southerners and Seward Collins, as well as documents from conservative organizations and journals. The primary documents are supplemented by introductions which set the historical context and offer illuminating commentary on how conservatism shifted identity over the course of modern American history.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(4)
PART I The Old Right	5	(44)
Southern Agrarians and the Defense of Region	9	(7)
Monarch as Alternative	16	(13)
Seward Collins
Radical Individualism: The State as Enemy	29	(16)
Albert Jay Nock
Conservatism Takes Shape: Human Events	45	(4)
PART II Classical Liberalism	49	(42)
Resurrecting the Abandoned Road	53	(13)
F. A. Hayek
Getting Together	66	(2)
Mont Pelerin Society
Defining Principles: Capitalism and Freedom	68	(23)
Milton Friedman
PART III Traditionalism	91	(40)
The Quest for Order	95	(12)
Richard M. Weaver
The Conservative Mind	107	(15)
Russell Kirk
A Rebel in Search of Tradition	122	(9)
Frank S. Meyer
PART IV Anticommunism	131	(38)
A Witness	135	(14)
Whittaker Chambers
The Communist Mind	149	(12)
Gerhart Niemeyer
Khrushchev at the UN: The Damage We Have Done to Ourselves	161	(6)
William F. Buckley, Jr.
The Hungary Pledge	167	(2)
PART V Fusion	169	(38)
A Rebel Finds His Tradition	171	(9)
Frank S. Meyer
Why I Am Not a Conservative	180	(15)
F. A. Hayek
National Review: Statement of Intentions	195	(6)
William F. Buckley, Jr.
National Review: Credenda and Statement of Principles	201	(6)
William F. Buckley, Jr.
PART VI The Plunge into Politics	207	(40)
The Conscience of a Conservative	211	(15)
Barry M. Goldwater
The Young Americans for Freedom	226	(3)
William F. Buckley, Jr.
The Sharon Statement	229	(2)
A Choice, Not an Echo	231	(7)
Phyllis Schlafly
Extremism in the Defense of Liberty: The Republican National Convention Acceptance Address	238	(9)
Barry M. Goldwater
PART VII Libertarianism	247	(28)
The Libertarian Review: Editorial Statement	251	(2)
Why Be Libertarian?	253	(6)
Murray N. Rothbard
Libertarianism or Libertinism?	259	(3)
Frank S. Meyer
What Is Libertarianism?	262	(13)
Murray N. Rothbard
PART VIII New Rights	275	(62)
An Emerging Conservative Majority	279	(21)
William A. Rusher
Message from MARs: The Social Politics of the New Right	300	(18)
Samuel Francis
Why Big Business Is Good for America	318	(19)
Irving Kristol
PART IX The Reagan Era	337	(58)
The Great Communicator: Three Speeches	341	(21)
Ronald Reagan
Looking Backward at the Gipper	362	(11)
George Will
Why I Am Not a Neoconservative	373	(6)
Stephen J. Tonsor
Of What Use Is Tradition?	379	(4)
Gregory Wolfe
Conservative Splits	383	(12)
Dan Himmelfarb
PART X Conservatism after Reagan	395	(42)
A Republic, Not an Empire	401	(13)
Patrick J. Buchanan
Beautiful Losers: Why Conservatism Failed	414	(10)
Samuel Francis
Contract with America	424	(4)
Newt Gingrich
An Open Letter to Conservatives	428	(4)
Paul Weyrich
What's Right: Policy Review Defines the Limits of Conservatism	432	(5)
Notes	437	(8)
Index	445	(7)
About the Editor	452