American Experience

Who's Who: United States		return to index
	Barry Goldwater			27 of 41

A conservative Republican senator from Arizona and 1964 presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater alarmed even some fellow Republicans with his brand of staunch fiscal conservatism and militant anti-Communism. After boldly declaring in 1964 that "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice," Goldwater was painted as a dangerous figure by the Johnson administration. Millions of Americans apparently shared that view as Goldwater garnered only thirty-nine percent of the election day vote.