Author Series Event - Mickey Edwards

Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost - and How It Can Find Its Way Back

About the book:

In this highly provocative and frank volume, Edwards argues loud and clear that conservatives today have abandoned their principles and have become champions of that which they once most feared. The conservative movement - which nominated Barry Goldwater for President and elected Ronald Reagan - was based on a distinctly American kind of conservatism which drew its inspiration directly from the United States Constitution - in particular, an overriding belief in individual liberty and limited government. But today, Edwards argues, the mantle of conservatism has been taken over by people whose beliefs and policies threaten the entire constitutional system of government. By abetting an imperial presidency, he contends, so-called "conservatives" have gutted the system of checks and balances, abandoned due process, and trampled upon our cherished civil liberties. Once, they fought to protect citizens from government intrusion; today, they seem to recognize few limits on what government can do.

Edwards offers a solution-a blueprint for reclaiming the essence of conservatism in America. Touching upon many current issues, this passionately argued book concludes that many of today's conservatives seem to have it all backwards. They have turned conservatism upside down-and this book calls them on it.

About the author:

Mickey Edwards was a member of Congress for 16 years and chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee. He has taught at Harvard and Georgetown and is now on the faculty of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a vice president of the Aspen Institute. He has been a regular columnist for the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times and a weekly commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."