Arizona Mafia

Goldwater's initial campaign staff, consisting of four Arizonans with little to no political experience (and no mafia connections, sorry).

Collectivism

A refusal of personal property rights in the interest of the betterment of society as a whole. See "Communism" for conservatives' feelings on this.

Communism

A capitalist conservative's worst nightmare. The slippery slope of liberalism ends here. In this supposed landscape of horrors, the means of economic production are owned by societies as a whole, not by people or corporations, and the profits made by those means are distributed to those who need it the most. Fun fact: a true communist economy has never existed in the real world, so we don't know if it would actually end up working or not. Most communist countries have ended up being totalitarian dictatorships. The U.S. was obsessed with the threat of communism in the '50s and '60s.

The Conscience of a Conservative

Barry Goldwater's manifesto, ghost-written by L. Brent Bozell, that caused this whole Barrymania phenomenon among conservatives in the 1960s.

Containment

This theory was coined by the Truman Administration to refer to the U.S.'s foreign policy decision not to fight communism, per se, but to contain it, like bugs in a jar. The feeling was that eventually communism, like the bugs, would just die in there, and no one would have to worry about it spreading to other countries anymore.

GOP

Ever wondered what "GOP" actually stands for anyway? Wonder no more. This nickname for the Republican Party stands for "Grand Old Party," and was updated from "Gallant Old Party" back in the 1870s. They were gallant and grand because the Republican Party was seen as the victor of the Civil War; the party was formed as an anti-slavery faction of the Democratic Party in the 1850s.

Great Society

LBJ's vision of America that Goldwater absolutely abhorred. It included such awfulness as Medicare, the Public Broadcasting Service, nationwide educational improvement programs, and employment assistance programs. Can you believe such a thing?

Goldwater Republicans

Also called libertarian conservatives, this group believes in two guiding principles: one, government should be as small and as decentralized as possible; and two, people should be able to do what they want and be who they want, as long as they're not dimming anyone else's shine in the process or threatening the general order.

Liberalism

According to Barry Goldwater, it's a false notion of equality leading to a desire to trade freedom for government-sponsored security. According to people who are maybe a little more laid-back about the whole thing, it's a political philosophy that believes government should play a role in reigning in capitalism and taking care of its citizens.

"Me Too" Republican

A nasty little insult hurled at any Republican who dared believe that government intervention could, in some instances, be a good thing. Back in the FDR New Deal days, when Democrats were supporting all sorts of expanded government programs, some Republicans jumped on the bandwagon saying they wanted government assistance in certain areas too. The "me too" label was born. Nowadays, we'd probably just call those folks moderates.

Rockefeller Republicans

A term used to describe the more moderate faction of Republicans during the 1960s. They were all about fiscal conservatism, but they were social Democrats, advocating government-provided solutions for social problems like racism and poverty.