October 5, 2005
The Growth of the Conservative Movement
William Rusher
Chairman of Media Research Center and Publisher of
National Review
Minutes of the Fourth Meeting of the 64th Year
The fourth meeting of the Old Guard of Princeton was called to order at 10:15 AM, by President William Haines. Ninety-six members were in attendance. John Marks led the invocation. The minutes of the last meeting, including a summary of the talk by Dr. Wentzel van Huyssteen, were read by Charles West.
There were no guests. Joan Fleming introduced a visitor, her friend of many years, Claudine Block. President Haines announced that anyone who has lost his or her name tag may see Don Dickason for a replacement.
Theodore Meth introduced the speaker of the day, William A. Rusher. Mr. Rusher is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He served in the military during World War II, practiced law in New York, and was an associate counsel to a United States Senate subcommittee. He was the publisher of the leading conservative journal, National Review, from 1957 to 1988 and the author of two influential books, The Making of the New Majority Party and The Rise of the Right. He was a familiar figure on national television, appearing as a regular on ABC's Face-Off, among other programs. He currently is the Chairman of the Board of The Media Research Center.
Mr. Rusher began by declaring that he chose as the topic of his talk, "The Growth of the Conservative Movement" -- not to annoy us, but rather because it is a subject he knows something about, having been present "at the creation," so to speak. At the time he graduated from law school, in the late 1940's, there was essentially no conservative movement and no conservative party. Even by 1955, when National Review first started publishing, the magazine had a circulation of only 16,000. [Its circulation today is more than ten times that number.] Things were so bleak for Republicans in those days that one of his colleagues said the only reason for a Republican to come to Washington D.C. was to visit the Lincoln Memorial. In 1955 Arthur Schlesinger Jr. remarked that Conservatism was only "the ethical afterglow of feudalism." And Lionel Trilling stated that there are no conservative ideas in circulation.
Times have changed. Now Republicans control both houses of Congress, have elected and re-elected a Republican president, have elected Republican governors in more than half of the State Houses in the country, and have even had a mayor of the City of New York for the past 10 years. Also, there have arisen a number of influential conservative magazines, journals and think tanks.
Mr. Rusher then proceeded to trace the factors and events that reversed the political and intellectual climate over the past five decades. These included: (1) publication of the book by William Buckley entitled God and Man at Yale in 1951; (2) the founding of the National Review in 1955; (3) the decision of a group of young conservative intellectuals to "go political" in the late 1950's; (4) publication of Barry Goldwater's book Conscience of a Conservative in 1960; (5) the formation of an organization called "Young Americans for Freedom" ("YAF") in 1961; (6) the nomination of Barry Goldwater to head the Republican Party ticket in 1964 (which took away the leadership of the party from the old established Republicans of the northeast and gave it to the newer, more conservative Republicans of the west and southwest; (7) the coalescence of a group of northeastern intellectuals led by Norman Podhoretz, Irving Kristol and Daniel Patrick Moynihan who were dubbed "neoconservatives" because of their disillusionment with socialism and liberalism; (8) the founding and the rise to prominence of The Heritage Foundation in 1973 and other conservative think tanks thereafter; (9) the emergence of young, energetic, conservative women like Phyllis ScWaffly and Liz Pritchard; and (10) the mobilization of the religious right and its entrance into politics.
Mr. Rusher maintained that the Republican Party is now wholly in the hands of conservatives, just as the Democratic Party is in the hands of liberals. But, he contended, it is the Republicans who are the source of new ideas and the Democrats who are now "bookless," the charge made against the Republican Party by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. 50 years ago.
He concluded his talk with a short poem by the British poet Coventry Patmore, which expresses well his worldview:
"For want of me, the world's course will not fail.
"When all its work is done, the lie shall rot.
"The truth is great, and shall prevail,
"When none cares whether it prevails -- or not."
In a very lively and informative question and answer period after his talk, Mr. Rushmore was asked about President Bush's economic policy and appointments. He replied in part: "It is a mistake for ideologues like myself to expect politicians to behave like them.
Politicians live in a different world. Politics is the art of the possible. Politicians, sooner or later, will break your heart."
The meeting concluded at 11:30 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert S. Miller
There were no guests. Joan Fleming introduced a visitor, her friend of many years, Claudine Block. President Haines announced that anyone who has lost his or her name tag may see Don Dickason for a replacement.
Theodore Meth introduced the speaker of the day, William A. Rusher. Mr. Rusher is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He served in the military during World War II, practiced law in New York, and was an associate counsel to a United States Senate subcommittee. He was the publisher of the leading conservative journal, National Review, from 1957 to 1988 and the author of two influential books, The Making of the New Majority Party and The Rise of the Right. He was a familiar figure on national television, appearing as a regular on ABC's Face-Off, among other programs. He currently is the Chairman of the Board of The Media Research Center.
Mr. Rusher began by declaring that he chose as the topic of his talk, "The Growth of the Conservative Movement" -- not to annoy us, but rather because it is a subject he knows something about, having been present "at the creation," so to speak. At the time he graduated from law school, in the late 1940's, there was essentially no conservative movement and no conservative party. Even by 1955, when National Review first started publishing, the magazine had a circulation of only 16,000. [Its circulation today is more than ten times that number.] Things were so bleak for Republicans in those days that one of his colleagues said the only reason for a Republican to come to Washington D.C. was to visit the Lincoln Memorial. In 1955 Arthur Schlesinger Jr. remarked that Conservatism was only "the ethical afterglow of feudalism." And Lionel Trilling stated that there are no conservative ideas in circulation.
Times have changed. Now Republicans control both houses of Congress, have elected and re-elected a Republican president, have elected Republican governors in more than half of the State Houses in the country, and have even had a mayor of the City of New York for the past 10 years. Also, there have arisen a number of influential conservative magazines, journals and think tanks.
Mr. Rusher then proceeded to trace the factors and events that reversed the political and intellectual climate over the past five decades. These included: (1) publication of the book by William Buckley entitled God and Man at Yale in 1951; (2) the founding of the National Review in 1955; (3) the decision of a group of young conservative intellectuals to "go political" in the late 1950's; (4) publication of Barry Goldwater's book Conscience of a Conservative in 1960; (5) the formation of an organization called "Young Americans for Freedom" ("YAF") in 1961; (6) the nomination of Barry Goldwater to head the Republican Party ticket in 1964 (which took away the leadership of the party from the old established Republicans of the northeast and gave it to the newer, more conservative Republicans of the west and southwest; (7) the coalescence of a group of northeastern intellectuals led by Norman Podhoretz, Irving Kristol and Daniel Patrick Moynihan who were dubbed "neoconservatives" because of their disillusionment with socialism and liberalism; (8) the founding and the rise to prominence of The Heritage Foundation in 1973 and other conservative think tanks thereafter; (9) the emergence of young, energetic, conservative women like Phyllis ScWaffly and Liz Pritchard; and (10) the mobilization of the religious right and its entrance into politics.
Mr. Rusher maintained that the Republican Party is now wholly in the hands of conservatives, just as the Democratic Party is in the hands of liberals. But, he contended, it is the Republicans who are the source of new ideas and the Democrats who are now "bookless," the charge made against the Republican Party by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. 50 years ago.
He concluded his talk with a short poem by the British poet Coventry Patmore, which expresses well his worldview:
"For want of me, the world's course will not fail.
"When all its work is done, the lie shall rot.
"The truth is great, and shall prevail,
"When none cares whether it prevails -- or not."
In a very lively and informative question and answer period after his talk, Mr. Rushmore was asked about President Bush's economic policy and appointments. He replied in part: "It is a mistake for ideologues like myself to expect politicians to behave like them.
Politicians live in a different world. Politics is the art of the possible. Politicians, sooner or later, will break your heart."
The meeting concluded at 11:30 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert S. Miller