ABSTRACT
Conservatism in the United States has many different meanings. It is a potpourri of several strands of political thought: Tory-style conservatism, classical liberalism, and populism. It draws upon the works of philosophers like Edmund Burke and John Locke, economists like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, and political pundits like James Burnham and William F. Buckley. Since the New Deal, and in particular with the post-war conservative renaissance, conservatives in the United States have objected to expansions of federal power. The New Conservative group that emerged after the Second World War did not share this heightened libertarian suspicion of government. Some politicians in the post-war period, both presidential aspirants, were particularly active in pushing for the conservative view of government power. Limitations on federal economic intervention coupled with large tax cuts would not only stimulate the economy but would achieve the conservative goal of reducing the scope of government activity.
