A NEW ROLE? The Future of the Republican Party

What is the role of American conservatism now that liberalism has been emptied of its charismatic power and the fundamental threat to our civilization is radical, anarchistic, nihilist, rather than liberal? What are the prospects and what should be the directions of the Republican Party now that the old Democratic alliance has split asunder, its liberal and radical elements warring one with another, its blue-collar and Southern elements moving in a conservative direction?

Fifteen years ago when national review was founded, the situation in the United States was profoundly different. The power of liberalism—political, social, cultural—was at its height. The revolutionary transformation of American society ushered in with the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 had been consolidated, a consolidation signalized not least by the liberal capture of the opposition party, when the Eisenhower forces defeated the basic forces of the Republican Party represented by Robert Taft and Douglas MacArthur.

FS

About the Author

Frank S. Meyer

Frank S. Meyer was a senior editor of National Review.

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What is the role of American conservatism now that liberalism has been emptied of its charismatic power and the fundamental threat to our civilization is radical, anarchistic, nihilist, rather than liberal? What are the prospects and what should be the directions of the Republican Party now that the old Democratic alliance has split asunder, its liberal and radical elements warring one with another, its blue-collar and Southern elements moving in a conservative direction?

Fifteen years ago when national review was founded, the situation in the United States was profoundly different. The power of liberalism—political, social, cultural—was at its height. The revolutionary transformation of American society ushered in with the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 had been consolidated, a consolidation signalized not least by the liberal capture of the opposition party, when the Eisenhower forces defeated the basic forces of the Republican Party represented by Robert Taft and Douglas MacArthur.