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Frank Meyer, the intellectual father of fusionism, and Barry Goldwater, the first political apostle of fusionism, sought to unite, not divide, all conservatives. Their goal was a national movement guided by constitutional principles of ordered liberty. The solution for the American conservative movement in these challenging times is not a new but a renewed fusionism.

The formation of a new conservative party is the only rational way forward for the nation.

This year my Heritage lectures have been concerned with Americanpolitical errors during the closing decade of the twentieth century-- errors of the Republican party, of the Democratic party, andgeneral blunders in foreign relations.

If we had to pick the thinkers more responsible than any other forplanting the intellectual roots of modern conservative thought, Ibelieve we would select Edmund Burke and Russell Kirk. They wereseparated by almost two hundred years but united in their adherenceto the priceless principle of ordered liberty.

To fully understand the importance of Russell Kirk, you must examine the history of the modern conservative movement – that is, since World War II.  In 1964, the campaign of Barry Goldwater for President of the United States made conservatism a political movement.  Ronald Reagan, beginning in 1967 as Governor of California, and then later as President of the United States from 1981 to 1989, established conservatism as a governing movement.