Conservative Revolution: The Movement That Remade America FROM THE PUBLISHER
Edwards tells the stories of how conservatives built a movement from the ground up by starting magazines, by building grass-roots organizations, and by seizing control of the Republican party from those who espoused collaboration with the liberals and promised only to manage the welfare state more efficiently and not to dismantle it. But most of all he tells the story of four men, four leaders who put their personal stamp on this movement and helped to turn it into the most important political force in our country today: Robert Taft, "Mr. Republican," the beacon of conservative principle during the lean Roosevelt and Truman years; Barry Goldwater, "Mr. Conservative," the flinty Westerner who inspired a new generation; Ronald Reagan, "Mr. President," the optimist whose core beliefs were sturdy enough to subdue an evil empire; and Newt Gingrich, "Mr. Speaker," the fiery visionary who won a Congress but lost control of it.
SYNOPSIS
The triumph of the conservative movement in reshaping American politics
arose from the efforts of four men: Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, Ronald
Reagan, and Newt Gingrich. They put their personal stamp on the most
important political force in our country today, poised to shape the
century now dawning.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Edwards (The Power of Ideas) tells a rousing history of the American conservative movement since WWII from a true believer's standpoint. He provides concise portraits of the four iconic conservative figures whom he calls the Four Misters--Robert Taft (Mr. Republican), Barry Goldwater (Mr. Conservative), Ronald Reagan (Mr. President) and Newt Gingrich (Mr. Speaker). In recounting how conservatism reemerged from the shadow of the New Deal to successfully shift the center of American political debate rightward, Edwards sagely emphasizes those elements that have helped define conservatism as a movement rather than as just a wing of the GOP: magazines such as the National Review; organizations such as the Christian Coalition; single-issue groups such as the pro-gun lobby. There are, however, some flaws to his approach. The book lacks any deep analysis of the demographic trends that have helped the conservative cause, such as the growth of the South and suburbanization of the voting population. He gives short shrift to the divisions between fiscal and social conservatives, and he says almost nothing about the reemergence of liberal "Rockefeller" Republicans such as former Massachusetts governor William Weld and New Jersey's Christine Todd Whitman. Still, his partisan history is a worthwhile investment for general readers--even for liberal readers who enjoy gnashing their teeth. (Apr.)
Library Journal
With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress and a large majority of governors' offices, Edwards (The Power of Ideas, LJ 2/1/98) argues that a conservative revolution has occurred. As the author of biographies of Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater and a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Edwards brings an unabashedly partisan bias to his interpretation of American political history since 1945, identifying four individuals who made significant contributions to the movement's development: Robert Taft, Goldwater, Reagan, and Newt Gingrich. This book is as much the truncated biographies of these four as it is a concise political history of contemporary America. As scholarly political history, it is far from objective (a better, if dated, choice is E.J. Dionne's Why Americans Hate Politics, LJ 4/15/91); it also falls short as an examination of American conservatism (again, a better, but dated, choice is Paul Gottfried's The Conservative Movement, Twayne, 1988). Edwards fails to define conservatism, instead confusing it simply with the Republican Party. For comprehensive political science collections.--Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA
Brooke Norman - National Review
Edwards may be premature in declaring a conservative victory, but as history this book will certainly do until the real victory comes along.
Joseph Shattan - The American Spectator
He does convey a vivid and unapologetic sense of the world as seen through conservative eyes, and in America's prevailing climate that is indeed an eye-opener.
Kirkus Reviews
An unabashedly ideological political history by a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. You would think that only people living under rocks for the last 20 years would be surprised to learn of conservative strength in recent American politics and that this success obviates the need for paranoia about liberal influence, but Edwards (Goldwater: The Man Who Made a Revolution, 1995, etc.) disagrees. In his view, liberal biases have prevented recognition of the triumph of conservatism, and he is out to set the record straight. His presentation is colored throughout by the assumption that politics is a battle of good (conservatives) vs. evil (liberals), with predictable results. Consider negative political campaigns, for example. Lyndon Johnson's ads attacking Barry Goldwater are denounced with the comment that for Johnson "extremism in the pursuit of the presidency was no vice"; George Bush's ads attacking Michael Dukakis are praised as "the most effective negative ads in presidential campaigning since the Democrats in 1964," with the Willie Horton ads downplayed as the work of an independent PAC. The loose chronological organization features three conservative heroes, Robert Taft, Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan, and a host of lesser figures, ranging from Joseph McCarthy to Newt Gingrich. Throughout the discussion, the critical steps in building the coalition that eventually put Reagan in the White House are noted, with no hint that there might be tensions between, for example, Goldwater's commitment to individual freedom and the moral agenda of social conservatives. The question that is addressed is whether or not conservative critics of government can govern effectively when inpositions of leadership, and Edwards's answer is, of course, yes. However, citing the strong record of conservative governors administering state governments leaves hanging the question of conservative leadership in Washington and constitutes a rather weak conclusion. Readers who share Edwards's assumptions and dislike subtle analyses that might challenge them will find this book an enjoyable read and an essential history of recent American politics. .
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