John Fredrick Parker
Donor
In the early 1950's, writers at the National Review developed the idea of "Fusionist Conservatism" -- roughly, the idea was to combine aggressive anti-communist internationalism, classical liberal economics, and traditionalism (and/or social conservatism), to create a conservative philosophy for the new age. These ideas are also called libertarian-conservative today.
These contentious ideas had some initial trouble coming together, but were bound together successfully soon enough, first and foremost by their shared anti-communism. But that was a magazine -- it really wasn't until the Presidency of Ronald Reagan that the ideology found its way into real federal policy. About a decade after this rise, the Cold War ended, and this brand of conservatism built on this success to become the mainstream of the right and the base of the Republican party.
My question is this: what if neither Ronald Reagan nor any similarly LC candidate wins the high office prior to the end of the Cold War? Could the philosophy still both endure and rise to the top, without the binds of anti-communism?
These contentious ideas had some initial trouble coming together, but were bound together successfully soon enough, first and foremost by their shared anti-communism. But that was a magazine -- it really wasn't until the Presidency of Ronald Reagan that the ideology found its way into real federal policy. About a decade after this rise, the Cold War ended, and this brand of conservatism built on this success to become the mainstream of the right and the base of the Republican party.
My question is this: what if neither Ronald Reagan nor any similarly LC candidate wins the high office prior to the end of the Cold War? Could the philosophy still both endure and rise to the top, without the binds of anti-communism?