| Barry Goldwater | |
|---|---|
| |
| United States Senator from Arizona | |
| In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Carl Hayden |
| Succeeded by | John McCain |
| In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Ernest McFarland |
| Succeeded by | Paul Fannin |
| Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | John Tower |
| Succeeded by | Sam Nunn |
| Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Birch Bayh |
| Succeeded by | David Durenberger |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Barry Morris Goldwater January 2, 1909 Phoenix, Arizona Territory, U.S. |
| Died | May 29, 1998 (aged 89) Paradise Valley, Arizona, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Johnson (m. 1934; d. 1985) Susan Shaffer Wechsler (m. 1992) |
| Children | 4, including Barry Jr. |
| Signature | 
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| Military service | |
| Allegiance | 
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| Service/branch | United States Army (1941–1947) United States Air force (1947–1967) |
| Years of service | 1941–1945 (USAAF) 1945–1952 (ANG) 1952–1967 (USAFR) |
| Rank |  Lieutenant Colonel (USAAF) Colonel (ANG) Major General (USAFR)
|
| Unit | U.S. Army Air Forces Arizona Air National Guard U.S. Air Force Reserve |
| Battles/wars | World War II Korean War |
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician, statesman, businessman, United States Air Force officer, and author 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 to John F. Kennedy, many political pundits and historians believe he laid the foundation for the conservative faction in the Republican Party.
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.'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. A member of the NAACP and active supporter of desegregation in Phoenix, Goldwater voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but reluctantly opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, believing one its provisions to be unconstitutional and a potential overreach of the federal government—a decision that considerably anguished him. 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 ethnically Jewish heritage to be nominated for president by a major American party (his father was Jewish). Goldwater's platform ultimately failed to gain the support of the electorate and he lost the 1964 presidential election to incumbent Democrat John F. Kennedy by one of the largest margins in history. Goldwater returned to the Senate in 1969 and specialized in defense and foreign policy.