You ever read a book and think, Wow, this belongs in the Fiction aisle, right between Harry Potter and Twilight? That’s Allan Lichtman’s Conservative at the Core. Supposedly it’s “a new history of American conservatism,” but honestly, it reads more like your uncle losing his car keys, then writing 300 pages blaming Calvin Coolidge for it.
The Premise
Lichtman swears modern conservatism was born in the 1920s—Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, the whole jazz-age gang. Forget Burke, forget Buckley, forget Goldwater—apparently conservatism was invented at the same time as flapper dresses and bathtub gin. Sure, why not?
The Plot Holes
- Free Enterprise? Nope, he says conservatives never believed in it, because tariffs exist. (By that logic, no American has ever believed in freedom, because taxes exist.)
- Limited Government? Sorry, can’t have that either, because Prohibition happened. (Newsflash: Progressives loved Prohibition too. Oops.)
- States’ Rights? Gone, because sometimes federal power is used. (Groundbreaking insight: politicians are inconsistent. Alert the media!)
- Morality? Summed up with two words: Donald Trump. Because apparently 100 years of conservatism is just Trump’s Twitter feed.
The Two “Real” Pillars
According to Lichtman, conservatism is secretly just:
- Protecting private enterprise (translation: people like lower taxes, shocking).
- Waging culture wars (translation: people argue about stuff, also shocking).
It’s like he took the “No duh” section of a middle school civics class and stretched it into 270 pages.
Trump the “Culmination”
Here’s where the fiction kicks into full fantasy mode. Lichtman claims Trump isn’t a break from conservatism but its glorious final boss battle. Forget Reagan, forget Bush, forget the entire Cold War—Trump is the culmination. The man really typed that with a straight face.
Final Thoughts
If you’re into history, skip this. If you’re into comedy, maybe pick it up—but only if you shelve it next to The Da Vinci Code. Conservative at the Core is less a history book and more a cry for help from someone who misplaced not just his car keys, but the entire set of intellectual keys to understanding conservatism.
Verdict: Buy only if you’re looking for fiction—or if you need a doorstop.
Ian Schwartz is a columnist for Direct Line Contact at Ian.Schwartz@mcgopclub.com
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
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