The Death of Conservatism
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Tanenhaus, Sam, PUBLISHER: Random House, Sam Tanenhaus's essay ""Conservatism Is Dead"" prompted intense discussion and debate when it was published in "ong>Theong> New Republic "in ong>theong> first days ong>ong>ofong>ong> Barack Obama's presidency. Now Tanenhaus, a leading authority on modern politics, has expanded his argument into a sweeping history ong>ong>ofong>ong> ong>theong> American conservative movement. For seventy-five years, he argues, ong>theong> Right has been split between two factions: consensus-driven "realists" who believe in ong>theong> virtue ong>ong>ofong>ong> government and its power to adjust to changing conditions, and movement "revanchists" who distrust government and society-and ong>ong>ofong>ong>ten find ong>theong>mselves at war with America itself. Eventually, Tanenhaus writes, ong>theong> revanchists prevailed, and ong>theong> result is ong>theong> decadent "movement conservatism" ong>ong>ofong>ong> today, a defunct ideology that is "prong>ong>ofong>ong>oundly and defiantly unconservative-in its arguments and ideas, its tactics and strategies, above all in its vision." But ong>theong>re is hope for conservatism. It resides in ong>theong> examples ong>ong>ofong>ong> pragmatic leaders like Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan and thinkers like Whittaker Chambers and William F. Buckley, Jr. Each came to understand that ong>theong> true role ong>ong>ofong>ong> conservatism is not to advance a narrow ideological agenda but to engage in a serious dialogue with liberalism and join with it in upholding "ong>theong> politics ong>ong>ofong>ong> stability." Conservatives today need to rediscover ong>theong> roots ong>ong>ofong>ong> this honorable tradition. It is ong>theong>ir only route back to ong>theong> center ong>ong>ofong>ong> American politics. At once succinct and detailed, penetrating and nuanced, ong>Theong> ong>Deathong> ong>ong>ofong>ong> Conservatism is a must-read for Americans ong>ong>ofong>ong> any political persuasion.