David Farber. The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism: A Short History. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2010. 308 S. $29.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-691-12915-0.
Reviewed by James Gilbert
Published on H-Soz-u-Kult (July, 2010)
D. Farber: The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism
but is today much more tolerant of diversity. Above all,
conservatism fancies itself based upon the American reverence for the Constitution and its “original intent.” This
makes the dead hand of the past into a vital and sometimes imaginary tradition from which to seek guidance
in a mental process that resembles nothing so much as
Protestant Biblical exegesis. To say the least, this is a
complex and variegated political persuasion that has, for
most of American history since the Civil War, been the
default position of politics, the New Deal notwithstanding.
For many historians and political commentators in
general, the strength and resilience of American conservatism is an anomaly in search of an explanation. This
conservatism is made of separate strands, both cultural,
in expressions of religious fervor, social conformity to
“family values,” and economically in belief in a (largely)
unregulated commercial marketplace. Individualism as
opposed to equality is perhaps the fundamental tenet of
this creed and perhaps the single idea that links everything together. But there are other visible elements: hostility to immigrants. In a nation made up entirely of immigrants, Americans have repeatedly expressed hostility to new immigrant groups: first to Germans, then the
Irish, Catholics, Jews, Eastern Europeans, and now Latinos, and, of course, toward involuntary immigrants from
Africa. In many cases, conservatives have been reluctant
moderns, or at least deeply conflicted men and women of
their times who cling to what they define as traditional
values, yet who happily surround themselves with consumer gadgetry and use the latest fruits of technology,
especially in political organizing. Perhaps the one thing
they are not is Luddites, neo-primitives and rejectionists,
although even a few of these sorts camp outside the big
tent of the movement.
Is post World War II conservatism then, something
different, something new, something demanding explanation? This is the implicit question in David Farber’s
new examination of the rise and fall of modern conservatism. In biographies of five architects (and one
wrecker) of post-war conservatism, Farber sketches the
growth of the movement from Robert Taft’s opposition
to the New Deal to ideological ruination as George W.
Bush’s Presidency smashed on the shoals of reality. In
other words this book takes us via leading personalities
from a series of disparate and unconnected movements,
false starts, hopeful beginnings, to the final, failed test of
conservative principles during the 43rd President’s twoterm debacle.
Perhaps the best way to describe American conservatism (and liberalism) is to say that it is situational, defined by the dictates of the moment. While conservatism
is fairly consistent in opposing Federal intervention into
the economy in areas other than defense and protection
of trade, positions on social issues may vary widely. For
example, conservatism was once openly segregationist,
There are several important and interesting arguments that Farber makes along this narrative and one inspired choice of subject matter – Phyllis Schlafly – that
have much to commend. He is certainly right to emphasize the importance of conservative Catholicism in addi-
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tion to the better known Protestant fundamentalism as a
crucial factor in building the movement, although I believe he underplays the way Catholicism structured the
thought of William F. Buckley and Schlafly. He is also
correct to see the importance of race as a factor in developing a conservative position, although here, too, I think,
he underplays the issue, certainly in building a more
monolithic Republican Party. And while he notes fearmongering as a perennial tactic of conservatives (and
sometimes liberals, too), he makes no effort to ascertain why fear, anxiety, envy, lack of confidence, fatalism,
and other kindred negative emotions are so important in
American politics and where they come from, and if they
differ from other political cultures. Surely it is important to explore why American politics has been so consistently driven by obsessions with Communists, liberated women, African-Americans, criminals, homosexuals, and the ubiquitous minion of evil, the taxman.
phy he does not appear to support. Thus Phyllis Schlafly
is “brilliant” and William F. Buckley is endlessly “witty,”
and Ronald Reagan possesses not a “misanthropic bone in
his body” - this from a man whose administration classified ketchup and pickle relish as vegetables for children in
publically funded lunch programs and whose accusations
about fictional “welfare Queens” were cruel and racially
coded. The problem is a pervasive chattiness and I fear
in the end, not as serious a discussion of the American
Right as it merits. He does touch on the most important
development since World War II which is the creation of
an ideologically unified Republican Party and the elimination of its more liberal wing. But this crucial development does not receive the attention it deserves.
Farber’s final evaluation reveals the implications of
this presentation. He ends this way: “The modern
conservative movement had fallen [with the election of
Obama].” (p. 256) Perhaps it looked that way when the
While Farber pens a lively narrative, there is not a manuscript was finished, but today it appears merely a
great deal that is new; what is new is the focus on these stumble, and tomorrow, who knows? That is the trouble
six individuals. Most of the chapters are derived from with the rise and fall genre of history; those who have
secondary sources; only the Taft biography benefits from fallen sometimes refuse to stay down. The effect, in the
manuscript sources. There are occasions when Farber end, is to underestimate the resilience and centrality of
seems to try too hard to be fair to a political philoso- conservatism to American history.
If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at:
http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/
Citation: James Gilbert. Review of Farber, David, The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism: A Short History.
H-Soz-u-Kult, H-Net Reviews. July, 2010.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=30826
Copyright © 2010 by H-Net, Clio-online, and the author, all rights reserved. This work may be copied and redistributed for non-commercial, educational purposes, if permission is granted by the author and usage right holders.
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