Conservative Ideology in the 1960s and 1970s
Conservative ideology dominated American discourse in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in 1964 after the divisive presidential election between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater.
Goldwater's Influence and the Rejection of Liberal Policies
Republican conservative Goldwater, who influenced the new conservative movement, argued for the need to reverse all governmentally enacted liberal policies from the previous three decades up to that point. However, based on his beliefs, the majority of Americans believed Goldwater to be a very extreme candidate, and this would show in the landslide loss of 1964 to Johnson, a Democrat. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that Goldwater would be regarded as the pioneer of who brought back the resonance of conservatism in the American population, as was witnessed in the 1980 polls when Ronald Reagan won the elections. Whereas it is essential to explain why the core ideas of conservatism increasingly resonated with many Americans across the late 1960s and the 1970s, it is as well imperative to highlight why a growing number of Americans rejected liberal social and economic agendas during these socially and economically tumultuous years.
The 1970s: Characteristics and Influence of Conservatism
The level of conservatism in the 1970s was mired in the common characteristics of the earlier times in the 1930s, and this could spiral through to the 1980s. Nevertheless, conservatism took a new dimension in the American history when the media took sides and condemned conservatism as an extremist philosophy in the US society. Consequently, conservatives began to lose influence in the American culture, and some affiliations like the Hoover institution became bankrupt in the early 1960s. Whereas the liberals had a towering influence in media with approximately eight magazines publishing their ideologies, the conservatives had only one, doing barely an eight-page article titled The Human Events. In the academic segment of the other hand, the liberals were so established that the William Volker Funder struggle even to offer sponsorships in the American mainstream. Liberalism had become the sole tradition in the intellectual arena in the American society. Nevertheless, as it would later be witnessed in the early 1960s, liberalism gained ground to take a conspicuous influence over the conservatives. The social crisis witnessed in the American communicates as well as the economic depression gave Americans a reason to believe in conservatism. Americans needed the rational policies and the conservative politics back to the scene.
The Principles of Conservatism
The principles of conservatism are well enumerated in the speeches "The Making of a New Majority Party" in 1976 by William Rusher and the "A Time of Choosing" Ronald Reagan in 1964. The arguments are made that human freedom and liberty is one of the most fundamental and inalienable human right for the sake of existence. The Americans in the 1960s had real problems in society concerning the economic recession and social disintegration. The concept of conservatism as a philosophy was characterized by individual freedoms and personal responsibility as essential components. Furthermore, Americans needed the least degree possible of the government intervention, and that people wanted to have their lifestyle not meddled in by the government and public policies. Therefore, keeping orders and ensuring the rule of law was the central and only role of the government so as not to limit the freedoms of the members of the society. On the other hand, the presidential candidate Goldwater was a great believer that conservatives were not only spiritual creatures but as well economic beings. These elements of intriguing yet controversial arguments would lead to the traditional conservatism in America, and its prominence peaked in the 1970s.
Conservatism in the 1980s: Reagan's Rise
The conservatism in America had evolved to new levels of influence, and it was a major contributor to the reason as to why the incumbent president Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Indeed, in the 1970s up to the early 1980s, conservatism was viewed by the Americans as the mainstream agenda, rather than the typical understanding of the 1960s that conservatism was a radical philosophy. Reagan advocated for new policies in the economic and commercial segments, a strategic mechanism he engaged in winning the high American society in the 1960s. The harsh economic times and the declining culture fabric compelled Americans to resonate conservatism in their discourse. As such, the US citizenry wanted a government that could strictly deal with communists, have little control and lesser meddling in the private sector, de-regulate the American economic nerve centers, embrace a smaller federal administration, and lower the taxes, characteristics that were adopted by Reagan, thus his suitability as a presidential choice to the Americans. Reagan believed that the then President Carter was an enthusiast of central government fortification at the expense of the middle-class Americans, hence the evidence economic recession, social crisis then. Therefore, Reagan wanted to fix the American economy, he wanted to change the American political landscape to the new standard, and his conservative arguments resonated well with the American populace.
The Role of Single Issue Groups
The upcoming of new single groups at the national platform in the late 1970s was a critical move that fueled conservatism. For instance, following the court dispute that led to the legalization of abortion, in the Roe v. Wade dispute, many Americans came out in numbers to demonstrate against the decision. The conservative populace was campaigning for the rights to life of the children who had not yet been born. Indeed, the factions like the Right to Work Movement, the National Rifles Association, as well as the Right to Life Movement sprung up in unison. The concerted effort among the teams lead to a fueled-up conservative character in the American society. Thus people elected political leaders who they found suitable in resonation with their conservative ideologies. The Roe v. Wade ruling of the American Supreme Court was equally one of the central courses that aroused the anxiety of the church. The religious stakeholders rose to the occasion to advocate for what they embraced as right in the capacity of their different faiths. A good example was Reverent Jerry Falwell who mobilized Christians and rallied them across the streets in different states claiming the evil in the decision to allowing abortion in America. On the contrary, the libertarian ideologies by Goldwater greatly differed with the approach embraced by the church against the move in the American society. Therefore, all these public and religious factions at the national level contributed to a major extent to the American conservatism that dictated the US politics between the 1960s and the 1970s.
The Shift in American Politics: Conservative Reaction to Liberal Ideologies
The American conservative politics took a new dimension suddenly in the 1980s, to a major degree what seemed like the reaction to the liberal ideologies of the 1960s. Through Richard Nixon, the Republicans rose to the apex of American power following the diverted attention and disagreements in the Democratic Party in 1968. Nixon pulled through on the foundation of Goldwater's philosophy, an occurrence that sparked much worry in the conservative endears. These would lead to the groups like the Young Americans for Freedom, the Heritage Foundation, and the Leadership Institute. All these affiliated organizations partnered at the national level to advocate for new policies for the rights of the people, and to a major degree influenced the American foreign policy.
Resonance of Conservatism despite Challenges
In conclusion, therefore, Americans resonated with the conservative discourse for an extended period despite the liberal policies in the American society in the 1970s and 1080s, for a couple of reasons, even after considering that there was critical crises in the social fabric and the economic depression in the country that afflicted the American citizenry. Indeed the incidence of the new conservative movement in the late 1970s only led to heightened tension in the mainstream, noting that there was no clear or standard objective established by those who embraced conservatism. For instance, the primary role of the federal government policy did not have an agreed position between the traditional and supply-siders conservatives. Whereas the traditional conservatives embraced the rising deficit with an increased tax to alleviate the burden, the supply-siders embraced conservative approaches that favored a permanent tax cut characterized by a rise in deficit. The great society political landscape which described the big government liberalism to the one that was stricter became the new order of the conservative movement. The 1964 political heat in America was the foundation of conservatism under Goldwater. His ideologies would later be championed, and spearheaded by Reagan in the 1980 polls. Nevertheless, it is more likely that Nixon followed the footsteps of Goldwater as opposed to the notion that he was self-propagated in conservatism philosophy. Indeed, the conservatives witnessed in the American society in the 1960s, 1970, and even to the mid-1980s was more of a reactionary phenomenon than the liberal political set up of the American politics then.
Bibliography
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