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Suite 3505: The Story of the Draft Goldwater Movement

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Suite 3505 was the two-room office in New York City that spawned a revolution in American politics. Out of that office, Cliff White and a single assistant coordinated the volunteer effort that won Barry Goldwater the 1964 Republican nomination for President. It's astonishing enough that a group of volunteers accomplished this feat; it's miraculous when you realize they did it in the face of the self-financed campaign of Nelson Rockefeller, the ridicule of the national press, the obstruction and goofs of Goldwater's "professional" staff, and the initial obstinate refusals by Goldwater to run.

In this book, Cliff White meticulously records the entire process -- beginning with Nixon's loss in 1960, and culminating with the GOP National Convention at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. White paints a fascinating picture of how he and an initial group of 33 activists changed America. Goldwater's victory was the beginnings of electoral successes of the modern conservative movement, first Nixon, and then Reagan. White's efforts paved the way for these future victories; the activists who were introduced into politics by the Draft Goldwater movement were the leaders of the 1976 and 1980 Reagan campaigns. The donor mailing list was the seed corn that raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Reagan, for other conservative candidates, and for conservative organizations like the Heritage Foundation.And most importantly, Barry Goldwater himself galvanized an entire generation of conservatives, giving a voice to their beliefs and giving them a reason to get involved.

If you have any interest in political history or the history of the conservative movement, you ought to read this book.