The Conscience of a Conservative by {author}: summary and why it matters

What it argues

Goldwater, then a senator from Arizona, wrote that conservatism is not an economic theory but a way of looking at the nature of man and the purpose of government. The ideals he lists are individual freedom, the limits on government's power and the preference for local over national control.

He criticizes the growth of federal power under both parties, argues for the Tenth Amendment and states' rights, calls for reducing taxes and agricultural subsidies, and opposes the welfare state and union compulsion. In foreign policy he urges that the aim should be victory over communism rather than coexistence.

The book was ghostwritten by L. Brent Bozell, a National Review editor, and published by a small press in Kentucky; its stand on states' rights, including on civil rights legislation, was controversial.

Why it matters

It sold in the millions and prepared the ground for Goldwater's 1964 campaign and then Reagan's. It is a primary document of the movement, and a window onto the debates about states' rights and federal power that remain alive.

About the author

Barry Goldwater (1909-1998) was a department store heir from Phoenix, an Air Force Reserve officer and a senator from Arizona from 1953. He won the Republican presidential nomination in 1964 and lost heavily to Lyndon Johnson. He returned to the Senate in 1969 and served until 1987, and he later broke with some conservatives on abortion and on gays in the military.

Who should read it

Readers of political history and those who want a brief manifesto.