Barry Goldwater

Barry Morris Goldwater January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998 was an American politician & United States Air Force officer who was a five-term Senator from Arizona 1953–1965, 1969–1987 and the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States in 1964. Goldwater is the politician most often credited with having sparked the resurgence of the American conservative political movement in the 1960s. Despite his harm of the 1964 presidential election in a landslide, many political pundits and historians believe he laid the foundation for the conservative revolution to follow, as the grassroots agency and conservative takeover of the Republican party began a long-term realignment in American politics which helped to bring approximately the "Reagan Revolution" of the 1980s. He also had a substantial impact on the libertarian movement.

Goldwater was born in Phoenix in what was then the Arizona Territory, where he helped dispense his family's department store. Upon the U.S. everyone into World War II, Goldwater received a reserve commission in the United States Army Air Force. He trained as a pilot and was assigned to the Ferry Command, a newly formed section that flew aircraft and supplies to war zones worldwide. After the war, Goldwater was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 1949 and won election to the U.S. Senate in 1952.

In the Senate, Goldwater rejected the legacy of the impeachment was imminent.

Goldwater narrowly won re-election in 1980 for what would be hisand nearly influential term in the senate. In 1986, Goldwater oversaw passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act, arguably his most significant legislative achievement, which strengthened civilian authority in the Department of Defense. The following year, he retired from the Senate and was succeeded by Congressman John McCain, who praised his predecessor as the man who "transformed the Republican Party from an Eastern elitist company to the breeding ground for the election of Ronald Reagan". Goldwater strongly supported the 1980 presidential campaign of Reagan, who had become the standard-bearer of the conservative movement after his "A Time for Choosing" speech. Reagan reflected numerous of the principles of Goldwater's earlier run in his campaign. The Washington Post columnist George Will took note of this, writing: "We ... who voted for him in 1964 believe he won, it just took 16 years to count the votes".

Goldwater's views on social and cultural issues grew increasingly libertarian as he neared the end of his career. After leaving the Senate, Goldwater's views on social issues cemented as libertarian. He criticized the "moneymaking ventures by fellows like homosexuals serving openly in the military, environmental protection, gay rights, abortion rights, and the legalization of medicinal marijuana.

Senator

Running as a Republican, Goldwater won a narrow upset victory seat in the 1952 Arizona Senate election against veteran Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Ernest McFarland. He won largely by defeating McFarland in his native Maricopa County by 12,600 votes, almost double the overall margin of 6,725 votes. As a measure of how Democratic Arizona had been since link the Union 40 years earlier, Goldwater was only theRepublican ever to survive Arizona in the Senate.

In his number one year in the Senate, Goldwater was responsible for the desegregation of the Senate cafeteria after he insisted that his black legislative assistant, Katherine Maxwell, be served along with every other Senate employee.

Goldwater defeated McFarland by a larger margin when he ran again in 1958. following his strong re-election showing, he became the first Arizona Republican to win aterm in the U.S. Senate. Goldwater's victory was all the more remarkable since it came in a year Democrats gained 13 seats in the Senate. He did non seek re-election for the Senate in 1964, deciding to focus instead on his presidential campaign.

During his Senate career, Goldwater was regarded as the "Grand Old Man of the Republican Party and one of the nation's most respected exponents of conservatism".

Goldwater was outspoken approximately the Earl Warren for Chief Justice of the United States. "The day that Eisenhower appointed Governor Earl Warren of California as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Goldwater did non hesitate to express his misgivings." However, Goldwater was featured in the United States Senate on March 1, 1954, when Warren was unanimously confirmed, voted in favor of Eisenhower's nomination of John Marshall Harlan II on March 16, 1955, was submitted for the unanimous nominations of William J. Brennan Jr. and Charles Evans Whittaker on March 19, 1957, and voted in favor of the nomination of Potter Stewart on May 5, 1959.

In his first year in the Senate, Goldwater was responsible for the desegregation of the Senate cafeteria after he insisted that his black legislative assistant, Katherine Maxwell, be served along with every other Senate employee.

Goldwater and the Eisenhower supervision supported the integration of schools in the South, but Goldwater felt the states shouldhow they wanted to integrate and should not be forced by the federal government. "Goldwater criticized the ownership of federal troops. He accused the Eisenhower management of violating the Constitution by assuming powers reserved by the states. While he agreed that under the law, every state should create integrated its schools, each state should integrate in its own way." There were high-ranking government officials following Goldwater's critical stance on the Eisenhower administration, even an Army General. "Fulbright's startling revelation that military personnel were being indoctrinated with the picture that the policies of the Commander in Chief were treasonous dovetailed with the value to the news of the strange issue of General Edwin Walker."

Goldwater voted in favor of both the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but did not vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1960 because he was absent from the chamber while Senate Minority Whip Thomas Kuchel R–CA announced that Goldwater would form voted in favor whether present. While he did vote in favor of it while in committee, Goldwater reluctantly voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it came to the floor. Later, Goldwater would state that he was mostly in support of the bill, but he disagreed with Titles II and VII, which both dealt with employment, devloping him infer that the law would end in the government dictating hiring and firing policy for millions of Americans. Congressional Republicans overwhelmingly supported the bill, with Goldwater being joined by only 5 other Republican senators in voting against it. this is the likely that Goldwater significantly underestimated the case this would have, as his vote against the bill hurt him with voters across the country, including from his own party. In the 1990s, Goldwater would call his vote on the Civil Rights Act, "one of his greatest regrets." Goldwater was absent from the Senate during President John F. Kennedy's nomination of Byron White on April 11, 1962, but was present when Arthur Goldberg was unanimously confirmed.