Barry Goldwater

For other uses, see Goldwater (disambiguation).

B.M. Goldwater (1909-1998)
U.S. Senator, Arizona
In office 1953 - 1965 1969 - 1987
Preceded by	Ernest McFarland
Succeeded by	John McCain
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Margaret Johnson (September 2, 1934-December 11, 1985) Susan Shaffer Wechsler (February 9, 1992-May 29, 1998)

Bartholomew Morris Goldwater (January 1, 1909 – May 29, 1998) commonly known as Barry Goldwater, was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–87) and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. He is the American politician most often credited for sparking the resurgence of the American conservative political movement.

Goldwater's political rise also marked the beginnings of a geographic shift in the American political balance of power toward the South and Southwest — a trend not widely recognized until the 1980s and 1990s.

Goldwater lost the 1964 Presidential election in a landslide to incumbent Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson. He was criticized in 1964 as a radical reactionary, yet he energized a conservative grass roots movement which, sixteen years later, helped to nominate and elect Ronald Reagan.

Goldwater rejected the key programs and viewpoints of the New Deal and fought inside the Conservative Coalition to defeat the New Deal coalition. After 1981, however, the influence of the Christian Right on the Republican Party so conflicted with Goldwater's libertarian views that he openly voiced his opposition.

Personal life

Goldwater was born in Phoenix in 1909, when the Arizona Territory was not yet a state. His grandfather, Michel Goldwasser, was a Jewish immigrant from Konin, Poland who founded a department store in Phoenix, Goldwater's Department Store. His paternal grandmother, Sarah Nathan, was from London, England and married Goldwasser in the Great Synagogue of London.[1] Goldwater's father, Baron Goldwater, converted to the Episcopal Church from Judaism when he married his fiancée, Hattie Josephine Williams. The family name had been changed from Goldwasser to Goldwater at least as early as the 1860 census in Los Angeles, California. The family department store made the Goldwaters comfortably rich. Goldwater graduated from Staunton Military Academy and attended the University of Arizona for one year, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Goldwater took over the family business after his father's 1930 death. He had progressive business ideas, yet was also anti-union; but, the strain of running the business became too much. Goldwater had nervous breakdowns in 1937 and 1939. He began to drink heavily, a problem he never completely overcame.

With the onset of World War II, Goldwater was commissioned in the United States Army Air Forces. He became a pilot assigned to the Ferry Command, a newly formed unit that delivered aircraft and supplies to war zones worldwide; he spent most of the war flying between the U.S.A. and India, via the Azores and North Africa or South America, Nigeria and Central Africa. He also flew "the hump" over the Himalayas to deliver supplies to the Republic of China. Remaining in the reserves after the war, he retired with a rank of Major General. By that time, he had flown 165 different types of aircraft. Following World War II, Goldwater was a major proponent of building the United States Air Force Academy, and later served on the Academy's Board of Visitors. The Visitor Center at the Academy is named in his honor.

Goldwater's son, Barry Goldwater, Jr. served as a U.S. House member from California from 1969 to 1983.

Political career

Goldwater entered Phoenix politics in 1949. He first won a US Senate seat in 1952, when he upset veteran Democrat -- and Senate majority leader -- Ernest McFarland. He defeated McFarland again in 1958, but in 1964 he ran for President without seeking re-election to the Senate.

The two issues Goldwater became most associated with were labor union reform, and fighting Communism. He was an active supporter of the Conservative coalition in Congress. His work on labor issues led to Congress' passing major anti-corruption reforms in 1957, and an all-out campaign by the AFL-CIO to defeat his 1958 re-election bid. He voted against the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954, but he was much more careful than McCarthy, never charging anyone with secretly being a Communist agent. Goldwater emphasized his strong opposition to the worldwide spread of Communism in his 1960 book The Conscience of a Conservative, which became an extremely important reference text in conservative political circles.

Goldwater had a controversial record on civil rights. Locally, he was a supporter of the Arizona NAACP and was involved in desegregating the Arizona National Guard. Nationally, he supported the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960. However, he opposed the much more comprehensive Civil Rights Act of 1964; he argued that it unconstitutionally extended the federal government's commerce power to private citizens, just to "legislate morality" and restrict the rights of employers. Since conservative Southern Democrats were the main opponents to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and previous civil rights legislation, Goldwater's opposition to the 1964 Act, in which he was joined by only four other non-southern Republican senators, strongly boosted Goldwater's standing among White southerners.

In 1964, he fought and won a bitterly contested, multi-candidate race for the GOP's presidential nomination. His main challenger was New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, whom he defeated in the California primary. His nomination was challenged by moderate Republicans who thought that his hardline foreign policy stances were sure to backfire. He lost to President Johnson by one of the largest margins in the history of U.S. Presidential elections. Consequently, the Republican Party suffered a significant setback nationally, losing many seats in both houses of Congress. Goldwater carried only his home state and five formerly Democratic "Deep South" states. Many Republicans angrily turned against Goldwater, claiming that his defeat had significantly set back the party's chances of national success in the 1960's and 1970's.

He remained popular in Arizona, though, and in the 1968 Senate election he was elected to an open seat. He was subsequently re-elected in 1974 and 1980. Goldwater retired in 1987, serving as chair of the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees in his final term. Despite his reputation as a firebrand in the 1960s, by the end of his career he was considered a stabilizing influence in the Senate -- one of the most respected members of either major party. However, Goldwater remained staunchly anti-Communist and "hawkish" on military issues. He led the unsuccessful fight against ratification of the Panama Canal Treaty in the 1970s, which ceded U.S. control of the canal to the government of Panama. His most important legislative achievement may have been the Goldwater-Nichols Act, which re-organized the U.S. military's senior-command structure.

Goldwater was a supporter of Wisconsin's Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy to the bitter end (one of only 22 Senators who voted against McCarthy's censure). He was friends with then-Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts; in fact, Goldwater anticipated that a contest for president between John F. Kennedy and Goldwater himself would have been an enjoyable experience, with lively debates between them, one of which to be held on board a plane in flight. Goldwater disliked then-Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas (who he said "used every dirty trick in the bag"), and then-Senator Richard M. Nixon of California, whom he later called "the most dishonest individual I have ever met in my life". Goldwater showed a caustic wit that cost him popularity in the Republican Party.

Later, Goldwater was grief-stricken by the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and was greatly disappointed that his opponent would be Lyndon B. Johnson during the presidential race.

The 1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act written by Senator Barry Goldwater, allowed local governments to require Public access television, also called PEG (Public, Education, and Government) access channels, barred cable operators from exercising editorial control over content of programs carried on PEG channels, and absolved them from liability for that content.

U.S. presidential election, 1964

At the time of Goldwater's presidential candidacy, the Republican Party was split between conservatives (strongest in the Midwest) and liberals (strongest in the Northeast). He alarmed even some of his fellow partisans with his brand of staunch fiscal conservatism and militant anti-Communism. He was viewed by many traditional Republicans as being too far to the right wing of the Republican spectrum to appeal to the mainstream majority needed to win a national election. As a result, moderate Republicans recruited a series of opponents, including New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. and Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, to challenge Goldwater. Goldwater defeated Rockefeller in the winner-take-all California primary, thus securing the nomination; Goldwater boldly declared in his acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican Convention that "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." (This paraphrase of remarks by Cicero was included at the suggestion of Harry V. Jaffa, though the speech was primarily written by Karl Hess.) Due to President Johnson's high popularity, however, Goldwater held back from attacking the president directly; he did not even mention Johnson by name in his convention speech.

Past comments came back to haunt Goldwater throughout his campaign. Once he called the Eisenhower administration "a dime-store New Deal", and the former president never fully forgave him. Eisenhower did, however, film a TV commercial with Goldwater. When Eisenhower voted for Goldwater in November, he remarked that he had voted not specifically for Goldwater, but rather for the Republican Party. In December 1961, Goldwater told a news conference that "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." That comment boomeranged on him during the campaign in the form of a Johnson television commercial, as did remarks about making Social Security voluntary, and statements in Tennessee about selling the Tennessee Valley Authority (a large local employer, and symbol of the New Deal's perceived success).

The Goldwater campaign spotlighted Ronald Reagan, who gave a stirring, nationally televised speech, "A Time for Choosing", in support of Goldwater. [2]. Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, later well-known for her fight against the Equal Rights Amendment, first became known for writing a pro-Goldwater book, A Choice, Not an Echo, attacking the liberal Republican establishment. Senator Prescott S. Bush (1895-1972), a liberal Republican from Connecticut, was a friend of Goldwater's and supported him in the general election campaign. Bush's son, George H.W. Bush (then running for the Senate from Texas against Democrat Ralph Yarborough), was also a strong Goldwater supporter in both the nomination and general election campaigns. Goldwater was painted as a dangerous figure by the Johnson campaign, which countered Goldwater's slogan "In your heart, you know he's right" with the lines "In your guts, you know he's nuts", and "In your heart, you know he might" (that is, might drop the atomic bomb). Johnson himself did not mention Goldwater in his own acceptance speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Goldwater's provocative advocacy of aggressive tactics to prevent the spread of Communism in Asia led to effective counter-attacks from Lyndon Johnson and his supporters, who feared that Goldwater's militancy would have dire consequences, possibly even including nuclear war. Regarding Vietnam, Goldwater charged that Johnson's policy was devoid of "goal, course, or purpose", leaving "only sudden death in the jungles and the slow strangulation of freedom." Goldwater's own rhetoric on nuclear war was viewed by many as quite uncompromising, a view buttressed by off-hand comments such as, "Let's lob one into the men's room at the Kremlin."

Goldwater did his best to counter the Johnson attacks, criticizing the Johnson administration for its perceived ethical lapses, and stating in a commercial that "...we, as a nation, are not far from the kind of moral decay that has brought on the fall of other nations and people...I say it is time to put conscience back in government. And by good example, put it back in all walks of American life." Goldwater campaign commercials included statements of support by actor Raymond Massey and moderate Republican senator Margaret Chase Smith.

Before the 1964 election, a muckraking magazine, Fact, published by Ralph Ginzburg, polled psychiatrists on whether Goldwater was psychologically fit to be President. Most of the psychiatrists said no. (Goldwater had had nervous breakdowns in his 20's.) After the election, Goldwater sued the publisher, the editor, and the magazine for libel. "Although the jury awarded Goldwater only $1.00 in compensatory damages against all three defendants, it went on to [396 U.S. 1049, 1050] award him punitive damages of $25,000 against Ginzburg and $50,000 against Fact magazine, Inc." According to Warren Boroson, then-managing editor of Fact and now a financial columnist; the main biography of Goldwater in the magazine was written by David Bar-Illan, the Israeli pianist. He went on to say "Goldwater sued me for $2 million. (He collected 33 cents.)".

Influence of television

• For only the second time, United States citizens were able to view the National Conventions televised. In that era, the Republican National Convention was a vibrant mix of candidates, reporters, delegates, relatives, and others, crowding together, shoulder to shoulder, on the convention floor: parading about with signs, in costumes, wearing funny hats, arguing, booing, cheering, clapping, angrily debating, with an atmosphere that was somewhat aggressive. Brinks security agents were present to keep some semblance of order.

• A campaign advertisement, known popularly as Daisy, shown only once, filmed a child, a young girl, counting daisy petals, from one to ten. Immediately following this scene, a voiceover counted down: ten, nine, eight, ... three, two, one. The child's face was shown as a still photograph followed by images of nuclear explosions and mushroom clouds. The campaign advertisement ended with a plea to vote for Johnson, seemingly implying that Goldwater would start a nuclear war if he won. The advertisement, which featured only a few spoken words of narrative and relied on imagery for its emotional impact, was one of the most provocative moments in American political campaign history, and many analysts credit it as being the birth of the modern style of "negative political ads" on television. The ad only aired once, and was immediately pulled.

Results

In the end, Goldwater received only 38.4% of the popular vote, and carried only five states (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina) plus his home state of Arizona -- which itself only gave Goldwater 242,536 votes (50.4%) to Johnson's 237,765 (49.5%). In all, Johnson won an overwhelming 486 electoral votes, to Goldwater's 52. Goldwater, with his customary bluntness, remarked: "We would have lost even if Abraham Lincoln had come back and campaigned with us."

Goldwater's poor showing, plus the tendency at the time for most voters to vote a "straight ticket" (that is, loyally voting for every candidate from the same party as their Presidential choice was), was associated with the defeat of many other long-time Republican officeholders from Congress through local races.

Goldwater maintained later in life that he would have won the election if the country had not been in a state of extended grief (referring to the assassination of JFK), and that it was simply not ready for a third President in just fourteen months. It has frequently been argued that Goldwater's strong performance in Southern states previously regarded as Democratic strongholds foreshadowed a larger shift in electoral trends in the coming decades that would make the South a Republican bastion— first in presidential politics, and eventually at the congressional and state levels, as well.

Goldwater and the revival of American conservatism

Current Arizona Senator John McCain summed up Goldwater's impact in this way: he "transformed the Republican Party from an Eastern elitist organization to the breeding ground for the election of Ronald Reagan." Historian Rick Perlstein, in his book Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, explained Goldwater's impact on the American political scene by way of analogy:

"Think of a senator winning the Democratic nomination in the year 2000 whose positions included halving the military budget, socializing the medical system, reregulating the communications and electrical industries, establishing a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans, and equalizing funding for all schools regardless of property valuations—and who promised to fire Alan Greenspan, counseled withdrawal from the World Trade Organization, and, for good measure, spoke warmly of adolescent sexual experimentation. He would lose in a landslide. He would be relegated to the ash heap of history. But if the precedent of 1964 were repeated, two years later the country would begin electing dozens of men and women just like him. And not many decades later, Republicans would have to proclaim softer versions of those positions to get taken seriously for their party's nomination."

The Republican Party recovered from the 1964 election debacle, picking up 47 seats in the House of Representatives in the mid-term election of 1966. Further Republican successes ensued, including Goldwater's return to the Senate in 1968, although he played little part in the election of Richard Nixon. Throughout the 1970s, as the conservative wing gained influence in the party, Goldwater remained one of its standard-bearers. The columnist George Will remarked after the 1980 Presidential election that "it took 16 years to count the votes [of the 1964 election], and Goldwater won", demonstrating the extent to which Goldwater was seen as leading the wing.

Libertarian views

By the 1980s, with Ronald Reagan as president and the growing involvement of the religious right in conservative politics, Goldwater's libertarian views on personal issues were revealed, which he believed were part of bona fide conservativism. This put him at odds with the Reagan Administration and religious conservatives who wanted stricter government control and intervention over personal affairs, particularly regarding sex. Goldwater viewed abortion as a matter of personal choice, not intended for government intervention. In fact, his own daughter, Joanne, chose to have an abortion before her first marriage at the age of 20, and he supported her decision. As a passionate defender of personal liberty, he saw the religious right's views as an encroachment on personal privacy and individual liberties. In his 1980 Senate re-election campaign, Goldwater won support from religious conservatives but in his final term voted consistently to uphold legalized abortion. Even in matters of foreign policy, Goldwater disagreed with Reagan and his supporters; he opposed the decision to mine Nicaraguan harbors. Notwithstanding his prior differences with Dwight Eisenhower, Goldwater in a 1986 interview rated him the best of the seven Presidents with whom he had served.

After his retirement, in 1987, Goldwater described the conservative Arizona Governor Evan Mecham as "hardheaded" and called on him to resign, and two years later stated the Republican Party had been taken over by a "bunch of kooks." In a 1994 interview with the Washington Post the retired Senator said, "When you say 'radical right' today, I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the Republican Party and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye." He said about Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, "I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass," in response to Falwell's opposition to the nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court where Falwell said, "Every good Christian should be concerned." [3]

In the 1990s he became more controversial because of statements that aggravated many social conservatives. He endorsed Democrat Karan English in an Arizona congressional race, urged Republicans to lay off Clinton over the Whitewater scandal, and criticized the military's ban on homosexuals: "Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar." He also said, "You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight." In 1996 he told Bob Dole, who mounted his presidential campaign with luke-warm support from hard-line conservatives, "We're the new liberals of the Republican Party. Can you imagine that?"

Hobbies and interests

Photography

Goldwater was an accomplished amateur photographer and in his estate left some 15,000 of his images to three Arizona institutions. He was very keen on candid photography. He got started in photography after receiving a camera as a gift from his wife on their first Christmas together. He was known to use a 4x5 Graflex, Rolliflex camera, and Nikon 35 mm.

For decades, he contributed photographs of his home state to Arizona Highways and was best known for his Western landscapes and pictures of native Americans in the United States. Three books with his photographs are People and Places, from 1967; Barry Goldwater and the Southwest, from 1976; and Delightful Journey, first published in 1940 and reprinted in 1970. Ansel Adams wrote a foreword to the 1976 book.

Son Michael Prescott Goldwater formed the Goldwater Family Foundation with the goal of making Goldwaters photography available via the internet. Barry Goldwater Photographs ([4]) was launched in September 2006 to coincide with the HBO documentary "Mr. Conservative", which was produced by grand-daughter CC Goldwater.

Amateur radio

Goldwater was an avid amateur radio operator, with the call signs K7UGA and K3UIG . During the Vietnam War, he spent many hours giving servicemen overseas the ability to talk to their families at home over the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) .

Barry Goldwater was also a prolific spokesman for amateur radio and those in it. Beginning in 1969 and almost to the time of his death he appeared in numerous educational and promotional films (and later videos) about the hobby that were produced for the American Radio Relay League (the United States national society representing the interests of radio amateurs) by such producers as Dave Bell (W6AQ), Alan Kaul (W6RCL), Forrest Oden (N6ENV), Bill Pasternak (WA6ITF) and the late Roy Neal (K6DUE). His first appearance was in Dave Bell's "The World of Amateur Radio" where Goldwater discussed the history of the hobby and demonstrated a live contact with Antarctica. His last on-screen appearance dealing with "ham radio" was in 1994, explaining a then-upcoming, Earth-orbiting ham radio relay satellite.

Interest in UFOs

Goldwater was one of the more prominent American politicians to openly show an interest in UFOs.

On March 28, 1975, Goldwater wrote to Shlomo Arnon: "The subject of UFOs has interested me for some long time. About ten or twelve years ago I made an effort to find out what was in the building at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where the information has been stored that has been collected by the Air Force, and I was understandably denied this request. It is still classified above Top Secret." Goldwater further wrote that there were rumors the evidence would be released, and that he was "just as anxious to see this material as you are, and I hope we will not have to wait much longer."(Also Good, 405)

The April 25, 1988 issue of The New Yorker carried an interview where Goldwater said he repeatedly asked his friend, Gen. Curtis LeMay, if there was any truth to the rumors that UFO evidence was stored in a secret room at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and if he (Goldwater) might have access to the room. According to Goldwater, an angry LeMay gave him "holy hell" and said, "Not only can't you get into it but don't you ever mention it to me again."

In a 1988 interview on Larry King's radio show, Goldwater was asked if he thought the U.S. Government was withholding UFO evidence; he replied "Yes I do." He added:

I certainly believe in aliens in space. They may not look like us, but I have very strong feelings that they have advanced beyond our mental capabilities....I think some highly secret government UFO investigations are going on that we don't know about-and probably never will unless the Air Force discloses them."

Death

Goldwater's public appearances stopped in late 1996 after he suffered a stroke; family members said he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. He died on May 29, 1998, at the age of 89 in Paradise Valley, Arizona, of complications from the stroke.

Goldwater Scholarship

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986. Its goal is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.

The Scholarship is widely considered the most prestigious award in the U.S. conferred upon undergraduates studying the sciences and is awarded to about 300 students (college sophomores and juniors) nationwide in the amount of $7500 per academic year (for their senior year, or junior and senior years).

Documentary

Goldwater's granddaughter, C.C. Goldwater, has co-produced a documentary on Goldwater's life, "Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater", which was first shown on HBO on September 18, 2006. [5] and is being rebroadcast at various times as well as being available on demand.

Trivia

• One of the less politically charged Goldwater campaign slogans, used mainly on bumper stickers, read simply "Au H₂O 64" (combining the chemical symbols for gold and water).

• He became known for the occasional, humorous off-color remark; he once told talk-show host Jay Leno and guest Roseanne Barr that he planned to get a tattoo of a lipstick pucker "right on my ass."

• He is featured in the lyrics of the Bob Dylan song "I Shall Be Free" No. 10 from Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). Forty years later, Dylan said in his autobiography "I had a primitive way of looking at things and I liked country fair politics. My favorite politician was Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who reminded me of Tom Mix, and there wasn't any way to explain that to anybody."

• A short-lived reactionary folk group called The Goldwaters formed to promote Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign.

See also

• Goldwater v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 (1979).
• Barry Goldwater, Jr., his son
• Don Goldwater, a nephew

Primary sources

• Goldwater, Barry. The Conscience of a Conservative (1963) speeches. ISBN 0-89526-540-0 (original is ASIN B000B9WB16)
• Goldwater, Barry. Why Not Victory? (1963) ASIN B0007H8W42
• Conscience of a Majority (1971) ISBN 0-671-78096-4
• Goldwater, Barry. Arizona (1977) ISBN 0-938379-04-6
• Goldwater, Barry. With No Apologies: The Outspoken Political Memoirs of America's Conservative Conscience (1979) ISBN 0-425-04663-X
• Goldwater, Barry. Goldwater (1988) ISBN 0-385-23947-5, autobiography
• George H. Gallup, ed., The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935-1971, vol. 3. (1972)
• Karl Hess, In A Cause That Will Triumph: The Goldwater Campaign and the Future of Conservatism (1967), memoir by BG's speechwriter

Secondary Sources

• Mary C. Brennan, Turning Right in the Sixties: The Conservative Capture of the G. O. P. (University of North Carolina Press, 1995)
• Edwards, Lee. Goldwater (1995). biography
• Goldberg, Robert Alan. Barry Goldwater (1995), the standard scholarly biography
• Godfrey Hodgson, The World Turned Right Side Up: A History of the Conservative Ascendancy in America (1996).
• Jeffrey J. Matthews. "To Defeat a Maverick: The Goldwater Candidacy Revisited, 1963-1964." Presidential Studies Quarterly. 27#1 1997. pp 662+.
• Perlstein, Rick. Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (2001) New York: Hill and Wang. ISBN 0-8090-2859-X. On the 1964 campaign.
• White, Theodore, The Making of the President: 1964 (1965)
• The New Yorker, April 25, 1988, p 70

External links

• The Goldwater Institute advances the principles of free enterprise, individual responsiblity, and constitutionally-limited government, espoused by Senator Goldwater.
• Goldwater's 1964 Republican National Convention Acceptance Address in Audio and Text
• Goldwater's 1964 acceptance speech at the Republican Convention - the 'extremism in the defense of liberty' speech.
• Extended "in memoriam" reporting from the Arizona Republic
• Goldwater Scholarship Homepage