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THE OLD RIGHT and ITS INFLUENCE on the DEVELOPMENT of MODERN AMERICAN CONSERVATISM by JONATHAN H. SKAGGS Bachelor of Arts Histor

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THE OLD RIGHT and ITS INFLUENCE on the DEVELOPMENT of MODERN AMERICAN CONSERVATISM by JONATHAN H. SKAGGS Bachelor of Arts Histor THE OLD RIGHT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN AMERICAN CONSERVATISM By JONATHAN H. SKAGGS Bachelor of Arts History University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, Oklahoma 2001 Master of Arts History Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 2004 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY July, 2014 THE OLD RIGHT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN AMERICAN CONSERVATISM Dissertation Approved: Dr. Ronald Petrin Dissertation Adviser Dr. Laura Belmonte Dr. David D’Andrea Dr. Joseph Byrnes Dr. Danny Adkison !! Name: Jonathan H. Skaggs Date of Degree: JULY, 2014 Title of Study: THE OLD RIGHT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN AMERICAN CONSERVATISM Major Field: History Abstract: In November of 1955, William F. Buckley published the first issue of National Review. His journal defined modern American conservatism as a mix of anti-Marxism, tradition, and a belief in limited government. These three interconnected ideas formed the foundation of modern American conservatism. In the first issue of National Review, Buckley wrote that the intent of his journal was to “stand athwart history, yelling stop!” Buckley hoped that National Review would halt the growth of atheism and collectivism in the United States. The journal would work to protect American traditions, argue for limited government, and attack all forms of Marxism. In addition the name National Review reflected the journal’s goal of bringing all conservatives together in one national movement. However, the basic ideas of modern American conservatism already existed in scholarly journals of the 1930s and 1940s. Publications like American Review and Human Events had discussed and debated the nature of conservatism and had agreed that it consisted of a mix of three elements: tradition, limited government, and anti-Marxism. The real accomplishment of William F. Buckley was in repackaging these ideas and changing the tone of conservatism. This dissertation will focus on three journals to show a continuity of ideology from the 1930s to the 1950s. These journals will be American Review, Human Events, and finally National Review. However, most of this dissertation will cover American Review as it was the only truly conservative journal in publication in the 1930s. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORIOGRAPHY.................................................... 1-13 II. PRIVATE PROPERTY IN LAND .....................................................................14-36 III. SOUTHERN AGRARIAN CONSERVATISM................................................ 37-62 IV. LIMITED GOVERNMENT AND ANTI-MARXISM..................................... 63-88 V. FASCISM AND REVOLUTION ...................................................................89-105 VI. CONSERVATISM, LIBERTY, AND MONARCHY ...................................106-123 VII. TRADITION ...............................................................................................124-145 VIII. RACE RELATIONS AND IMMIGRATION ............................................146-160 IX. EARLY POST WAR CONSERVATISM .....................................................161-185 X. POST WAR CONSERVATISM..................................................................... 186-204 APPENDIX OF AUTHORS AND JOURNALS................................................205-212 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................... 213-223 VITA...........................................................................................................................224 iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND HISTORIOGRAPHY In November of 1955, William F. Buckley published the first issue of National Review.1 His journal defined modern American conservatism as a mix of anti-Marxism, tradition, and a belief in limited government. These three interconnected ideas formed the foundation of modern American conservatism. In the first issue of National Review, Buckley wrote that the intent of his journal was to “stand athwart history, yelling stop!” National Review would work to halt the growth of atheism and collectivism in the United States. The journal sought to protect American traditions, argue for limited government, and attack all forms of Marxism. In addition, the name National Review reflected the journal’s goal of bringing all conservatives together in one national movement.2 1 Priscilla L. Buckley, Living It Up at National Review: A Memoir (Dallas, Texas: Spence Publishing Company, 2005): 11. 2 John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America (New York: The Penguin Press, 2004): 50. The original name of National Review was National Weekly. However, after a year of trying to produce a weekly journal, Buckley changed the name to National Review and the magazine began producing only one issue a month. ! By the 1960s, conservatism found a home in Orange County, California.3 From there, it spread across the Western states and into the South.4 The first wave of conservative political activism culminated in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan. However, as early as the 1970s, Buckley argued that his publication created and molded modern conservatism. He wrote that it was in the pages of National Review that the three legs of conservatism were first agreed upon. National Review defined conservatism as a combination of anti-Marxism, limited government, and tradition. Scholars, like Gregory L. Schneider, have largely accepted Buckley’s thesis. In his work Conservatism in American Since 1930, Schneider wrote that “conservatism developed as an intellectual and political movement during the heyday of post war liberalism.” Therefore, Buckley has been allowed to write his own version of history and that of National Review.5 However, the basic ideas of modern American conservatism already existed in scholarly journals of the 1930s and 1940s. Publications like American Review and Human Events discussed and debated the nature of conservatism and agreed that it consisted of a mix of three elements: tradition, limited government, and anti-Marxism. The real accomplishment of William F. Buckley was in repackaging these ideas and changing the tone of conservatism.6 3 John B. Judis, William F. Buckley, Jr: Patron Saint of the Conservatives (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988): 14. 4 Micklethwait and Wooldridge, The Right Nation, 40, 47. 5 Gregory Schneider, Conservatism in America Since 1930 (New York: New York University Press, 2003), 3. 6 Judis, William F. Buckley, Jr, 119. ! This dissertation focuses on three journals to show a continuity of ideology from the 1930s to the 1950s. These journals are American Review, Human Events, and National Review. Most of this dissertation focuses on American Review as it was the only truly conservative journal in publication in the 1930s.7 In addition, when needed for context, other journals will make appearances.8 The first chapter covers the historiography of conservatism. It discusses how historians and scholars have analyzed conservatism from the early twentieth century to the early twenty-first century. The second chapter examines how conservatives of the 1930s defined and defended private property. The third chapter discusses at length how these early conservatives championed a return to farming and the creation of an agrarian republic. Chapter four covers the topics of limited government and anti-Marxism. Chapter five examines how conservatives viewed Fascism and their fear of revolution. In chapter six, the conservative writers of the 1930s discuss their views on liberty, monarchy, and conservatism. Chapter seven is devoted to the idea of tradition. Chapter eight examines race relations and immigration. Chapter nine covers conservatism in the closing days of World War II and the post war years. Finally, chapter ten is devoted to political conservatism in the 1950s. From the 1950s through the 1990s, when scholars delved into the history of conservatism it was to declare it out of the mainstream and inconsistent with American 7 American Mercury was in publication during the 1930s. However, American Mercury never tried to define American conservatism and spent most of its time criticizing the New Deal without offering an intellectual alternative. 8 The other journals will be The Bookman, The Freedman, and American Mercury. ! political traditions. Scholars wrote that conservatism was a marginal force in the politics of the United States and that it was fighting a battle against modernity and progress. These scholars believed that conservative ideas ran against the tide of history and that ultimately conservatives would lose. This attitude allowed historians to dismiss the origins of conservatism, the coalescing of the movement in the mid 1950s, the grass root activism in the 1960s and 1970s, and the capture of the Republican party. In short, historians distorted our understanding of this movement in an effort to declare it either dead, dying, or irrelevant.9 However, from the 2000s forward scholars have begun to give conservatism a second look. Historians like Lisa McGirr, Donald T. Critchlow, Gregory Schneider, and others have finally begun to take conservatism seriously. Most of these new works focused on conservatism at the grassroots level and examined the ideas and motivations of local activists. However, the new scholarship has accepted the Buckley thesis that modern conservatism
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