Big Tent: The Story of the Conservative Revolution--As Told by the Thinkers and Doers Who Made It Happen

by Mallory Factor, Elizabeth Factor

Overview

Drawing from his comprehensive, star-studded course at the Citadel, Mallory Factor, the New York Times bestselling author of Shadowbosses, brings together a fascinating and diverse range of essays from leading figures and activists which explore and illuminate the conservative intellectual tradition in American politics.

Ambitious in its breadth and depth, The Big Tent is a panoramic portrait of the intellectual history of the conservative movement. Some of the leading lights of the right offer an unparalleled introduction to conservative figures and ideas, from the Revolution to William F. Buckley; Barry Goldwater to the Reagan Revolution; Libertarianism to the War on Terror.

Insightful and stimulating, The Big Tent is an outstanding survey of the movement over three centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062290694
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/08/2014
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Mallory Factor is the John C. West Professor of International Politics and American Government at The Citadel, and is a Fox News contributor. Mallory is the host and cofounder of the New York Meeting, a nation- ally recognized gathering of elected officials, journalists, business leaders, and conservative authors in New York City, and the Charleston Meeting in South Carolina. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind.

Elizabeth Factor is a lawyer and coauthor of Shadowbosses. She graduated from Columbia University and Yale Law School.

Table of Contents

Foreword Edwin J. Feulner Jr., Heritage Foundation Founder xi

Preface General John Rosa, President of The Citadel xxvii

Introduction Mallory Factor xxix

Chatter 1 The Pillars of Conservatism Publisher Alfred S. Regnery 3

Chapter 2 Edmund Burke and the Origins of Modern Conservatism Political Historian David A. Norcross 29

Chapter 3 The American Revolution and "What It Means: by Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich 49

Chapter 4 The Fragility of Ordered Liberty: Tocqueville and Conservative Conceptions of Liberty, Equality, and Community: by Political Commentator Michael Barone 77

Chapter 5 New Deal Progressivism, the Jeffersonian Revival, and the Agrarian Tradition: by American Historian Burton W. Folsom Jr. 103

Chapter 6 The Emergence of Libertarianism: by Economist Yawn Brook 125

Chapter 7 William F. Buckley Jr., Fusionism, and the Three-Legged Stool of Conservatism: by Political Journalist David A. Keene 149

Chapter 8 Cultural Conservatism and the Religious Right: by Political Activist Phyllis Schlafly 171

Chapter 9 The Reagan Revolution: by Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese 193

Chapter 10 The Cold War, Anti-Communism, and Neoconservatism: by Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith 218

Chapter 11 Everything You Wanted to Know About Economic Policy: by Cato Institute Economist Daniel J. Mitchell 245

Chapter 12 The Bush Doctrine, Compassionate Conservatism, and the War on Terror: by Former Secretary of Defense Donald Henry Rumsfeld 285

Chapter 13 How Social Conservatism Can Win: by Political Strategist Ralph E. Reed Jr. 305

Chapter 14 Why National Security Drives Our Future: by Former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey 331

Chapter 15 Toward a More Libertarian Conservatism: by Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul 347

Afterword Haley Barbour, Former Governor of Mississippi 361

Acknowledgments 385

Notes 391

Index 397

Editorial Reviews

2014-02-02
Prominent conservatives speak out about their movement's convictions, history and heroes. Originally delivered as guest lectures for a seminar on the Conservative Intellectual Tradition in America run by professor and editor Factor (International Politics and American Government/The Citadel; Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind, 2012, etc.), this collection kicks off with an overarching piece by publisher Alfred S. Regnery on "The Pillars of Conservatism." Regnery identifies some of the themes—liberty, tradition and order, rule of law, belief in God—thinkers—Locke, Hume, Burke—and texts—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution—that inform conservatives. He emphasizes the post–World War II American conservative movement, invoking names like William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. His observations serve as appropriate launching pads for the authors who follow, each with a special expertise that fleshes out a topic or offers new insight into a particular strand of conservatism. A few of these essays transition awkwardly to the page—e.g., Newt Gingrich's too-colloquial remarks on the American Revolution, Rand Paul's tossed-off observations on bending conservatism in a libertarian direction, and a gassy afterword by Haley Barbour on party-building and winning elections. On the other hand, there are some gems: Michael Barone's thoughtful essay on Tocqueville and ordered liberty, historian David Norcross on the centrality of Edmund Burke, economist Yaron Brook on three seminal, conservative economists, journalist David Keene on Buckley's political vision, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith's personal history of neoconservatism and organizer Ralph Reed's stout defense of social conservatism. No surprise to find Donald Rumsfeld (on the war on terror) and Edwin Meese (on the Reagan Revolution) among the contributors here, but there's room, too, under Factor's big tent for former CIA Director—and Democrat—R. James Woolsey to comment on national security. An uneven but useful handbook for those looking to understand the roots of conservatism and the contours of the contemporary movement.

Kirkus Reviews