EP 939 Why Did Martin Luther King, Jr. Consider Barry Goldwater America’s Most Dangerous Man?

Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee for President in 1964, was in no way a virulent racist, like others in his era, including Bull Connor, George Wallace or Strom Thurmond.  But he reached a higher plateau in American politics and his views on ‘freedom’ were in direct contrast with those of Martin Luther King, Jr., who felt that until human and economic rights were secured for all, it did not exist in full form in America. Goldwater felt that freedom was in trouble because the federal government was usurping states’ rights and the rugged individualism, he espoused with his Western frontier approach to government. They embodied a modern clash of the civil rights movement and the conservative movement as they both gained momentum.  Clearly, in the short run, Martin Luther King, Jr’s. vision won out in 1964 when the Civil Rights bill was passed and Goldwater lost in emphatic fashion to Lyndon Johnson, winning only five states.  However, their differences have been embodied in our politics to this day.

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