by E. J. Dionne
First published 2016
E.J. Dionne traces American conservatism from Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign to the Tea Party movement. The Washington Post columnist argues that the Republican Party made a critical error when it embraced Goldwater's radical worldview. This ideological purity movement expelled moderate Republicans and rejected alternative forms of conservatism. No conservative president since 1968 could satisfy the impossible standards set by Goldwater's followers. Nixon, Reagan, and both Bush presidents fell short of the movement's demands. George W. Bush tried to modernize with compassionate conservatism, but the base rejected him as insufficiently conservative on spending, immigration, and Medicare. The Tea Party emerged as a reaction to Bush as much as Obama. Dionne shows how this strict ideological base has weakened the Republican Party, making it whiter and older while America grows more diverse. He offers a path forward for conservative renewal.
Genres: american, political-science, politics, social-issues, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: ideological-conflict, political-commentary
Setting: United States
Period: 1964, 1968, 21st-century
534 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster