Location: The Heritage Foundation's Van Andel Center
Despite significant losses in the 2006 midterm elections, the
Republican Right remains a powerful and defining force in American
politics. Donald Critchlow, a leading historian of American
conservatism, shows that time and again the GOP Right appeared
defeated, only to rebound with explosive force. The
ascendancy of the GOP Right was not preordained, nor was its
political triumph inevitable. Rather, the history of the
postwar Right was one of fierce political warfare as moderate
Republicans battled right-wing Republicans for control of their
party, and conservatives battled liberals for control of
government. In the struggle against the dominant New Deal
state, conservatives gained control of the Republican Party, but
their advance against liberalism and the Democratic Party proved
less steady.
The Conservative Ascendancy captures the twists and
turns of the GOP Right over the last sixty years, offering a story
of how deeply held beliefs about the nature of the individual and
the good society are translated into political power.
Donald T. Critchlow is the author and editor of fourteen books
on modern American politics, public policy and business. He
is a Professor of History at Saint Louis University and editor of
the Journal of Policy History.