Introduction

Abstract

The postwar intellectual and political right has become an increasing source of fascination for scholars and the wider public. Those on the right have attempted to chronicle the rise of conservatism in order to justify their political success in the 1980s. Those on the left have sought an answer as to why conservatism grew to be such a dominant force in American life and why liberalism no longer stood at the center of American thought and action. Frustration over the Vietnam War played a central role in the political shifts of the late twentieth century, but it was not the only reason. Discontent about domestic policies and the moral direction of the country disheartened many people who then began to question the dominance of liberalism at a time when conservatives vociferously proclaimed its defects. At mid-century, few conservatives managed effectively to challenge liberal dominance, and yet in less than thirty years they actively promoted their beliefs to larger audiences.