Both Types of Conservative Fusionism Still Matter

Fusionism is a core part of the story of National Review and the modern American conservative movement. But there really always were two fusionisms, not one. To understand the heritage of our ideas, it is vital to understand what was fused, and why.

When fusionism is discussed today, especially by its critics, the focus is typically on fusionism as an ideological project. That project, often identified with William F. Buckley Jr. and Reaganism, was largely the intellectual handiwork of Frank Meyer and M. Stanton Evans. For a flavor of the debate at the time, read Meyer and L. Brent Bozell Jr. in these pages 60 years ago debating the relative merits of fusionism as opposed to Bozell’s case for the primacy of virtue over liberty as the central organizing principle of conservatism.

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Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Fusionism is a core part of the story of National Review and the modern American conservative movement. But there really always were two fusionisms, not one. To understand the heritage of our ideas, it is vital to understand what was fused, and why.

When fusionism is discussed today, especially by its critics, the focus is typically on fusionism as an ideological project. That project, often identified with William F. Buckley Jr. and Reaganism, was largely the intellectual handiwork of Frank Meyer and M. Stanton Evans. For a flavor of the debate at the time, read Meyer and L. Brent Bozell Jr. in these pages 60 years ago debating the relative merits of fusionism as opposed to Bozell’s case for the primacy of virtue over liberty as the central organizing principle of conservatism.