Barry Goldwater

On January 2, 1909, in Phoenix, Arizona Territory, Barry Goldwater was born into a family whose department store linked him to business and western civic life. He attended Staunton Military Academy in Virginia and later took over management responsibilities in the family store, building a public image around discipline and private enterprise. Service in the Phoenix city government and the Arizona Air National Guard helped move him into statewide politics.

Goldwater entered the United States Senate in 1953 and became the leading conservative critic of New Deal liberalism, organized labor, and expansive federal power. His book The Conscience of a Conservative in 1960 and his 1964 presidential campaign gave ideological coherence to a rising right wing within the Republican Party. Although he lost overwhelmingly to Lyndon B. Johnson, his campaign remade party organization, donor networks, and the language of modern conservatism.

Goldwater's politics paved the way for Ronald Reagan and the conservative realignment that transformed national elections after the 1960s. Debates over the Civil Rights Act of 1964, federal regulation, and Cold War military strength all remained entangled with the movement his campaign helped consolidate.