“Arizona Senator” Barry Goldwater Hand Signed 3X5 Card Todd Mueller COA

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“Arizona Senator” Barry Goldwater Hand Signed 3X5 Card.
This item is authenticated By Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity.
ES-8990E
Barry Morris Goldwater
(January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and
United States Air Force
officer who was a five-term
Senator
from
Arizona
(1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the
Republican Party
nominee for
president of the United States
in
1964
. Goldwater is the politician most often credited with having sparked the resurgence of the
American conservative
political movement in the 1960s. Despite his loss of the
1964 presidential election
in a landslide, many political pundits and historians believe he laid the foundation for the conservative revolution to follow, as the grassroots organization and conservative takeover of the Republican party began a long-term realignment in American politics which helped to bring about the "Reagan Revolution" of the 1980s. He also had a substantial impact on the
libertarian movement
.
Goldwater was born in Phoenix in what was then the Arizona Territory, where he helped manage his family's department store. Upon the U.S. entry into
World War II
, Goldwater received a reserve commission in the United States Army Air Force. He trained as a pilot and was assigned to the Ferry Command, a newly formed unit that flew aircraft and supplies to war zones worldwide. After the war, Goldwater was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 1949 and won election to the U.S. Senate in 1952. In the Senate, Goldwater rejected the legacy of the
New Deal
and, along with the
conservative coalition
, fought against the
New Deal coalition
. Goldwater also had a reputation as a "maverick" for challenging his party's
moderate to liberal wing
on policy issues. A member of the
NAACP
and active supporter of desegregation in Phoenix, Goldwater supported the
Civil Rights Acts of 1957
and
1960
and the
24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
, but reluctantly opposed the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
—despite believing in racial equality, he felt one of its provisions to be unconstitutional and a potential overreach of the federal government—a decision that considerably anguished him.
[3]
In 1964, Goldwater mobilized a large conservative constituency to win the hard-fought Republican presidential primaries. Although raised as an
Episcopalian
, Goldwater was the first candidate of
Jewish
descent (through his father) to be nominated for president by a major American party. Goldwater's platform ultimately failed to gain the support of the electorate
[8]
and he lost the 1964 presidential election to incumbent
Democrat
Lyndon B. Johnson
by one of the largest margins in history. Goldwater returned to the Senate in 1969 and specialized in defense and foreign policy. As an elder statesman of the party, Goldwater, who was respected by his colleagues for his honor and dedication to principle, successfully urged President
Richard Nixon
to resign in 1974 when evidence of a cover-up in the
Watergate scandal
became overwhelming and
impeachment
was imminent. Goldwater narrowly won re-election in 1980 for what would be his final and most influential term in the senate. In 1986, Goldwater oversaw passage of the
Goldwater–Nichols Act
, arguably his most significant legislative achievement, which strengthened civilian authority in the
Department of Defense
. The following year, he retired from the Senate and was succeeded by Congressman
John McCain
, who praised his predecessor as the man who "transformed the Republican Party from an Eastern elitist organization to the breeding ground for the election of Ronald Reagan". Goldwater strongly supported the
1980 presidential campaign of Reagan
, who had become the standard-bearer of the conservative movement after his "
A Time for Choosing
" speech. Reagan reflected many of the principles of Goldwater's earlier run in his campaign.
The Washington Post
columnist
George Will
took note of this, writing: "We who voted for him in 1964 believe he won, it just took 16 years to count the votes". Goldwater's views on social and cultural issues grew increasingly libertarian as he neared the end of his career. After leaving the Senate, Goldwater's views on social issues cemented as libertarian. He criticized the "moneymaking ventures by fellows like
Pat Robertson
and others [in the Republican Party] who are trying to .make a religious organization out of it." He supported
homosexuals serving openly in the military
,
environmental protection
,
gay rights
,
abortion rights
, and the legalization of
medicinal marijuana
.