The Goldwater landslide myth

Alabama political columnist needs a history lesson

It’s that time in the presidential election year when lazy journalists roll out their frightening fairy story about Nixon’s southern strategy. The fable is meant to portray Republicans as racists. It is of course a lie but it goes like this, as reported by Steve Flowers whose weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature.

He wrote:

Lyndon Johnson was the Democrat nominee for president. Johnson carried 44 states and won the presidency by a landslide. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona carried only his home state and the five deep south states, including Alabama. Goldwater carried Alabama overwhelmingly, thus the label given to the Republican victory in the south was ironically the Goldwater Landslide.

The so-called “Solid South” had been Democratic more out of tradition and protocol than philosophy. Both national parties took the south for granted in national elections. The Democrats ignored us because we were in the barn and the Republicans ignored us for the same reason.  

The 1964 election was the turning point when the deep south states voted for Barry Goldwater. The south has never looked back. It was the race issue that won them over. Goldwater and the Republican party captured the race issue.

Let us look at the facts.

Goldwater was one of only 6 Republican senators who opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The other 27 voted for the act — clearly a higher percentage of the support than the Democrats who split 44-23 on passage of the law. The two-thirds majority was necessary to overcome a Democrat filibuster.

Goldwater indeed carried 5 of the 11 Confederate states with his stand against civil rights. Four years later, Nixon too carried 5 of the 11 Confederate states.

None of them, however, were the 5 states Goldwater carried. Those five states all went to a Democrat which shows that if Nixon had a Southern strategy of wrangling klansmen into the Republican Party, he failed miserably.

For example, Goldwater received 87% of the vote in Mississippi in 1964. Four years later, Nixon received less than 14% of the vote in that state.

Of course, Nixon had no such designs on the South. He was an ardent supporter of civil rights as vice president and therefore, President of the Senate.

The Nixon Foundation reported, “During his second term as vice president, Nixon shepherded through Congress the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. The 1957 legislation empowered the Justice Department to prosecute civil rights cases through a newly established Civil Rights Division, and allowed federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions when the citizens’ right to vote was being obstructed.

“Nixon’s role proved to be crucial in Congress. He was vocal about the administration’s civil rights goals, and serving in his constitutional role as President of the U.S. Senate, he helped lead the effort to bring the bill to the Senate floor.

“Though Southern Democrats opposed and blocked provisions that would give the Justice Department authority to protect broad constitutional rights including school desegregation, and voting rights violations — civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. told Vice President Nixon that it was ‘much better than no bill at all… we can at least be sure that we are moving steadily ahead.’ ”

The 5 Confederate states that Nixon carried had all gone to LBJ in 1964.

Goldwater was far from the first Republican to carry 5 Confederate states. Eisenhower did it in 1956 — 8 years earlier.

Ah, Democrats say, Nixon carried all 11 Confederate states in 1972, proving the South is a hotbed of white supremacy, right?

Well, I suppose if you consider Alaska to be Southern. Nixon became the first president to carry 49 states (screw you, Massachusetts).

Democrat Jimmy Carter carried 10 Confederate states (hurray for Virginia) in 1976.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 marked the end of segregation politically. George Wallace had to move on to other issues including helping the lower middle class. Martin Luther King, too, moved on to other issues including helping the lower middle class.

While Republicans were able finally to crack the Democrat Party’s southern wall in presidential races, state politics remained Democrat for decades. Only one of the 23 Democrat senators who opposed civil rights in 1964 flipped parties.

Republicans did not capture a majority of the South’s congressional seats until the Gingrich Revolution of 1994 — 30 years after the Goldwater landslide/

Statehouses took longer to flip.

In Alabama, H. Guy Hunt became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 1987 — 23 years after the civil rights act. Its legislature flipped Republican in the 2010 election.

In Arkansas, Winthrop Rockefeller became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 1967. However, the House did not flip Republican until 2013.

In Georgia, Sonny Perdue became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 2003. The House remained Democrat until in 2005.

In Louisiana, Dave Treen became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 1980. The House remained Democrat until 2010.

In Mississippi, Kirk Fordice became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 1991. The House remained Democrat until 2011.

In North Carolina, James Holshouser became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 1973. The House remained Democrat until 2010.

In South Carolina, James B. Edwards became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 1975. The House remained Democrat until 1994.

In Texas, Bill Clements became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 1978. The House flipped in 2003.

Two events propelled the Civil Right Act of 1964. The first was World War II which brought the nation together. Midwestern farmers worked alongside Jewish kids from Brooklyn. Texans met Mainers. The unspoken pact was that America finally would end second-class citizenship for black men. The nation had promised this before but this time, Truman and Eisenhower made sure America kept its word.

I won’t go into the Tuskegee Airmen because they have had plenty of ink over the years. But how about the original Black Panthers of the 761st Tank Battalion?

Patton, a tanker by trade, specifically requested them and told them after they arrived in Europe, “Men, you’re the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren’t good. I have nothing but the best in my Army. I don’t care what color you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kraut sons of bitches. Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all your race is looking forward to your success. Don’t let them down and damn you, don’t let me down!”

The other event that propelled this civil rights act was the assassination of JFK, which gave LBJ a historic mandate larger than any president not named Washington. Johnson used it wisely when it came to civil rights. I don’t care what he may have called black people in private. All that matters is what he did in public.

Flowers may know a little about Alabama politics but he knows nothing of American history.