The Death of Conservatism?

On September 9, 2009,
author and journalist Sam Tanenhaus came to the New America Foundation to
discuss his new book, The Death of
Conservatism. Tanenhaus, Editor of the Book Review and Week in
Review at The New York Times and
biographer of Whittaker Chambers and William F. Buckley, Jr., traced the
intellectual history of “movement conservatism” from the philosophies of Edmund
Burke to the presidency of George W. Bush. Along the way, he argued,
conservatism’s goals shifted from conservation and stability to radicalism and
“revanchism.” Tanenhaus made the provocative claim that, in retrospect, Richard
Nixon and Bill Clinton look like the only truly conservative presidents, because
they preserved and refined the achievements of their predecessors. Ultimately,
it was conservatives’ emphasis on ideology over pragmatism that led to
Republicans defeats in 2006 and 2008 and banished the movement to the political
wilderness.

Michael Lind, Policy
Director of the Economic Growth Program at New America, moderated the question
and answer session that followed Tanenhaus’ remarks. Questions touched upon the
success of movement conservatism in shifting the political narrative in
Washington,
the influence of neoconservative Democrats such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and
the movement’s future within the Republican Party.

Participants
Featured
speaker
Sam
Tanenhaus
Editor, Book
Review and Week in Review
The New York Times
Author, The Death of Conservatism

Moderator
Michael Lind
Policy Director, Economic
Growth Program
New America Foundation