War, Empire, and the Right

W.H. Chellis

It is hard to permanently cut off the past. Ghosts have a way of appearing when you least expect it. During the 1950’s American conservatism was struggling. Two world wars, the Great Depression, and the massive centralization that followed defeated the Old Right foot, pike, and dragoons. Mr. Republican, Senator Robert Taft was the last of a noble breed. He was a libertarian traditionalist who believed held firm to the ancient foreign policy prescriptions of the old Republic- stay out of foreign wars and entangling alliances.

Against the centralizers, New Dealers, Communists, ect. arose a new breed of conservative. Russell Kirk, father of modern conservatism, was one of the first to try to rally conservatism by providing a sense of historical continuity, mission, and non-ideological vision rooted in a uniquely American conservatism. Although Kirk was called a “new conservative” his vision stood in continuity with the old. He co-authored a book about the political principles of Robert Taft. He wrote a biography of John Randolph of Roanoke as well. When it came to practical politics the quixotic Randolph and the steady Taft represented the practical outworking if Kirk’s conservatism.

But Kirk was not alone in defining 20th Century conservatism. In fact, more influence was wielded by William F. Buckley and the editors of his fledgling magazine National Review. This is where the revolution on the right really occurred. Buckley was an ecumenical man of the Right who held together an interesting mix of pragmatic elitists (James Burnham), ex-communist, anti-communists (Whittaker Chambers, Frank Meyer), traditionalists (Kirk, Von Kuehnelt-Leddihn), and anti-liberals (Willmoore Kendall). The most distinguishable common denominator among this interesting crew seems to have been difficult personalities and antagonism to communism. Buckley held them together and forged the identity of the modern conservative movement.

There were casualties. The John Birchers, descendants of the Old Right grown inbreed and loopy were excommunicated. Paleo-libertarians like Murray Rothbard were also shown the door. Another common denominator? Antagonism to war and entangling alliances became anathema for the ferociously anti-communist, Cold Warriors of the New Right. Resistance to war was for left wing hippies not middle America conservatives- so clean shaved, right leaning Americans were told.

But today, the cold war is over and the New Right is as dead as the Old Right had been in 1950. As hippy Troubadour and reactionary radical Bob Dylan sang, “the times they are a-changing.” Ron Paul has appeared like a ghost from days gone bye. He has given us hope that better days are ahead. That a new Old Right can rise from the ashes of the new conservatives. Free from the constrains of this life, the ghost of Russell Kirk speaks to us from the grave words tongued with fire- often unspoken during his stay among the living- conservatives must be suspicious of sending their sons to fight foreign wars. The revolution has begun.

21st Century American Conservatism remains undefined. Our principles are the principles of Randolph, Taft, Kirk, and Paul. May the rising generation redeem the time.