A beautiful documentary on Barry Goldwater by his grand daughter. Beyond the obvious respect and love for this towering figure in american politics, it shows his personal, very human side.
It is not without reason that Goldwater was respected by his democrat adversaries and sometimes enraged his republican colleagues.
His sincere friendship with his adversary John F. Kennedy was something that seems impossible today. Yet it has been well documented including by Kennedy’s nephew, the current candidate RFK Jr.
Goldwater was the major initiator of the classical conservative movement within the republican party that would bring Reagan to power more than a decade later. The present american libertarian movement owes much to his legacy too.
He was a champion for individual freedom and against government interference in our private life.
He showed an impeccable example of decency in politics. For him the acts counted more than the words. He had been a promoter of black people’s rights in his State, Arizona, long before tge Cicil Rights Act of 1964 that he voted against because he believed that such things should be left to the States and not regulared by Federal laws. The same with abortion laws which he made flexible in his State, contrary to the majority of his party at the time.
He spoke what he felt without concern to please the voters. This way often he did not please hard line conservatives nor progressive liberals, as well. Sometimes he was too candid. This was exploited in a sinister way by Lyndon Johnson’s campaign in 1964.
In the ’90s, after leaving the Senate, he grew unhappy with the increasing influence of the religious right on his party. He would be even more worried had he seen the populism drift of the last decade.
Now more than ever we need conservatives in the classic tradition of Goldwater. And politicians with his decency on both sides of the spectrum.