Up for auction “Arizona Senator” Barry Goldwater Hand Signed 3X5 Card.
ES-9176E
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician
and United States Air Force officer
who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican
Party nominee for president of the United
States in 1964. Goldwater is the politician most often credited
with having sparked the resurgence of the American conservative political
movement in the 1960s. Despite his loss of the 1964 U.S. presidential
election in a landslide, many political pundits and historians
believe he laid the foundation for the conservative revolution to follow, as
the grassroots organization and conservative takeover of the Republican party
began a long-term realignment in American politics, which helped to bring about
the " Reagan Revolution " of
the 1980s. He also had a substantial impact on the American libertarian
movement . Goldwater was born in Phoenix in what was then the Arizona
Territory, where he helped manage his family's department store. Upon the U.S.
entry into World War II ,
Goldwater received a reserve commission in the United States Army Air Force. He
trained as a pilot and was assigned to the Ferry Command, a newly formed unit that
flew aircraft and supplies to war zones worldwide. After the war, Goldwater was
elected to the Phoenix City Council in 1949 and won election to the U.S. Senate
in 1952. In the Senate, Goldwater rejected the legacy of the New Deal and, along with the conservative coalition ,
fought against the New Deal coalition .
Goldwater also had a reputation as a "maverick" for challenging his
party's moderate to liberal wing on
policy issues. A member of the NAACP and
active supporter of desegregation in Phoenix, [3][4] Goldwater supported the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 and the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution , but reluctantly
opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 —despite
believing in racial equality, he felt two of its provisions, specifically Title II and Title VII , to
be unconstitutional and a potential overreach of the federal government—a
decision that considerably anguished him. In 1964, Goldwater mobilized a large
conservative constituency to win the hard-fought Republican presidential
primaries. Although raised as an Episcopalian , Goldwater was the first candidate of Jewish descent (through his father) to be nominated for
president by a major American party. Goldwater's platform ultimately failed to gain
the support of the electorate [9] and he lost the 1964 presidential election to
incumbent Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson by one of the largest margins in
history. Goldwater returned to the Senate in 1969 and specialized in defense
and foreign policy. As an elder statesman of the party, Goldwater, who was
respected by his colleagues for his honor and dedication to principle,
successfully urged President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974 when evidence of a
cover-up in the Watergate scandal became
overwhelming and impeachment was
imminent. Goldwater narrowly won re-election in 1980 for what would be his
final and most influential term in the senate. In 1986, Goldwater oversaw
passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act ,
arguably his most significant legislative achievement, which strengthened
civilian authority in the Department
of Defense . The following year, he retired from the Senate and was
succeeded by Congressman John McCain , who praised his predecessor as the man who
"transformed the Republican Party from an Eastern elitist organization to
the breeding ground for the election of Ronald Reagan". Goldwater strongly
supported the 1980
presidential campaign of Reagan , who had become the standard-bearer
of the conservative movement after his " A Time for Choosing "
speech. Reagan reflected many of the principles of Goldwater's earlier run in
his campaign. The Washington Post columnist George Will took note of this, writing: "We ... who
voted for him in 1964 believe he won, it just took 16 years to count the
votes". Goldwater's views on social and cultural issues grew increasingly
libertarian as he neared the end of his career. After leaving the Senate,
Goldwater's views on social issues cemented as libertarian. He criticized the
"money-making ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others in the Republican Party who
are trying to ... make a religious organization out of it." During
his winter year, he supported homosexuals serving openly in the military , environmental protection , gay rights , abortion rights
adoption
rights for same-sex couples , and the legalization of medicinal
marijuana .