CROSS-LINKS
Special Topic Page: The Presidency of Ronald Reagan
Special Topic Page: 2000 Presidential Election
Special Topic Page: The Clinton Presidency, Federal Economic Policies and Conservative Policies
Special Topic Page: Electoral College and Election Reform
1. CONSERVATISM
Conservatism in America:
- promotes traditional social institutions
- endorses tradition, human imperfection, organic society, hierarchy, authority, and property rights
- advocates for the preservation of institutions and continuity within them
- is based on traditions of the time and place (not agreed upon universally)
Click here for more information on Conservatism in world history. Click here for a video about Conservatism.
Click here for a video about Conservatism.
Click here for Professor Heather Cox Richardson’s summary of the last 20 years of U.S. politics.
2. INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT
In the 1950s, a growing number of libertarians argued that unregulated capitalism and individual autonomy were the essence of American freedom. This group was staunchly anti-communist and against the regulatory state that had been created by the New Deal. Others were moral conservatives who were on board with the rules that enforced traditional notions of family and morality. For them, virtue was the essence of America.
Both of these strands of conservatism were hostile towards communism and the idea of “big government.” Faith in the free market from young conservatives in the 1960s played a pivotal role in reshaping the Republican Party.
In the 1964 presidential election, Republican Barry Goldwater lost to incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson. However, five of the six states that Goldwater carried were in the Deep South, which had reliably voted with the Democrats until this election.
The 1968 presidential election saw Republican Richard Nixon as the winner. He campaigned as the candidate of the “silent majority” of Americans who weren’t anti-war protesters and didn’t admire free love or the communal ideas of “hippies.” Nixon and his followers were concerned about the expanding of the Supreme Court, the breakdown in traditional values and in law and order. Nixon also promised to be “tough on crime,” which was coded language to Whites in the South that he would not support Civil Rights. However, much of Nixon’s presidency didn’t live up to his promises. And during Nixon’s second term as president, he was involved in the infamous Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to his resignation.
Republican Ronald Reagan won the 1980 presidential election and argued that the U.S. faced a dire crisis, and that the best way to address this crisis was through conservative reforms. His major policy priorities were increasing military spending, cutting taxes, reducing non-military federal spending, and restricting federal regulations.
Reagan rejuvenated the conservative Republican ideology in the 1980s, also campaigning against communism and for family values and conservative Judeo-Christian morality. This era is also known as the Reagan Revolution.
After Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential election in 2008, a surge of conservatism responded with the Tea Party Movement. This movement of many conservative groups across the United States energized the Right at the local level, which led to Republican success in the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections.
In 2016, Republican Donald Trump was elected as president based on the electoral votes (not the popular vote). Following his election, Trump created his own branch of conservatism, branded “Trumpism.” His ideologies include right-wing populism, national conservatism, neo-nationalism, neo-fascism, anti-immigration, xenophobia, nativism, Christian nationalism, protectionism, anti-feminism, and anti-LGBTQIA+.
Click here for a Crash Course video on the Rise of Conservatism in the U.S.
Click here to watch a brief overview of the Conservative Movement in the United States.
3. PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY
Phyllis Schlafly, 1977
Phyllis Schlafly was a conservative activist, commentator, and author. She led a successful campaign against the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.
- During her political career, Schlafly argued against feminism, abortion, and LGBTQIA+ rights.
- She was also one of the first to tap into the conservative religious sentiment based on what she termed “family values.”
Click here to read more about Phyllis Schlafly.
Click here to watch Phyllis Schlafly’s Lasting Legacy in Defeating the E.R.A.
Click here to explore primary sources about the Equal Rights Amendment.
Click here to watch The History of the Equal Rights Amendment: 3 Things You Should Know.
Click here to learn about the TV mini-series “Mrs. America,” where Cate Blanchett plays Phyllis Schlafly.
4. BARRY GOLDWATER
Barry Goldwater was a conservative Republican who called for a harsher stance against the Soviet Union and argued that the Democrats created a “quasi-socialist” state at home.
- He preached modern conservatism and emphasized individualism, the sanctity of private property, anti-communism, and the dangers of centralized power.
- In 1964, Goldwater won the Republican nomination for the presidential race. The presidency would go to the incumbent, Lyndon B. Johnson.
- However, Goldwater carried Arizona and five states in the Deep South, effectively ending the “Solid South” of the Democrat-voting southern states.
Click here to read more about Barry Goldwater.
Click here to read Barry Goldwater’s Republican Nomination Speech (1964).
Click here to watch Mr. Conservative: Barry Goldwater’s opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
5. RONALD REAGAN
Ronald Reagan, a Hollywood actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, became president of the United States in 1980 and served two terms. Reagan believed that “Government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector of the economy.
Reaganomics refers to the economic policies of Ronald Reagan.
- Becoming president during a state of inflation, Reaganomics was heavily based on the trickle-down or supply-side theory that lowering taxes will lead to higher investment, jobs, and wages.
- This was controversial because domestic social programs often suffer from the trickle-down theory of economics.
Click here to read more about Ronald Reagan.
Click here to watch a Ronald Reagan cartoon biography.
Click here to watch Ronald Reagan talk about conservatism.
Click here to watch Here’s Why Reaganomics is so Controversial.
Click here to explore primary sources and curricula on Ronald Reagan.
5. THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT
The Tea Party Movement emerged in 2009, after Democrat Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. A grassroots movement, the Tea Party opposes taxation, immigration, and government intervention. This conservative movement consists of mainly Republicans who support the free market.
Click here to read more about the Tea Party Movement.
Click here to read about the House Freedom Caucus.
Click here to read The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party.
Click here to watch Politics: Why I Joined the Tea Party | The New York Times.
7. DONALD TRUMP
Republican Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential race in the electoral congress, but he lost the popular vote. This election brought about new concerns over the validity of the electoral college.
Donald Trump’s conservatism can be coined as “Trumpism.” This authoritarian movement follows political ideologies including right-wing populism, national conservatism, neo-nationalism, neo-fascism, anti-immigration, xenophobia, nativism, Christian nationalism, protectionism, anti-feminism, and anti-LGBTQIA+.
Trump has been criticized for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He supported those who protested social distancing and downplayed the severity of the pandemic.
Click here to read more about Trumpism.
Click here to read Where President Trump stands on the issues in 2020.
Click here to watch Is Trumpism the New Conservatism.
Click here to watch Timeline: Trump’s Response To The Coronavirus Outbreak | NBC News NOW.
Click here to watch the video in which Trump calls COVID-19 protesters “responsible people.”
Click here for another video where Trump encourages COVID-19 protesters.
8. DIVERSITY IN CONSERVATISM
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