Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.
Reclaiming Conservatism and over 300,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
90 used & new from $1.80

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost--And How It Can Find Its Way Back
 
 
Start reading Reclaiming Conservatism on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost--And How It Can Find Its Way Back (Hardcover)

by Mickey Edwards (Author)
Key Phrases: White House, United States, Supreme Court (more...)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

List Price: $21.95
Price: $14.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $7.02 (32%)
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Monday, July 13? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
37 new from $2.00 53 used from $1.80
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Kindle Edition (Kindle Book) $9.99
Oxford English Dictionary
A Letter from the Author
Read an Amazon Exclusive letter from Mickey Edwards [PDF].

Frequently Bought Together

Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost--And How It Can Find Its Way Back + Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream + Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again
Price For All Three: $36.34

Show availability and shipping details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again

Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again

by David Frum
3.5 out of 5 stars (19)  $11.21
McCain: The Myth of a Maverick

McCain: The Myth of a Maverick

by Matt Welch
4.1 out of 5 stars (15)  $10.35
A Restless Past: History and the American Public

A Restless Past: History and the American Public

by Joyce Appleby
$16.95
Conscience of a Conservative

Conscience of a Conservative

by Barry Goldwater
4.6 out of 5 stars (50)  $15.59
A Return to Values: A Conservative Looks at His Party (Speaker's Corner)

A Return to Values: A Conservative Looks at His Party (Speaker's Corner)

by Bob Beauprez
$13.16
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
A leading figure in the American conservative movement for over 40 years, Mickey Edwards was a prominent Republican congressman, a former national chairman of the American Conservative Union, and a founding trustee of the Heritage Foundation. When he speaks, conservatives listen. Now, 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 feared most.

Amazon Exclusive
Read a letter from Mickey Edwards, author of Reclaiming Conservatism.

Dear Amazon Reader,

Having been repudiated even in states they had long dominated, Republicans woke up on November 5th faced with the challenge of rebuilding a political party that had been transformed overnight from powerful to pitiful. They should have seen it coming. In my book, Reclaiming Conservatism, I describe precisely how Republicans in the White House and in Congress became the enemies of the principles they once stood for, a threat to constitutional government, and a party thoroughly deserving of the rebuke it has received. I explain specifically how conservatives can again earn the public’s confidence.

Now Republican leaders are trying to find the way back. In the process, they are continuing to look in the wrong direction, unwilling to face the reality of the disastrous choices that led to their defeat. So-called conservatives, they have abandoned true American conservatism--which is properly focused on limited (not small) government, individual liberty, and prudent governance--and have instead become the champions of wiretapping, government secrecy, federal deficits, questionable wars, and a nasty kind of politics that even questions the patriotism of those who disagree with their policies.

The Republican Party long stood for the principles at the heart of the American Constitution, including a belief in the wonderful possibilities of self-government (instead of the anti-government rhetoric it has since embraced). It celebrated ideas instead of the rabid anti-intellectualism it has come to cherish. It celebrated diversity (Barry Goldwater argued that there was no such thing as a merely common man) rather than demanding sameness in religion, values, and beliefs. The Republican Party does not need to re-invent itself--it merely needs to remember what it once was.

Sincerely,

Mickey Edwards




From Publishers Weekly
This book is a cri de coeur by former Republican congressman Edwards, a veteran conservative founding trustee of the Heritage Foundation who once ranked as the national chairman of the American Conservative Union. Edwards believes that conservatism has abandoned the ideas of limited government that once inspired it. This has been, he argues, the paradoxical price of conservative electoral success, and the process of winning and retaining this power has brought its own temptations. Taking Washington required coalition forming with neoconservatives, the religious right and former supporters of George Wallace who all owed little to the Goldwater-style conservatism in which the thing being 'conserved' was the liberal revolution embodied in the Constitution. According to Edwards, these other views have intensified as the Bush administration presides over an evolving security state, and the movement Edwards once held sacrosanct is now unrecognizable. This is a critique with force and eloquence, but its author is better at defining what has, from his perspective, gone wrong, than providing persuasive suggestions as to how conservatives of his mindset are meant to win elections today. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 1, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0195335589
  • ISBN-13: 978-0195335583
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #201,363 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #10 in  Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Party Politics

Inside This Book (learn more)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost--And How It Can Find Its Way Back
84% buy the item featured on this page:
Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost--And How It Can Find Its Way Back 4.5 out of 5 stars (20)
$14.93
Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again
6% buy
Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again 3.5 out of 5 stars (19)
$11.21
Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream
4% buy
Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream 3.3 out of 5 stars (19)
$10.20
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto
4% buy
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,692)
$13.75

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.
(2)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

20 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A passionate argument..., March 14, 2008
By Avid Reader (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
Reclaiming Conservatism's strongest message is that America has been led astray in recent years by so-called conservatives to the precarious point at which our system of government neither promotes individual liberty nor protects it citizens from government intrusion. Reclaiming Conservatism doesn't rant -- rather, it informs with a detailed and interesting history of how we got to this point, it carefully and clearly defines what conservative values are, and it concludes with tangible steps Americans can take to get true conservatism back on track. This book proves that Mickey Edwards, who spent sixteen years in Congress (and many since) defining and strengthening the conservative movement, is wholly committed to restoring conservative values. His book might be considered one small step for a conservative man, but it is definitely one giant leap for conservative mankind.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Accessible Insights, April 6, 2008
By Rick LaRue (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
This book is terrific and rare, offering accessible insight into the reasons why what passes for conservative politics and policies today is bad for the country, let alone conservatives. Reclaiming Conservatism is not merely a primer for conservatives to remember their principles and their roots, although Edwards would no doubt welcome such an outcome. It sheds light on how far off the ranch Newt Gingrich and Bush II have taken the conservative movement - you have to read what Edwards has to say about them! - but it also shows liberals the kind of conservative opponents they should welcome battling and, most importantly, getting down to work with again and ironing out compromises.

But Edwards's points go deeper. He draws meaning and relevance from the Constitution and demonstrates how Congress as an institution needs to reassert itself and stop doing the Executive's bidding. His illustrations of how the president may be the head of state but not the head of government are refreshingly clear, and he reminds us again of the beauty of the constitutional system of checks and balances that has been sullied by leading Republicans in this administration and recent Congresses. Even political veterans will be sure to learn something, but you don't need to be an insider to benefit from Edwards's insights. Now we have to find someone to so well write "Reclaiming Liberalism" and urge politicians and citizens alike to read them both!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Important book for the future of this country, March 13, 2008
By Charlie Firestone (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The first key point is to recognize that Edwards is referring to American conservatism, by which he means being faithful to the constitution. Accordingly, he finds it conservative to champion individual rights, equal opportunity, separation of church and state, and separation of powers. As a former Congressional leader, Edwards is particularly strong on the last point, unleashing his disdain, indeed fury, at the way the Congressional Republicans have capitulated to the monarchial Bush Administration.

Having been inspired by Barry Goldwater's conservative philosophy in the 1960s, and a Congressional partner to Reagan's reign in the 1980s, this Oklahoma Republican congressman shows how the Republican Party got out of whack under Newt Gingrich's reign in the House. In the book, Edwards also sets forth "conservative" values, which it turns out most liberals would support in principle, and the steps that conservatives need to take to regain their proper place in American politics. One telling step is for conservatives to declare independence from party discipline when it does not serve their principles.

The book is an easy read with a powerful message for liberals as well as conservatives, Democrats as well as Republicans. Highly recommended.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Remembrance of Things Passed
I rate this book, and others like it--Andrew Sullivan's THE CONSERVATIVE SOUL; John Dean's CONSERVATIVES WITHOUT CONSCIENCE--as honest and principled attempts to contend with the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Richard Drozd

1.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Edwards is not a Conservative - Reagan would cringe
As I read this book it becomes clear that not only is Mr. Edwards NOT a conservative, but infact a Flaming Liberal. Read more
Published 5 months ago by A. J. McHugh

5.0 out of 5 stars Great insight
I found the history of Conservatism to be quite interesting especially in contrast to today's practice of so-called conservatism. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jim G. Fouch

5.0 out of 5 stars Hero present
This book was a gift to my favorite Republican. He gives it five stars so I will, too. Heard the author interviewed on the radio, thumbed through the book. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Shawn Greene

5.0 out of 5 stars A voice in the wilderness
Mickey Edwards review and critique of the modern conservative movement and its Republican party ally excellently reveals the deeply ingrained hypocrisy that controls both the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Kathryn E. Ransburg

1.0 out of 5 stars No, Mr. Edwards
One has to regard a "conservative" feted by liberals and liberal publications from one coast to the other with some trepidation, and that it how I approached this book. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Roderic Fabian

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding. Simply Outstanding.
I never had a definition so wrong in my life. I liked the fact the Winston Churchill thought American Conservatives were liberal. Read more
Published 11 months ago by M. L Scheuer

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks! I needed this.
I've longed for this book. When my high school friend and I reconnected after more than 50 years, he was astonished that I identified myself as a liberal and I was astounded that... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mona G. Affinito

5.0 out of 5 stars Agree
I totally agree and cannot add more to the reviews already here. The Republican Party up until about 1990 was a party of optimism ("It's Morning in America"), belief in individual... Read more
Published 13 months ago by John

5.0 out of 5 stars For Liberals , too
Former congressman Edwards clearly and passionaltely articulates how the Conservative movement has changed, especially since the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Read more
Published 15 months ago by joelr415

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


   


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


A Savings Shower

Home Improvement Value Center
Find the right showerhead at the right price in the Home Improvement Value Center, where you can find items up to 50% off.

Shop the Value Center

 

Big Savings in Books

Bargain Books
Find great titles at fantastic prices in our Bargain Books Store.
 

Buy Three Books, Get a Fourth Free

4-for-3 Books
Order any four eligible books under $10 and get the lowest-price book free in our 4-for-3 Books Store. See more details.
 

Breathe Safely

Shop for Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Protect your home and family with carbon monoxide alarms and detectors. Get one this winter, when furnaces, gas fireplaces, and portable heaters are in use.

Shop for carbon monoxide detectors

 

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates