American and Global Perspectives on Conservatism

Conservatism, after all, is a relative term. The question is: what do you want to conserve?

——Frank S. Meyer

Political philosopher Frank S. Meyer defined American conservatism as a devotion to “the preservation, maintenance, and extension” of the “tradition of the West and the tradition of the American republic.”¹ Since his articulation of American conservatism in the post-World War II era, the “republic” has witnessed the neoconservative movement of the 1970s, the rise of the Christian Right and the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s, Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America in the 1990s, the “compassionate conservatism” of the George W. Bush presidency from 2000 to 2008, and the formation of the Tea Party in 2010. Based on their political and cultural contexts, each of these conservative phenomena offers a different yet related answer to Meyer’s question about what they “want to conserve.” But answering that question is not the only charge of conservatism research.

The four books reviewed in this essay constitute a representative cross section of conservatism studies from various disciplines. The first two books profile individuals (Graham and Palin), while the second two books examine multiple individuals (Agrarians) and contexts (in America and around the world). Two of the books examine men and their relationship to conservatism, while the others analyze conservative women and their activities. The first three books focus on American conservatism (from the South to the Alaskan frontier), while the fourth book offers a global perspective. Collectively, these books present an assessment of how conservatism has interacted with and potentially impacted significant political and cultural affairs in the United States and around the globe. Furthermore, they reveal the fundamental problems and enduring debates being addressed in the recent scholarship on conservatism, such as how to conceptualize conservatism, what conservatism means in context, and how “conservative” relates to “the right,” “the far right,” “Republican,” and “traditionalism.”² Some are better than others at addressing these issues, along with the persistent questions of race, class, gender, and especially religion that are embedded in studies of conservatism. And finally, all four books reveal historical moments, political and cultural subjects, unique rhetorical artifacts, and important research questions that would benefit greatly from rhetorical analysis. For these reasons, I believe that the four books under review will be of interest to students of conservatism in particular and to the general readership of Rhetoric & Public Affairs.

American Perspectives on Conservatism

Admittedly, I have not read any other books on Reverend Billy Graham; however, I take Miller at his word that “Graham scholars have inadequately explored and southern historians have largely ignored” Graham’s influence on the post-civil rights era in his native South (5). As a historian of U.S. political culture, American religion, and the American South, Miller fills that void by offering a well-rounded interpretation of Graham, analyzing the evangelist’s public works via crusade services and press conferences alongside his “private correspondences and backroom consultations” (11). Miller situates Graham within significant historical events and in relation to notable historical figures from the civil rights era, including Graham’s own desegregated crusades; the Cold War; the March on Washington; the Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon presidencies; and the Watergate scandal. Miller expertly weaves together Graham’s identity as a white, Southern evangelist with his position as a...