Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right

by David Austin Walsh

A provocative look at the relationship between the far right and the American conservative movement from the 1930s to the end of the Cold War
 
Many commentators have expressed shock at the so-called rise of the far right in America at the expense of “responsible” and “respectable” conservatism. But as David Austin Walsh shows, the mainstream conservative movement and the far right have been intertwined for nearly a century, and both were born out of a “right-wing popular front” linking racists, anti-Semites, and fascists in a broad coalition opposed to socialism, communism, and New Deal liberalism.
 
This coalition included Merwin Hart, a New York business lobbyist active in far-right circles who became a lobbyist for the Franco regime in Spain, the original “America First” movement, the movement to prevent Jewish immigration to the United States after World War II, the John Birch Society, the American Nazi Party, the George Wallace campaign of 1968, the fight over the NEH, and Pat Buchanan’s support of Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk during the Reagan Administration.
 
Far from being outliers in the broader conservative coalition, these extremist elements were foundational in the creation of a right-wing political culture centered around shared political enemies, a penchant for conspiracy theories, and a desire to restore America to its “authentic” pre–New Deal values.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, American History, Sociology, United States

320 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2024

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
It's good but I dislike the way part 2 is structured. Too much going back and forth through the 50s/60s, then boom all of a sudden we're in the 90s.

[John Mihelic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this right as it came out and I remember thinking that it was like an extended version of Know Your Enemy, where lefties go in on trying to figure out what the deal is with the right in this country - and then after I had read it, Walsh indeed did go on Know Your Enemy. For books released in 2024, it's a good companion with When the Clock Broke. They cover different time periods but both show that the threads that bind our contemporary world string back through the past.

[Joshua Pechthalt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very readable look at the far right movement and its roots in the anti-interventionist, fascist movement in the country that emerges prior to World War II. Walsh examines the splits in the far right movement, the role of the John Birch society, far right publications like the National Review and the rejection of moderate Republicans like Eisenhauer, the significance of the Goldwater campaign in '64 as a major turning point in what is MAGA and the Republican Party today

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historiography was superb and a must-read for people trying to understand the historic relationship between the far-right and the Republican political establishment. I wish Walsh spent more effort connecting past events to the present.

[Turner Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and informative dive into the interplay between “respectable” and far right conservative movements since the New Deal. I do feel myself wanting more, particularly how the “respectable” factions dealt with racial tension and anti-worker sentiment post-Civil Rights Movement.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book.

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and provocative book. Didn't agree w full extent of the argument but it asks good questions and is very engaging. Writing a full review for a website, so I'll post that later.

[Upside-down Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

def a kind of academic style but great stuff

[David Nanninga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy Graham writing for the same magazine at the same time as the future founder of the American Nazi Party is an insane fact more people should know and talk about.