Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Congressional caucuses Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other The 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater began when United States Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona elected to seek the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States to challenge incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Amid growing popularity in the southern states in the early 1960s, Goldwater had been anticipating and looking forward to an "issue-oriented" campaign against Democrat John F. Kennedy, a personal friend of his.

[5] Goldwater began active duty in the United States Army Air Forces just prior to the American entrance into World War II, and was deployed to India.

[6][7] In the book, Goldwater criticized the effectiveness of the "radical, or Liberal, approach" to politics and discussed many contemporary issues that divided the nation at the time including civil rights and the welfare state.

[8] On the right wing of the Republican party, some of Goldwater's political positions included anti-communism, an emphasis on total victory in war and opposition to high taxes and government spending.

The group also laid the foundation for the Southern strategy by essentially creating the Republican parties of the Deep South and overthrowing the Democratic patronage system.

[15] To lay the groundwork, he named former Eisenhower aide Edward A. McCabe as Research Director to lead a team of economists and political scientists to formulate policy positions and speeches.

[19] While he enjoyed enthusiastic support from the conservative movement,[17] Goldwater was opposed by liberals and moderates in the party, particularly New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who was also speculated to run for president.

"[30] On Friday, January 20, 1964, at the planned press conference from the patio of his home in Phoenix,[31] Goldwater, while on crutches as a consequence of a recent medical procedure, officially announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for the office of President of the United States.

At every stop, including his first major campaign speech at St. Anselm College, Goldwater criticized President Johnson for his liberal policies and expansion of the federal government.

He proposed an outline to maintain peace that included the encouragement of Communist "eviction from positions of control" in the world, and maintenance of American strength to keep the Soviet Union in check.

[52] During the trip, he publicly wondered why "the Rockefeller family wants to do business with...Communist countries",[53] and remarked that he would fire defense secretary McNamara for his insistence that long range missiles were more accurate than crewed bombings.

[54] At the end of February, Goldwater began to downplay the importance of the New Hampshire Primary, commenting that any result above 35 percent would be a "strong showing" due to the overabundance of candidates such as Senator Margaret Chase Smith.

[57] As the New Hampshire primary neared, Rockefeller began to attack Goldwater, claiming he supported a voluntary social security plan that would bankrupt the nation.

Voters grew wary of Goldwater's stances on social security, Cuba, the military and the role of the Federal government, and were likewise turned off by Rockefeller's very public divorce.

[59] The chairman of the Florida GOP attributed the defeat to a divided campaign, which he also witnessed in his state,[61] where party leaders such as Congressman William C. Cramer disagreed over a delegate slate.

[67] In early April, Goldwater himself traveled to Oregon and made several campaign stops, noting the "psychological importance" of the state's primary due to its proximity to California.

But, he refused to use his opponent's recent divorce for political purposes,[68] and Rockefeller eased his direct criticism, praising Goldwater for his willingness to discuss his views with the American people.

[75] Later in April, President Johnson offered foreign policy briefings to each major presidential candidate, which Goldwater flatly rejected,[76] calling it "an offhand political gesture".

[79] Goldwater gained a total of three delegates after finishing in second and fourth place respectively, in the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania primaries, which were won by favorite son candidates Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and Governor William Scranton.

A rally planned at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium drew only 2,000 supporters, although 8,000 were expected,[93] and the candidate came under fire for mentioning that low grade Atomic bombs could be used to expose the supply of Communists in Vietnam.

His address to the convention drew 11,000 people to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, where he proclaimed that it was essential for Republicans to win in the south, after years of "writing off" the region.

Likewise, Michigan Governor George W. Romney mustered a veiled attack on Goldwater, proposing to add an amendment to the Republican platform, excluding "extremists of the right" from the party.

In televising what the moderate wing portrayed as extremism on the part of Goldwater supporters, they hoped to entice voters to contact their delegates to convince them to endorse Scranton.

[119] Although virtually unknown to many voters, Miller was viewed by those familiar with him as a wise choice for the vice-presidential nomination, with his supporters arguing that he would play a key role in waging an aggressive campaign against Lyndon Johnson and the Democrats.

In turn, Goldwater attempted to launch a counterattack via television, featuring a commercial showing Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev shouting "We will bury you!"

In his speech, Reagan emphasized issues such as the spread of Communism, taxes and the national debt and advocated limited government, aggressive tactics against the Soviet Union and laissez-faire capitalism.

[180] Goldwater's strong showing in the south is largely due to his support of the white southern view on civil rights: that states should be able to control their own laws without federal intervention.

[4] He was succeeded by 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.

He lobbied for gays to serve openly in the military, opposed the Clinton administration's plan for health care reform,[183] and supported abortion rights[185] and the legalization of medicinal marijuana.