The Rise of Conservatism in America 1945-2000: A Brief History with Documents

by Ronald Story, Bruce Laurie

Rise of Conservatism in America, 1945-2000 utilizes speeches, cartoons, party platforms, and editorials to trace the remarkable impact of the conservative movement in the last half of the twentieth century.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, School

208 pages, paper

First published March 21, 2007

Reviews

[The Nutmeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

That feeling when it's 2 am and you've spent the last 10 hours working through a book and the paper on it is due in 6 hours...

I really, REALLY liked this one, and any pain suffered in the process of reading it and writing about it is entirely due to my own procrastination. :P

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-assembled and brief set of sources that covers a good range of issues and ideas in the rise of the conservative movement. Nice mix of political and intellectual sources. My main complaint, however, would be that some of the sources are quite short (2-3 paragraphs) and don't give a good sense of the document or the thinker/speaker. Maybe a couple of fewer sources on economics, or fewer but longer documents in this area, would have addressed this problem. Good as a teaching resource, but I wouldn't assign the whole thing, as there's considerable overlap and some of the documents are too short to really chew on. Also, definitely confirmed my liberalism to read all of these sources. I was actually surprised to find myself agreeing with essentially none of them.

[Seth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This a poor introduction to conservatism after the Second World War. These two authors make no distinction between types of conservatives. All conservatives, according to the authors, are collpased into "right-wing" thinkers. This is just an outmoded way of thinking of modern American conservatism.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable collection of excerpted conservative writings. I would highly recommend this to anyone seeking to understand the modern-day conservative movement.

[Kyle Tucker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story and Laurie provide a short overview of conservativism in America, and argue it’s rise was largely due to libertarianism, traditionalism, and anti-communism. Most of the book includes excerpts from major conservative figures, many of which remind me of my shame regarding Christian conservativism as of late. I expected the racism, but the damnation of wayward souls was gut-wrenching. Many of these writers and speakers had what Keller would refer to as an “elder brother complex.”

[Justin P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good anthology of key political writings from the mid-to-late 20th century.

[Tinquerbelle]

1) America Turns the Corner (1947); Lawrence, David
2) Platform of the States' Rights Democratic Party (1948); Thurmond, Strom, et al.
3) Lincoln Day Address (1950); McCarty, Joseph R.
4) Farewell Address to Cognress (1951); MacArthur, Douglas
5) The Conservative Mind (1953); Kirk, Russell
6) Publisher's Statement on Founding National Review (1955); Buckley, William F. Jr.
7) Why the South Must Prevail (1957); National Review
8) The Blue Book of the John Birch Society (1959); Welch, Robert
9) The Conscience of a Conservative (1960); Goldwater, Barry
10) The Sharon Statements (1960); Young Americans for Freedom
11) Capitalism and Freedom (1962); Friedman, Milton
12) Rendezvouz with Destiny (1964); Reagan, Ronald
13) Who is Accommodating to What? (1965); Bozell, L. Brent
14) George Wallace for President Brochure (1968)
15) Two Speeches (1969); Agnew, Spiro
16) Defense of the Republic (1970); Meyer, Frank S.
17) Capital Punishment (1971); Zoll, Donald Atwell
18) Confidential Memorandum: Attack on American Free Enterprise System (1971); Powell, Lewis F. Jr.
19) "You in a Heap o' Trouble, Son" (1972); MacNelly, Jeff
20) Labor Day Radio Address (1972); Nixon, Richard M.
21) Act Before It's Too Late (1974); National Rifle Association
22) Affirmative Discrimination (1975); Glazer, Nathan
23) The Taxfighters Are Coming! (1975); Crawford, Alan
24) Interview with the Washington Star (1976): Schlafly, Phyllis
25) Common Sense and the Common Danger (1976); Committee on the Present Danger
26) The NEA: A Washington Lobby Run Rampant (1978); Methvin, Eugene H.
27) American Weakness (1979); Haynie, Hugh
28) Building the Moral Majority (1979); Weyrich, Paul
29) Nomination Acceptance Speech (1980); Reagan, Ronald
30) Wealth and Poverty (1981); Gilder, George
31) Speech to the National Association of Evangelicals (1983); Reagan, Ronald
32) Social Security: Continuing Crisis or Real Reform? (1983); Dorn, J.A.
33) Resolution on Abortion (1984); Southern Baptist Convention
34) Report on Privatization (1988); President's Commission on Privatization
35) Opinion on the Juvenile Death Penalty (1988); Scalia, Antonin
36) George Bush's Hidden Tax: The Explosion in Regulation (1992); Laffer, William G. III
37) Abortion Drawings (1993); Westberg, Jenny
38) Dead Right (1994); Frum, David
39) Resolution on Homosexual Marriage (1996); Southern Baptist Convention
40) Middle-Class Families Need a Flat Tax (1999); Tate, Randy
41) Anti-Christ Philosophy Already Controls America and Europe (1999); LaHaye, Tim
42) Nomination Acceptance Speech (2000); Bush, George W.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains quite a bit of primary source documents that make it an interesting way of reading about the rise of the conservative movement in the U.S. However, it doesn't really distinguish between the various conservative sections. Overall though, I think it's worth the read if you're interested in this subject.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent set of documents; especially valuable for extending back in time to offer roots of the 1970s/80s conservative resurgence in earlier decades.

[Dakota · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reference this book constantly! It is a great resource for debates and just general knowledge.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read on the rise of the Conservative movement in the United States. Would recommend if you like to read primary source documents, otherwise look for a more general history.