Flying High : Remembering Barry Goldwater

If any two people can be called indispensable in launching the conservative movement in American politics, they are William F. Buckley Jr. and Barry Goldwater. Buckley's National Review was at the center of conservative political analysis from the mid-fifties onward. But the policy intellectuals knew that to actually change the way the country was run, they needed a presidential candidate, and the man they turned to was Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. Goldwater was in many ways the perfect choice: self-reliant, unpretentious, unshakably honest and dashingly handsome, with a devoted following that grew throughout the fifties and early sixties. He possessed deep integrity and a sense of decency that made him a natural spokesman for conservative ideals. But his flaws were a product of his virtues. He wouldn't't bend his opinions to make himself more popular, he insisted on using his own inexperienced advisors to run his presidential campaign, and in the end he electrified a large portion of the electorate but lost the great majority. Flying High is Buckley's partly fictional tribute to the man who was in many ways his alter ego in the conservative movement. It is the story of two men who looked as if they were on the losing side of political events, but were kept aloft by the conviction that in fact they were making history. In Flying High , William F. Buckley Jr. offers his lyrical remembrance of a singular era in American politics, and a tribute to the modern Conservative movement’s first presidential standard-bearer, Barry Goldwater. Goldwater was in many ways the perfect candidate: self-reliant, unpretentious, unshakably honest, and dashingly handsome. And although he lost the election, he electrified millions of voters with his integrity and a sense of decency—qualities that made him a natural spokesman for Conservative ideals and an inspiration for decades to come. In an era when Republicans are looking for a leader, Flying High is a reminder of how real political visionaries inspire devotion. A retrospective of the life and political career of the Arizona senator and presidential candidate traces his rise to power during the 1950s and 1960s and his vital role in launching the conservative movement in American politics.