Research Catalog

The corrosion of conservatism : why I left the right

Title
The corrosion of conservatism : why I left the right / Max Boot.
Author
Boot, Max, 1968-
Publication
  • New York, NY : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2018]
  • ©2018

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
Request for On-site UseRequest Scan

Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.

TextUse in library JFE 19-6941Schwarzman Building - Milstein Division Room 121

Details

Description
xxiii, 260 pages; 25 cm
Summary
"As nativism, xenophobia, vile racism, and assaults on the rule of law threaten the very fabric of our nation, [this book] presents an urgent defense of American democracy. Pronouncing Mexican immigrants to be "rapists," Donald Trump announced his 2015 presidential bid, causing Max Boot to think he was watching a dystopian science-fiction movie. The respected conservative historian couldn't fathom that the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan could endorse such an unqualified reality-TV star. Yet the Twilight Zone episode that Boot believed he was watching created an ideological dislocation so shattering that Boot's transformation from Republican foreign policy adviser to celebrated anti-Trump columnist becomes the dramatic story of The Corrosion of Conservatism. No longer a Republican, but also not a Democrat, Boot here records his ideological journey from a "movement" conservative to a man without a party, beginning with his political coming-of-age as a young emigre from the Soviet Union, enthralled with the National Review and the conservative intellectual tradition of Russell Kirk and F.A. Hayek. Against this personal odyssey, Boot simultaneously traces the evolution of modern American conservatism, jump-started by Barry Goldwater's canonical The Conscience of a Conservative, to the rise of Trumpism and its gradual corrosion of what was once the Republican Party. While 90 percent of his fellow Republicans became political "toadies" in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Boot stood his ground, enduring the vitriol of his erstwhile conservative colleagues, trolled on Twitter by a white supremacist who depicted his "execution" in a gas chamber by a smiling, Nazi-clad Trump. And yet, Boot nevertheless remains a villain to some partisan circles for his enduring commitment to conservative fiscal and national security principles. It is from this isolated position, then, that Boot launches this bold declaration of dissent and its urgent plea for true, bipartisan cooperation. With uncompromising insights, The Corrosion of Conservatism evokes both a president who has traduced every norm and the rise of a nascent centrist movement to counter Trump's assault on democracy."--Jacket.
Subjects
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-237) and index.
Contents
Prologue: November 8, 2016 -- The education of a conservative -- The career of a conservative -- The surrender -- The chaos president -- The cost of capitulation. Racism ; Nativism ; Collusion ; The rule of law ; "Fake news" ; Ethics ; Fiscal irresponsibility ; The end of the Pax Americana -- The Trump toadies -- The origins of Trumpism -- Epilogue: The vital center.
Call Number
JFE 19-6941
ISBN
  • 9781631495670
  • 1631495674
LCCN
  • 2018036979
  • 40028589602
OCLC
1040200865
Author
Boot, Max, 1968- author.
Title
The corrosion of conservatism : why I left the right / Max Boot.
Publisher
New York, NY : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2018]
Copyright Date
©2018
Edition
First edition.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-237) and index.
Performer
Narrated by the author.
Chronological Term
Since 2017
Other Standard Identifier
40028589602
Research Call Number
JFE 19-6941
View in Legacy Catalog