vcczar Posted October 29 Share Posted October 29 Sen. Barry Goldwater (AZ-R) is considered the godfather of the modern GOP and of Reaganism, but he's actually quite different in many ways. For one, he supported abortion, detested the Religious Right organizations, regretted voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was okay with legalizing some marijuana, fought for Ford over Reagan (because he sought party harmony), and openly criticized Reagan for Iran-Contra. Despite this, he was definitely conservative in the traditional sense of the word, but he has little connection to the current GOP. In 1996, he told Bob Dole that they were now "liberals in the party." Most of Goldwater's supposed extremism is tied to LBJ's effective attack ads, although he was certainly among the most conservative GOP Senators of the 1950s and 1960s. His actions: Goldwater, Barry 1946 Air Force colonel, creates AZ Air National Guard, desegregates it, and eventually becomes major general of this force Goldwater, Barry 1954 Votes against censuring McCarthy Goldwater, Barry 1954 Votes present for Warren as ChJ, strongly opposing the pick but not wanting to upset Eisenhower Goldwater, Barry 1957 Supports Civil Rights Act, despite later opposition to Civil Rights Act of 1964 Goldwater, Barry 1957 Votes present, rather than for or against Brennan as SC Justice Goldwater, Barry 1957 Votes present, rather than for or against Whittaker as SC Justice Goldwater, Barry 1960 Does not vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1960, but supported it. Goldwater, Barry 1960 Alternative pres candidate to Nixon but takes self out of race Goldwater, Barry 1960 author of Conscience of a Conservative, in it he opposed federal power to desegregate the nation Goldwater, Barry 1960 emerges as leader of GOP conservatives Goldwater, Barry 1961 backs Peace Corps Goldwater, Barry 1961 argues against JFK aid to education bill Goldwater, Barry 1962 Supports a Constitutional Amendment to end the poll tax Goldwater, Barry 1962 author of Why Not Victory? Goldwater, Barry 1963? He and JFK plan to hold Lincoln-Douglas style debates in 1964 Goldwater, Barry 1964 opposes Civil Rights Act of 1964, later stating he regretted voting against it Goldwater, Barry 1964 GOP nominee for pres, resulting in chaotic GOP Conv w/ Rockefeller Republicans; 1st major party Jewish-descent nominee Goldwater, Barry 1964 Target of the Daisy advertisement, successfully painting Goldwater a radical, trigger-happy with nukes Goldwater, Barry 1964 Gets the support of the KKK, which Goldwater opposes and disavows Goldwater, Barry 1964 Nomination sees surrogate Reagan become celeb-turned-political rockstar Goldwater, Barry 1968 Reluctantly supports Nixon, who had helped him in 1964 on campaign Goldwater, Barry 1969 Votes for Haynesworth for SC Justice, but the pick would be defeated Goldwater, Barry 1970 Votes for Carswell for SC Justice, but the pick would be defeated Goldwater, Barry 1974 advises Nixon to resign Goldwater, Barry 1976 Supports Ford over Reagan; blocks VP Rockefeller as VP on Ford's new ticket at GOP Conv Goldwater, Barry 1977 outraged at pardon of Vietnam draft evaders Goldwater, Barry 1977 advises pres not to press Panama treaties Goldwater, Barry 1978 attacks normalization of China relations Goldwater, Barry 1981 Influential Senate Intelligence Committee Chair. Reagan's first term--late Cold War Goldwater, Barry 1981 attacks Religious Right leader Falwell for opposing Sandra Day O'Connor as SC Justice Goldwater, Barry 1981 Condemns the bullying of politicians by religious organizations Goldwater, Barry 1983 Votes against MLK Day as a federal holiday Goldwater, Barry 1984 angry at CIA's mining Nicaraguan harbors Goldwater, Barry 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act Goldwater, Barry 1986 Harshly criticizes Reagan regarding Iran-Contra fallout Goldwater, Barry 1994 Objects to religious groups attempting to hijack the GOP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeP47 Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 See, I can respect Goldwater for not only having principles, but in theory being on the right page a lot of the time... but when your actual actions are counter to that even if you regret it later there's only so much that can be said, even if I feel some sympathy as someone that leans left but focuses on legalism. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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