Conservative at the Core: A New History of American Conservatism by Allan J. Lichtman
From the massive federal worker employment cut to the increasing tariffs on foreign goods, Trump’s administration has contested the public’s understanding of conservatism. In Conservative at the Core: A New History of American Conservatism, Allan J. Lichtman argues that the Trump administration has not fallen astray from conservative principles but instead represents the culmination of the American conservative tradition.
“A powerful and sobering story. Lichtman explains how we got into this mess—democracy itself in peril and our two-party system in crisis,” Orville Vernon Burton, author of Justice Deferred: Race and the Supreme Court, said.
Allan J. Lichtman is a distinguished professor of history at American University. He studies central components of our democratic republic, gaining recognition for his knowledgeable, historical and exceedingly accurate predictions of presidential elections through the 13 historical factors or keys he developed in The Keys to the White House.
Conservative at the Core unpacks the history, rhetoric, and policies of the American conservative movement and probes the truth about what conservatism actually represents. Lichtman explores a century of American conservative politics to demonstrate that professed conservative principles—free enterprise, limited government, fiscal responsibility, states’ rights, law and order, personal morality, and American sovereignty—are dispensable notions for public appeal only. Instead, conservatives have only consistently advanced their version of traditional Christian values and support for private (not free) enterprise.
Lichtman creates a powerful analysis of the American conservative movement from the end of World War I to modern day politics. He provides a history of Republican leaders like Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Donald Trump, and conservative Democrats who were responsible for Jim Crow discrimination. In Conservative at the Core the foundations and history of conservative thought are explored to identify the central crisis at the heart of conservative principles and today’s politics.
Conservative at the Core will be released on September 1, 2025. For more information, or to request an advance review copy, contact Katie Campbell, kcampbe9@nd.edu, 574-631-4909.
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