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Pure Goldwater
Barry Goldwater is a defining figure in American public life, a firebrand politician associated with an optimistic brand of conservatism. In an era in which American conservatism has lost his way, his legacy is more important than ever. For over 50 years, in those moments when he was away from the political fray, Senator Goldwater kept a private journal, recording his reflections on a rich political and personal life. Here bestselling author John Dean combines analysis with Goldwater's own words.
With unprecedented access to his correspondence, interviews, and behind-the-scenes conversations, Dean sheds new light on this political figure. From the late Senator's honest thoughts on Richard Nixon to his growing discomfort with the rise of the extreme right, Pure Goldwater offers a revelatory look at an American icon--and also reminds us of a more hopeful alternative to the dispiriting political landscape of today.
With unprecedented access to his correspondence, interviews, and behind-the-scenes conversations, Dean sheds new light on this political figure. From the late Senator's honest thoughts on Richard Nixon to his growing discomfort with the rise of the extreme right, Pure Goldwater offers a revelatory look at an American icon--and also reminds us of a more hopeful alternative to the dispiriting political landscape of today.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
12 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
John W. Dean
32 books121 followersJohn W. Dean served as White House Counsel for United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. In this position, he became deeply involved in events leading up to the Watergate burglaries and the subsequent Watergate scandal cover-up. He was referred to as the "master manipulator of the cover-up" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He pleaded guilty to a single felony count, in exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution. This ultimately resulted in a reduced prison sentence, which he served at Fort Holabird outside Baltimore, Maryland.
Dean is currently an author, columnist, and commentator on contemporary politics, strongly critical of conservatism and the Republican Party, and is a registered Independent who supported the efforts to impeach President George W. Bush.
Dean is currently an author, columnist, and commentator on contemporary politics, strongly critical of conservatism and the Republican Party, and is a registered Independent who supported the efforts to impeach President George W. Bush.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 15, 2018
I bought this because of Goldwater's role in showing Richard Nixon the Oval Office exit door. This is a book of journal entries and letters as Goldwater reflects on politics and personal life over a tumultuous time-sometimes of his own making. He genuinely liked JFK and looked forward to a fair and honest campaign against him in '64-which Goldwater expected to lose anyway. Goldwater writes that JFK had the stuff of a good but not great President, and he faults JFK's resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis as victory for Castro. Of LBJ Goldwater had no respect; his feeling that LBJ was destined to win in '64 because the country did not want three Presidents in a year ignores the fact that Goldwater ran an awful campaign. And early on he saw Nixon as a liar, but supported him until Watergate proved too much. Goldwater was a conservative Republican who reads more libertarian in his attitude toward gays in the military (why not?) and the fact wife Peggy was a supporter of Planned Parenthood ( a death knell in the current GOP). Also while opposing federal civil rights legislation he recounts his personal attacks on bigotry in the military against blacks and discrimination against Jews. Goldwater was descended from Jewish stock, and that enters into the book's long segments of testimony in Goldwater's suit against a writer publisher who printed unsubstantiated stories and outright lies against Goldwater. The heart of that lawsuit-which Goldwater won-was that author's claim of a legion of psychiatrists that Barry was unfit to be President owing to mental illness-"In Your Heart You Know He's Right" became to his opponents "In Your Guts You Know He's Nuts." So in that regard this chapter in Barry's life has resonance for out time.
August 9, 2016
Dean and Goldwater Jr. put together what they hoped was an insightful collection of writings, typically from family letters and journals, by Senator Goldwater. The corpus is highly uneven: heavy on some of the Senate years prior to 1974, and very fragmentary thereafter. I think it was an error to use the 1980s and 1990s material as there are curious digressions from earlier Goldwater philosophy. Why did Goldwater turn on Doug Wead when he had plumped for Nixon for so long? What explains his alliance with People For The American Way when there was no similar behavior in the 1950s and 1960s? This collection is interesting but evidently inconclusive.
November 22, 2014
The book does a great job of presenting the various facets of Goldwater's life, with one conspicuous exception...his bid for the presidency. The book also exposes the degeneration of Goldwater's sunny, amiable disposition into that of embittered crank. The further one proceeds into Barry's political career, the more anger and irritability one encounters in his disposition. It's probably a good thing that he didn't make it into the White House.
It's a fascinating, entertaining, and hilarious read. Worth reading to gain insight into this formidable figure.
It's a fascinating, entertaining, and hilarious read. Worth reading to gain insight into this formidable figure.
November 16, 2008
All I knew about Barry Goldwater was that he was a conservative, hard-line Republican and that I could tease Steven about having been a Young Republican for Goldwater in '64 before he was old enough to vote. This book, a collection of Goldwater's journal entries, letters and speeches, gives a very thorough look at the man and his convictions. I have much more respect for his integrity and his political savvy now that I've read it.
March 30, 2016
This is a book of entries and letters from Goldwater himself. His insights are as true today as they were 1939 to 1998. It was especially revealing in his dealing with 4 Presidents, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. I was fascinated and learned much about the man and those he interacted with. It is hard to imagine the guts of a man who ran for President when he knew he would lose.
August 10, 2022
Unabridged audiobook version streamed from Hoopla Digital.
I did not expect to listen to the entire book, but I was hooked early by Goldwater’s trip journal of a late 1930s auto tour of northern Arizona, an area I explored around the turn of the century — Route 66, four corners region. I felt a kinship with the author and despite some distaste for his politics I learned a lot about where he was really coming from. Since the entire book is in his own words, it’s a seemingly unmediated experience, though I’m sure the writings were carefully selected to emphasize certain aspects of his thought and conduct. His relationship with Nixon is fascinating and deserves its own book. The public Goldwater who is packaged and analyzed by historians and commentators such as Richard Hofstadter may be for real, but the human side of this political celebrity is found in the writings collected here.
I did not expect to listen to the entire book, but I was hooked early by Goldwater’s trip journal of a late 1930s auto tour of northern Arizona, an area I explored around the turn of the century — Route 66, four corners region. I felt a kinship with the author and despite some distaste for his politics I learned a lot about where he was really coming from. Since the entire book is in his own words, it’s a seemingly unmediated experience, though I’m sure the writings were carefully selected to emphasize certain aspects of his thought and conduct. His relationship with Nixon is fascinating and deserves its own book. The public Goldwater who is packaged and analyzed by historians and commentators such as Richard Hofstadter may be for real, but the human side of this political celebrity is found in the writings collected here.
October 3, 2023
This was interesting. I still think Goldwater had a maasive negative impact on our country, and I think it was fascinating how they only showed clips of goldwater being cross examined in the slander trial, although I understand why they did so. I think it goes to show people who are ideologically consistent are often more dangerous than con men.
There's very little on the vietnam war, Why he was so convinced communists were such a threat, and the "child bride" comment was very cocerning.
There's very little on the vietnam war, Why he was so convinced communists were such a threat, and the "child bride" comment was very cocerning.
August 5, 2019
Realizing it would be an impossible task, Dean (Goldwater’s speech writer) and Goldwater, Jr. (his son) make no effort to be fair and balanced, cherry-picking the letters, diary entries, and written speeches that overlook Goldwater’s more extreme views. Goldwater gets props for his devotion to wife and family, but even his courageous act of standing up against Nixon is now cast in a “party first” light that does a disservice to his legacy.
July 26, 2011
This volume is an edited collection of journal entries, letters, and speeches spanning the years from pre-political businessman to retired senior statesman.
This is not great reading as Goldwater is an average writer (by admission) and the entries are unbalanced with an unfortunate and unavoidable, according to the editors, lack of entries covering his presidential campaign and a surfeit of material covering Nixon and Watergate (John Dean anyone).
I did come away with the following:
-Goldwater fails to mention any intellectual antecedents except for Locke and Mill, both referenced in a single entry; no mention of conservative traditionalists such as Burke or contemporary American thinkers like Kirk or Buckley;
-Goldwater comes across as less of an ideologue than as a staunch Republican; this is not to overlook his early disdain for the Eastern liberal establishment.
-Goldwater's pointed assessment of the sanctimonious Parson Moyers of PBS (from the latter's Johnson years);
-Goldwater's essentially trusting nature - often disappointed by the likes of Richard Nixon and John McCain;
-Goldwater's love for his region - all its peoples and its environment although I believe that Goldwater's political isolation from the problems (often intractable) of the Midwest and East sheltered him from some of the forces for change alive in his America.
I lived in a Goldwater household being a high school senior at the time of the 1964 election. The Conscience of a Conservative was prominent on the living room bookshelf alongside Whittaker Chamber's Witness. I don't remember reading Conscience at the time but I must have - in any event the constant adult political chatter surrounding me would have served the same purpose.
The more recent - sometime sentimental - respect for the Senator results from his Watergate actions and his nominally liberal (but actually Libertarian) views on gays and abortion. However one takes this, the presence of a Goldwater in the US Senate would be welcomed.
-
This is not great reading as Goldwater is an average writer (by admission) and the entries are unbalanced with an unfortunate and unavoidable, according to the editors, lack of entries covering his presidential campaign and a surfeit of material covering Nixon and Watergate (John Dean anyone).
I did come away with the following:
-Goldwater fails to mention any intellectual antecedents except for Locke and Mill, both referenced in a single entry; no mention of conservative traditionalists such as Burke or contemporary American thinkers like Kirk or Buckley;
-Goldwater comes across as less of an ideologue than as a staunch Republican; this is not to overlook his early disdain for the Eastern liberal establishment.
-Goldwater's pointed assessment of the sanctimonious Parson Moyers of PBS (from the latter's Johnson years);
-Goldwater's essentially trusting nature - often disappointed by the likes of Richard Nixon and John McCain;
-Goldwater's love for his region - all its peoples and its environment although I believe that Goldwater's political isolation from the problems (often intractable) of the Midwest and East sheltered him from some of the forces for change alive in his America.
I lived in a Goldwater household being a high school senior at the time of the 1964 election. The Conscience of a Conservative was prominent on the living room bookshelf alongside Whittaker Chamber's Witness. I don't remember reading Conscience at the time but I must have - in any event the constant adult political chatter surrounding me would have served the same purpose.
The more recent - sometime sentimental - respect for the Senator results from his Watergate actions and his nominally liberal (but actually Libertarian) views on gays and abortion. However one takes this, the presence of a Goldwater in the US Senate would be welcomed.
-
June 12, 2009
Prior to reading this book, I had known little if anything, about Barry Goldwater as a person. This book enables the reader to understand him and get know him on a personal level.
Pure Goldwater is a collection of journal entries, letters, personal writings, speeches, and articles that Barry wrote throughout his life. Because the majority of the text is written by Barry from his perspective, with the exception of text written from the authors to explain contextual information about where the writing came from, the reader is able to understand the world through his eyes. Pivotal moments that had a direct impact on Barry's life (how he began to venture into the political arena, Watergate, to name a few)are captured with his reactions and feelings on each situation. Other characteristics, like his love for Arizona and this country are transpired throughout the book.
I recommend this book to anyone who lives in Arizona. Barry loved Arizona and happened to tihnk it was one of most beautiful places in the entire world. After reading the book, it kind of made me realize what a great state I am living in and how much I take for granted about the natural beauty of this state.
November 4, 2016
Goldwater was a war-on-communism common sense conservative icon. Simple conservativism: Don't do again what's already been tried and has failed.
Interesting to get a hard right analysis of Kennedy and Cuba (Bay of Pigs & Missile Crisis). Worthwhile analysis of Vietnam and other military misadventures from a hawk's pov.
Most glaring omissions: civil rights movement [some embarrassment there?] and the LBJ years.
This book makes the damnable mistake of venturing into the morass of Watergate. A pointless rehash, nothing new, it's all been said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lyndon warned him [Nixon] to never trust the Russians . . . not engage in disarmament talks with them . . . not agree to go to any table with them because they have yet to show any honesty."
"No country in the history of the world has ever made an exploration into gov't control and then found it possible to completely extricate themselves from that situation."
"Carter had put together the old formula of FDR: organize the minorities, promise them everything you can promise them, and you'll get elected."
Interesting to get a hard right analysis of Kennedy and Cuba (Bay of Pigs & Missile Crisis). Worthwhile analysis of Vietnam and other military misadventures from a hawk's pov.
Most glaring omissions: civil rights movement [some embarrassment there?] and the LBJ years.
This book makes the damnable mistake of venturing into the morass of Watergate. A pointless rehash, nothing new, it's all been said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lyndon warned him [Nixon] to never trust the Russians . . . not engage in disarmament talks with them . . . not agree to go to any table with them because they have yet to show any honesty."
"No country in the history of the world has ever made an exploration into gov't control and then found it possible to completely extricate themselves from that situation."
"Carter had put together the old formula of FDR: organize the minorities, promise them everything you can promise them, and you'll get elected."
September 23, 2008
Very eye opening book of letters, notes and speeches from Barry Goldwater. I always thought of Goldwater in the terms of today's conservatives, but his ideas of conservatism have major differences from those who claim the banner today. The best parts of the books were his relationship with Nixon and the changes that took place during his presidency and the Watergate scandal and the his thoughts over the years of select topics that are still pertinent today. Althought not of fan of any political party, I think if a man with his ideals and integrety were around today I would be supporting him wholeheartedly. I think of today's candidates, only Ron Paul would come close to what Goldwater stands for.
April 23, 2010
This book ties in with my current interest in American Presidents, from JFK forward. Lots of interesting details in this book, although a little dry in sections. It's basically culled from diary logs and letters. I didn't know Goldwater was Jewish; that he was friends with John F Kennedy; that he had good reason to lose respect for Richard Nixon and John McCain; that he loved the outdoors; that his first profession was running the family department store. What really sold me on him was that he echoed my sentiments exactly when he said JFK's Profiles in Courage should be required reading. He was as impressed with this book as I was.
This dude was a class act. A rare politician of character.
This dude was a class act. A rare politician of character.
February 16, 2013
Call it "Pure BS" or "The Hypocrisy of a Conservative"
Goldwater can't admit he was wrong about the Vietnam War.
Even worse, he, as a typical Western libertarian conservative, can say things such as "sell the Tennessee Valley Authority" but yet, never call on the Bureau of Reclamation to privatize the dams and damned lakes on the Colorado.
So, why 4 stars?
Precisely because this book well shows his hypocrisy, and secondarily, because it shows that, while John Dean regularly criticized W, he's no liberal.
Other than that, the book's more a 2-star job, poorly edited, overall, by Dean and Barry Jr., and with some copyediting issues too
Goldwater can't admit he was wrong about the Vietnam War.
Even worse, he, as a typical Western libertarian conservative, can say things such as "sell the Tennessee Valley Authority" but yet, never call on the Bureau of Reclamation to privatize the dams and damned lakes on the Colorado.
So, why 4 stars?
Precisely because this book well shows his hypocrisy, and secondarily, because it shows that, while John Dean regularly criticized W, he's no liberal.
Other than that, the book's more a 2-star job, poorly edited, overall, by Dean and Barry Jr., and with some copyediting issues too
April 14, 2015
Amazing book and a ringside seat to the American history of the 60's and 70's. I grew up in the 60's and was a strong Goldwater supporter when he ran for President of the US back in 1964.
This book is entirely in his own words, from Senator Goldwater's own journals, newspaper columns, and letters. Senator Goldwater served through the Vietnam War, Watergate, Roe vs Wade, and much more. When he was first elected to the Senate in 1952, Dwight Eisenhower was President. He retired in 1987, during the Reagan Administration. He really set a standard for personal integrity. I was amazed at how intelligent and knowledgable he was. He retired from the Air Force in 1967 as a Major General.
This book is entirely in his own words, from Senator Goldwater's own journals, newspaper columns, and letters. Senator Goldwater served through the Vietnam War, Watergate, Roe vs Wade, and much more. When he was first elected to the Senate in 1952, Dwight Eisenhower was President. He retired in 1987, during the Reagan Administration. He really set a standard for personal integrity. I was amazed at how intelligent and knowledgable he was. He retired from the Air Force in 1967 as a Major General.
December 28, 2012
This book by Dean and Goldwater Jr. is not an apology for Goldwater's political life. Instead, they took letters and speeches etc. of Goldwater's and presented them. I liked Barry Goldwater even though not always agreeing with him because I thought he was honest and giving us his honest opinion. This book bears that thought out. Interesting reading and I was especially happy with the good relationship between Barry and his wife, unlike so many politicians today.
J. Robert Ewbank author "Wesley's Wars" and "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms"
J. Robert Ewbank author "Wesley's Wars" and "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms"
July 25, 2013
A collection of diary entries and speeches compiled by Goldwater's son and John Dean of Watergate infamy. I bought this book in 2012 at my local dollar store and noticed that it was released during the 2008 political campaign season. I wondered if it's release was designed to detract from the McCain campaign since there are portions dedicated to their relationship and falling out. I enjoyed reading Goldwater's reflections on Watergate as it was happening; it would have been nice to read something similar about his 1964 campaign which is truncated here.
October 19, 2009
This paints a cool portrait of Barry Goldwater's life mostly from his own writings, journals, etc. I was a little disappointed that it didn't focus so much on the policies he advocated, I would have liked to get inside his head a little more when it came to his political philosophy. It is a great read for someone who wants to understand politics, politicians, and how the game is played.
November 27, 2013
Great read. It gave me a better appreciation for Barry Goldwater's life and background. He should be a role model for all government personnel - truthful, honest who does not play the politician's game.
January 1, 2020
Picked it up (used) on a whim, and enjoyed it more than I expected. I paid more attention to the sections on Nixon and Watergate than to the rest of the book. However, it does give interesting insight to one of the 20th century's more pivotal figures.
Currently reading
June 18, 2008So far so good.
July 31, 2009
behind the scenes of how the conservative party started. Very interesting reading
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September 23, 2010Pure Goldwater by John W. Dean (2008)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews