The 1964 presidential campaign lives on in conservative circles as an origin myth for the modern conservative movement. Even though their preferred (and now revered) candidate lost to Lyndon B. Johnson by a landslide, Barry Goldwater's failed presidential run was a major turning point of the twentieth century. Without Goldwater's philosophy to pave the way -- and, just as importantly, without the strategic and political infrastructure created by the "Draft Goldwater" movement that preceded it -- there likely would have been no Reagan or Bush administrations, and possibly no Nixon administration either. The policy positions and electoral strategies of the Goldwater campaign became standard tenets of Republican politics. William Middendorf had better than a ringside seat for this pivotal campaign. A key member of the "Draft Goldwater" movement as early as 1962, he was Goldwater's campaign treasurer and, afterwards, a major force within the Republican Party. No one knows the real inside story better, and A Glorious Disaster tells that story in all its rollicking, agonizing, and never-before-published detail.

A history of Christianity from 1100 to 1300 A.D., with a focus on the Crusades.

The must-read summary of J. William Middendorf II's book: "A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement". This complete summary of "A Glorious Disaster" by J. William Middendorf II, a former Republican US diplomat, outlines the main points of the author's account of Barry Goldwater's presidential nomination. In his opinion, despite the landslide victory of his opponent Lyndon B. Johnson, this is what led to the modern-day Conservative movement. It presents Goldwater's policy positions and electoral strategies that have today become standard principles of the Republican party, and how these empowered the Bush and Reagan administrations among others. Added-value of this summary: • Save time • Understand key concepts • Expand your knowledge To learn more, read "A Glorious Disaster" and discover the reasons for Barry Goldwater's success and the ways in which this sparked the new Conservative movement.

"Entertaining, enlightening and disturbing." - Ira Glass The immersive, captivating untold story of the mass radicalization of the Republican Party in the aftermath of January 6, 2021, entrenching the political power of a radical right-wing movement dedicated to dismantling democracy itself. Inspired by Donald Trump’s election lies, a growing movement of grassroots activists mobilized around the country to pick up where the insurrection left off, laying the groundwork to succeed next time where Trump had failed to keep himself in power. But their own success in taking over and purging the Republican Party became their undoing as it drove away moderates and supplied the Democrats with a winning message in the 2022 midterms. Still, the MAGA Republicans proved uninterested in learning from that defeat, only becoming more extreme, divisive, and dead set on returning Trump to power. Washington Post national political reporter Isaac Arnsdorf has spent years at the forefront of reporting on this growing movement. Drawing on extensive, exclusive on-the-ground reporting around the country, and deepened by historical context, Arnsdorf has produced the defining journalistic account of the origins, evolution and future of the MAGA movement. Combining critical and rigorous reporting with the intimacy and complexity of a novel, this book is unlike any other in the decade since Donald Trump convulsed and transformed American politics. Finish What We Started tells the story of the ordinary Americans driving this change, who they are and where they came from, what motivates them, and what their movement means for the survival of American democracy.

Arizona senator Barry Goldwater was a staunch conservative more interested in advancing the conservative cause than running for president. A "Draft Goldwater" campaign three years in the making catapulted him to the Republican nomination in 1964, despite bitter opposition within the party. He was defeated in a landslide by Lyndon Johnson but the right had established itself as a reinvigorated force in the years to come. This is a chronicle of the 1964 Republican convention and the beginnings of the modern conservative movement.

In the 1960s transitioning from acting to politics was rare. Ronald Reagan was not the first to do it, but he was the first to jump from the screen to the stump and on to credibility as a presidential contender. Reagan’s transformation from struggling liberal actor to influential conservative spokesman in five years—and then to the California governorship six years later—is a remarkable and compelling story. In Becoming Ronald Reagan Robert Mann explores Reagan’s early life and his career during the 1950s and early 1960s: his growing desire for acclaim in high school and college, his political awakening as a young Hollywood actor, his ideological evolution in the 1950s as he traveled the country for General Electric, the refining of his political skills during this period, his growing aversion to big government, and his disdain for the totalitarian leaders in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. All these experiences and more shaped Reagan’s politics and influenced his career as an elected official. Mann not only demonstrates how Reagan the actor became Reagan the political leader and how the liberal became a conservative, he also shows how the skills Reagan learned and the lessons he absorbed from 1954 to 1964 made him the inspiring leader so many Americans remember and revere to this day. Becoming Ronald Reagan is an indelible portrait of a true American icon and a politician like none other. Purchase the audio edition.

Typically a maligned figure in American political history, former vice president Spiro T. Agnew is often overlooked. Although he is largely remembered for his alliterative speeches, attacks on the media and East Coast intellectuals, and his resignation from office in 1973 in the wake of tax evasion charges, Agnew had a significant impact on the modern Republican Party that is underappreciated. It is impossible, in fact, to understand the current internal struggles of the Republican Party without understanding this populist "everyman" and prototypical middle-class striver who was one of the first proponents of what would become the ideology of Donald Trump’s GOP. Republican Populist examines Agnew’s efforts to make the Republican Party representative of the "silent majority." Under the tutelage of a group of talented speechwriters assigned to Agnew by President Richard Nixon including Pat Buchanan and William Safire, Agnew crafted the populist-tinged, anti-establishment rhetoric that helped turn the Republican Party into a powerful national electoral force that has come to define American politics into the current era. A fascinating political portrait of Agnew from his pre–vice presidential career through his scandal-driven fall from office and beyond, this book is a revelatory examination of Agnew’s role as one of the founding fathers of the modern Republican Party and of the link between Agnew’s "people’s party" and the fraught party of populists and businessmen today.

From Face the Nation moderator and contributing editor for The Atlantic John Dickerson come the stories behind the stories of the most memorable moments in American presidential campaign history. The stakes are high. The characters full of striving and ego. Presidential campaigns are a contest for control of power in the most powerful country on earth. The battle of ideas has a clear end, with winners and losers, and along the way there are sharp turning points-primaries, debates, conventions, and scandals that squeeze candidates into emergency action, frantic grasping, and heroic gambles. As Mike Murphy the political strategist put it, "Campaigns are like war without bullets." Whistlestop tells the human story of nervous gambits hatched in first-floor hotel rooms, failures of will before the microphone, and the cross-country crack-ups of long-planned stratagems. At the bar at the end of a campaign day, these are the stories reporters rehash for themselves and embellish for newcomers. In addition to the familiar tales, Whistlestop also remembers the forgotten stories about the bruising and reckless campaigns of the nineteenth century when the combatants believed the consequences included the fate of the republic itself. Some of the most modern-feeling elements of the American presidential campaign were born before the roads were paved and electric lights lit the convention halls-or there were convention halls at all. Whistlestop is a ride through the American campaign history with one of its most enthusiastic conductors guiding you through the landmarks along the way.

Conservatism in America, as one early twentieth-century politician said, is “as old as the Republic itself.” But what are its foundational principles, and how did they form the modern conservative movement? Author Garland S. Tucker III tells the story in this lively look at fourteen champions of conservative thought—some well known, others hardly remembered at all. Taking readers on an exciting tour from the American Founding to the modern era, Tucker traces the development of conservatism’s basic tenets and shows how leaders put principle into action (some more successfully than others). Conservative Heroes offers brief but penetrating profiles of: —The Founders who agreed on the two primary purposes of government—but differed on how best to achieve the balance between them —The pair of nineteenth-century congressional leaders who fought to preserve the founding vision of a limited national government —The towering statesman whose defense of slavery has obscured his considerable contributions to American constitutional history —The last Democratic president to advance conservative principles —The president and treasury secretary who together reduced taxes and the size of the federal government—and sparked an economic boom —The forgotten leaders, both Democrats, who spearheaded the conservative challenge to FDR’s New Deal —The man who revived the GOP as the conservative party —The three driving forces behind the ascent of modern conservatism Here is the story of American conservatism in fourteen lives—a story we need to understand to tackle the challenges we face today.