Goldwater, Barry

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Barry Goldwater

Born January 1, 1909
Phoenix, Arizona

Died May 29, 1998
Paradise Valley, Arizona

Republican politician and
presidential candidate

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

—Barry Goldwater.

Barry Goldwater's campaign for the presidency in 1964 represented an important change in American politics. Goldwater drew national attention to a debate over the role of the federal government. In basic terms, the debate was over the extent to which the federal government should involve itself in solving social problems such as poverty and racism. Although Goldwater lost the presidential election to Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973; served 1963–69; see entry), his candidacy marked the beginning of the conservative movement in America. The movement rallied people behind political ideals that went by the labels "individual freedom," "self-reliance," and "decentralized government." Nicknamed "Mr. Conservative" for his leading role in the conservative movement, Goldwater had a fiery personality and striking good looks. He was able to use his presidential campaign to rally people to reduce the size of the federal government. Although Goldwater's ideas frightened some during the 1960s, within twenty years of his campaign some of his ideas formed the bedrock of the Republican Party's political platform. Voters showed their support for these conservative ideas with the election of Republican president Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the election of a Republican majority in Congress in 1994.

Building the family business

Barry Morris Goldwater was born on January 1, 1909, in Phoenix, Arizona. He was the son of Baron and Josephine (Williams) Goldwater. His father ran a successful department store, which offered young Barry a wealthy upbringing. A year after graduating at the top of his class from Staunton Military Academy in 1928, Barry entered the University of Arizona. After his father died, Barry left his studies at the University of Arizona to start working in the family business as a junior clerk. He became general manager of the Phoenix store at age twenty-seven. His skill in running the family business fueled his rise to the presidency of Goldwater Inc. by 1937.

As Goldwater rose in his career, he started a family. Goldwater married Margaret Johnson on September 22, 1934, and the couple soon had four children: Joanne, Barry Morris Jr., Michael Prescott, and Margaret.

He managed Goldwater Inc. with innovative ideas. He offered employees health benefits, organized a flying club, instituted a five-day workweek, and was the first to hire black sales clerks in Phoenix. Having made Goldwater Inc. the most prestigious store in Arizona, he developed a national reputation for it by advertising in such magazines as the New Yorker and introducing new product lines.

Beginning in 1930, Goldwater started taking flying lessons. By the outbreak of World War II (1939–45), he was a licensed pilot and serving in the U.S. Army Air Force Reserve. Goldwater took leave of his business to support the United States during the war. Unable to secure a combat flying position, he flew supplies across both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans for the U.S. Army Air Force. His missions mostly involved flying between the United States and India. At war's end, Goldwater organized the Arizona National Guard, culminating his career in the military as brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve.

Although his life seemed to be running smoothly, Goldwater suffered personally from two nervous breakdowns and from trouble with alcohol. Although these problems did not stop him, they were matters of discussion by others as he began to pursue a career in politics.

Becoming "Mr. Conservative"

Back in Phoenix after the war, Goldwater continued his innovative managerial style at Goldwater Inc. He also began to show an interest in his city government. In 1949 he was recognized as Phoenix's "Man of the Year." He won a nonpartisan seat on the Phoenix City Council by a landslide. Within three years, Goldwater had outgrown local politics and set his sights on a seat in the U.S. Senate. In 1952, Goldwater won the election as a Republican. Over the next decade, Goldwater emerged as a strong conservative leader within the Republican Party. He supported cutting back the federal government's programs and spending. He became chairperson of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1960 and traveled to every state to meet with conservative Republicans. He fostered his growing dominance in the party by publishing a newspaper column three times a week. In 1960, he issued a book titled The Conscience of a Conservative, which outlined his approach to politics.

His book defined the political beliefs of many conservatives. A telling quotation from his book sums up his approach: "I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden." He added: "I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is 'needed' before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents 'interests,' I shall reply that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause, I am doing the very best I can."

Goldwater's plan was to reduce the size of the federal government by cutting existing federal programs. He sought to repeal existing laws that placed social rules and financial obligations on citizens. These ideas thrilled people who believed that only state governments had the authority to regulate individual's lives. But for some, Goldwater's plan was frightening. Blacks living in states with racially discriminatory laws worried that they would never obtain equal rights if Goldwater won the election.

Changing the Republican Party

By 1964 Goldwater had won the Republican presidential nomination. He had begun his history-making campaign against Lyndon B. Johnson, who had assumed the presidential office after the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63; see entry). As a presidential candidate, Goldwater became the spokesperson for the conservative wing of the Republican Party. He was much more conservative than previous Republican nominees. As such, his candidacy for the nation's top office threatened to split the Republican Party. He opposed federal programs and laws that took what he considered to be constitutionally protected freedoms away from Americans and private businesses. Goldwater believed individuals were responsible for themselves, and states ought to be free to design their own laws regarding their residents. Goldwater disagreed with the civil rights movement, the equal rights movement, and government aid for the poor. These movements urged the federal government to write laws in these areas of American lives. As senator he voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

But Goldwater did not oppose all government power. He considered the threat of communism real and worth funding. Goldwater sought to expand the American military in order to aggressively control the threat of communism. During the presidential campaign he warned that Johnson was losing the Vietnam War (1954–75) to the communists. He called for the use of atomic bombs against the enemy.

Goldwater's views were embraced by those who feared the changes that some people were demanding in the 1960s. Some supporters of Goldwater feared that civil rights, feminism, and protests against the war would erode traditional morals and values that they associated with American life. Moreover, supporters of Goldwater worried that these changes would raise their taxes and that they might give some groups of Americans an unfair advantage over others.

Grassroots Efforts for Goldwater

As Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign got more intense, his supporters banded together to promote their candidate. Goldwater rallied conservatives by telling them in a campaign speech that Republicans were not losing elections because more people were voting for the Democrats. Instead, he claimed that conservatives were just not getting out to vote.

Youth groups sprang up around the country, attracting thousands of conservative students as Goldwater supporters. One group of Peabody College students assembled a folk band, calling themselves the Goldwaters. They recorded an album, the cover of which featured a picture of the quartet in red sweaters and khaki pants with the words "The Goldwaters Sing Folk Songs to Bug the Liberals." The Goldwaters cut their album in Nashville, Tennessee, and distributed it in 1964 to Republican groups around the country. Soon the Goldwaters were asked to perform live at functions for Goldwater groups and Republican organizations.

Earlier, the Youth for Goldwater group, which developed into the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), organized 2,700 members across 115 college campuses and published a directory of 97 conservative clubs on campuses in 25 states. Three thousand supporters attended the YAF's first rally in New York in 1961. Another three thousand were turned away. The YAF campaigned strongly for Goldwater. They hoped through grassroots (local, popularly based) efforts to land a conservative president in the White House and take control of the Republication Party. For the California primary, nearly eight thousand activists from the Young Republicans, Young Americans for Freedom, and the John Birch Society combed through California precincts to turn out every vote for Goldwater.

When Goldwater lost the election, many conservative youth groups dissolved. But their efforts paved the way for those who, in the coming years, would again champion a conservative vision of government. The conservatives had developed efficient organizing efforts at the grassroots level of the Republican Party that would enable them to take control of the party in the coming years.

Speaking candidly, and often without a prepared speech, Goldwater never softened his opinions, no matter to whom he was speaking. During a 1961 news conference, the Chicago Tribune recorded Goldwater saying, "sometimes I think this country would be better off if we could just saw off the Eastern Seaboard and let it float out to sea," as quoted inThe Goldwater Caper. On the campaign trail in Tennessee, where the government controlled America's largest public power company, Goldwater suggested that government-owned property be sold to private investors. He criticized farm subsidies in front of a crowd of North Dakotan farmers. In South Carolina, where blacks and whites lived segregated lives, Goldwater reminded voters that he had voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He declared that the reasons poor people might need government aid stemmed from laziness or stupidity.

Goldwater triggered national fear of nuclear war when he discussed the idea of using atomic weapons in Vietnam in 1963. Goldwater acknowledged that he sometimes spoke without considering the consequences first. He stated that "There are words of mine floating around in the air that I would like to reach up and eat," according to the Washington Post. His statements so upset his aides that they would ask reporters to "write what he means, not what he says," noted the Washington Post.

The press published several attacks on Goldwater's mental fitness for the presidency. The Saturday Evening Post called him a "wild man, a stray." The paper wrote: "For the good of the Republican Party, which his candidacy disgraces, we hope that Goldwater is crushingly defeated." During Goldwater's campaign, his psychological fitness was questioned. Fact magazine published a sixty-four-page survey of professional psychologists that suggested Goldwater was mentally unfit to become president. Goldwater's campaign slogan, "In Your Heart, You Know He's Right," was turned against him with rhymes that reflected the fear he stirred. His opponents said: "In Your Heart, You Know He Might [use nuclear weapons]" and "In your guts, you know he's nuts."

Goldwater recognized that the press found him a troubling candidate. He recalled in his memoirs, With No Apologies: The Personal and Political Memoirs of United States Senator Barry M. Goldwater, being labeled during the campaign as "a fascist, a racist, trigger-happy warmonger, a nuclear madman, and the candidate who couldn't win." The Washington Post related that "he would have voted against himself in 1964 if he believed everything that had been written or said on radio and television about him."

Johnson defeated Goldwater by a huge margin in the 1964 presidential election. Goldwater remembered the race for presidency as like "trying to stand up in a hammock," according to With No Apologies. Even though Goldwater lost, his candidacy spurred a rightward movement in American political thought and marked the first time the majority of voters in the South voted for a Republican candidate.

Goldwater did not run for his senatorial seat at the same time he ran for president. As a result, he spent four years out of political office. In 1968 Goldwater won reelection to his senatorial seat, and he remained a conservative leader in the Senate until he retired in 1987. His last major act as a senator was to help pass the Defense Department Reorganization Act of 1986, which restructured the military command at the Pentagon. Goldwater remembered it as "the only god-damn thing I ever did in the Senate that was worth a damn." He went on to say that he could now "go home happy, sit up on my hill and shoot the jackrabbits," according to the Arizona Republic.

Goldwater's wife, Margaret, died in 1985. He married health care executive Susan Schaffer Wechsler in 1992. Even after his retirement, Goldwater continued to speak out about political issues. Always someone who spoke his mind, even when it conflicted with the general Republican platform, Goldwater was pro-choice in the abortion debate and was in favor of allowing gays to serve in the military. He died in 1998.

For More Information

Books

Edwards, Lee. Goldwater: The Man Who Made a Revolution. Washington, DC: Regnery, 1995.

Goldberg, Robert Alan. Barry Goldwater. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995.

Goldwater, Barry M. The Conscience of a Conservative. Shepherdsville, KY: Victor Publishing Company, 1960.

Goldwater, Barry M. With No Apologies: The Personal and Political Memoirs of United States Senator Barry M. Goldwater, New York: William Morrow, 1979.

Perlstein, Rick. Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001.

Rovere, Richard H. The Goldwater Caper. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1964.