Defending Freedom in Vietnam

A s the 1964 election between President Lyndon Johnson and Republican nominee Barry Goldwater approached, evidence was fairly conclusive that Johnson would win. Gallup polls throughout the summer gave Johnson approximately a 30 percent lead over Goldwater. As Goldwater’s electoral prospects began fading, William F.

Buckley Jr., one of the leading spokesmen of the conservative movement, gave a speech to the largest gathering of young conservatives ever assembled, warning them that Goldwater’s defeat in 1964 was inevitable. Goldwater was running against a tough political opponent in the popular president. Additionally, Johnson’s campaign had effectively labeled Goldwater an ideological extremist who would cut the Eastern seaboard off into the ocean, begin a nuclear war, and end Social Security.

Johnson’s campaign strategy, coupled with Americans’ disapproval of Goldwater’s conservatism, made victory unlikely. Nonetheless, Buckley argued that the energy generated by Goldwater’s campaign held the potential to help the Right improve its long-term political fortunes. 1 These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors.

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