ited the mantle and would be invulnerable.nThere were other reasons. Goldwater’snlifestyle was private; the exposurenand the pomp of the Americannpresidency today, so dear to the heartsnof Johnson and Kennedy, did not appealnto the Arizonian. Another reason wasnthat he appreciated as did few others thenimmense entrenched power of a bureaucracynthat had defeated Eisenhower,nKennedy, and would certainly not worknharmoniously with a conservative Republican.nIn the final analysis, however,nhis real reason was practical: he knewnhe could not win.nThe fact was that he was drafted.nClifton White, William Rusher, JohnnAshbrook and others had organized anmovement inside the Republican Party,nwhere Goldwater was already wellnknown and liked. The agony of thesenyoung volunteers over the course ofnthe nation was real, and Goldwater accedednto their entreaties. A decisionnwas made to enter the primaries andncontest the forces of Nelson Rockefeller.nIt is unlikely that either Goldwater ornhis youthful partisans realized thatnRockefeller was, for all his wealth andninfluence, only the lead horseman in anhuge army arrayed against them, armednwith the power of the media, supportednby every liberal-to-left group in the land.nTheir first charge, based on criticismsnthat Goldwater had made of the actuarialnsystem of the Social Security system,nwas that the candidate was out to stripnthe elderly, the sick, the destitute fromnthe stipends they received from the government.nFrom there, the charges wentndownhill, and the denunciations ofnGoldwater sank to levels never beforenknown against a presidential candidatenin the United States. Not even Lincoln,nnot even Wilson in defeat, not even Jeffersonnor Jackson ever received such anpress. Goldwater was accused of fanaticism,nof seeking a nuclear war, ofnracism, ignorance and a malignity ofnpurpose that made some, in such liberaldominatednsectors as New York City,nwonder that so unqualified a candidatenChronicles of Culturencould appear at all. Even Goldwaternsupporters were attacked and “compared,”nsays the senator, “to Communistsnand Nazis, to the Ku Klux Klan.”nThe culmination of this campaignncame in the Cow Palace in San Francisco,nwhere the Republican Party faithful,nheaded by ex-President Eisenhower,ncame to believe that the media of this nationnwere their enemies. That belief wasnno illusion. Goldwater, who now saysnruefully that his cause was lost the nightnhe was nominated, rose to make an acceptancenspeech that contained a memorablensentence, based on Cicero’s denunciationnof Catiline. “I must remindnyou. Lords, Senators,” said Cicero, “thatnextreme patriotism in the defense ofnfreedom is no crime and let me respectfullynremind you that pusillanimity innthe pursuit of justice is no virtue.”nGoldwater’s paraphrase was succinct;nthere was once a time when all educatednAmericans would have recognized bothnthe sentiment and its source, but inn1964 such Americans were in shortnsupply. Nelson Rockefeller immediatelyncharged that Goldwater had risen innSan Francisco to defend extremism.nThat rock, unerringly hurled, broughtnblood to the candidate from which, innthe course of the campaign, he wasnnever again free.nThe moment is worth freezing, fornit marked a turn in the road for allnAmericans. From the disastrous Goldwaterncampaign onward, the medianwould intervene to slant American politicsnmuch as the government has intervenednto distort America’s productivity,ncommerce, technology and private sectors.nGoldwater himself, deeply woundednby his experience, was grateful to benable to return to private life from 1964’snend until 1968.nrveturned to the Senate, Goldwaternhad a large and important role to playnin both Nixon administrations. He wasnhigh in the councils of the party whennAgnew was forced to resign, and hisncomments on that event are both illuminatingnand disturbing. Senator Gold-nnnwater is a friend of Gerald Ford’s, andnhis comment on Ford’s pardon for Nixonnis terse. “The lynch mob had the noosenaround the neck of the man they hated,”nhe says, “and Ford stopped the hanging.nIt was an act of courage which shouldnhave endeared him to every citizen whonloves the Republic. It didn’t.”nHad Ford not intervened, says thensenator, a “Roman holiday” would havenensued around Nixon, and “it wouldnhave made Ford unbeatable.” That judgment,nas clear and frank as possible,nis very hard to fault. In fact, Barry MorrisnGoldwater by this book, but evennmore by his life and actions, his positionsnand presentations, proves himself angreat man. It is our sorrow that he rosenamong us at a time when greatness generatesnjealousy and hatred. These maynwell be, as Goldwater makes clear, thenfinal days of the Republic. He devotesnthe last sections of his autobiographynto an analysis of the forces and groupsnwhich would like to destroy the UnitednStates. Nothing from that section willnbe quoted in this review, for it is thenduty of citizens concerned about ournnation to read it for themselves.nIn the course of this exercise, theynshould also read the preceding parts ofnthis book, which is one of the most importantnhistorical documents of ourntime. Like a live grenade, it explodes angreat deal of nonsense, evil-doing andnhypocrisy. It also—and for this Goldwaterndeserves all our gratitude—managesnto exude health, sanity and evennoptimism. He is sure we can retain ournfreedom, but to learn why he is so sure,nyou must obtain a copy for yourself. DnThe Rockford Papers—Vol. 5,nNo. 3, May 1980:n”Education in America: AnMemorandum for the U.S.nPresident in the Eighties”n