The American Conservative

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox magazine The American Conservative (TAC) is a bimonthly magazine published by the American Ideas Institute. The magazine was founded in 2002 by Pat Buchanan, Scott McConnell and Taki Theodoracopulos to advance an anti-neoconservative perspective. It has been noted as the only conservative publication in the early 2000s to oppose the Iraq War, publishing a string of articles Ralph Nader described as "the most devastating critiques of the neocons' lust for unlawful wars" of the era. It was later credited with putting J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy "on the map" in a 2016 interview with Vance.

According to the publication, it exists to promote a form of conservatism that opposes unchecked power in government and business, supports "vibrant markets and free people", and embraces "realism and restraint" in foreign policy.

History

Template:Conservatism US The American Conservative was founded by Pat Buchanan, Scott McConnell and Taki Theodoracopulos<ref name=GLS>Gregory L. Schneider, The Conservative Century: From Reaction to Revolution (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), p. 212</ref><ref>"Patrick J. Buchanan Papers, White House Special Files, 01/21/1969 - 12/31/1972", Online Archive of California, accessed 14 February 2023</ref> in October 2002.<ref name=MMW/> The magazine took a paleoconservative character, aiming to counter the neoconservative positions of the National Review and The Weekly Standard. It was critical of the Bush administration and in particular of its invasion of Iraq.<ref name=MMW>Marcus M. Witcher, Getting Right with Reagan: The Struggle for True Conservatism, 1980–2016 (University Press of Kansas, 2019), p. 230</ref> According to the publication, it exists to promote a conservatism that opposes unchecked power in government and business, promotes the concept of the nuclear family, free markets, and supports realism and restraint in foreign affairs based on America's national interests.<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite web</ref>

In the first issue, dated 7 October 2002, the editorial by Buchanan and Taki stated that the new publication aimed "to ignite the conversations that conservatives ought to have engaged in since the end of the Cold War, but didn't." It continued that much of what then passed for conservatism was "wedded to a kind of radicalism – fantasies of global hegemony, the hubristic notion of America as a universal nation for all the world's peoples, a hyperglobal economy."<ref name=JB>Jeremy Beer, "American Conservative", in Bruce Frohnen, ed., American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia (2014), pp. 1,914–1,915</ref> In the same issue, an article by Buchanan challenged the Iraq War, asking "What comes after all the celebratory gunfire when wicked Saddam is dead?"<ref name=GLS/> and the magazine has been credited as the only conservative publication to oppose the war.<ref name="crackup"/>

Until early 2005, Buchanan and Taki served as the magazine's editors, with McConnell as executive editor, while Taki was its publisher.<ref name=JB/><ref>Andrej Kreutz, Russia's Place in the World (Algora Publishing, 2015), p. 188</ref> Kara Hopkins was the next executive editor.<ref>News Media Yellow Book (2006), p. 600</ref> In its early years, the magazine called for an amendment to the US Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.<ref name="JB" /> Before the 2006 midterm elections, The American Conservative urged its readers to vote for Democrats: "It should surprise few readers that we think a vote that is seen—in America and the world at large—as a decisive 'No' vote on the Bush presidency is the best outcome".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Buchanan and Taki retired as editors, and Taki as publisher, in 2005, although Buchanan continued to write for it.<ref name="JB" /> Ron Unz was the publisher in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="clemons">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2010, Daniel McCarthy succeeded Hopkins as editor. In September 2011, the magazine introduced an editorial redesign of its print publication and in May 2012 a redesign of its website. In October 2014, Benjamin Schwarz, the former national and literary editor of The Atlantic, was named national editor of the magazine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2016, Robert W. Merry succeeded McCarthy as editor, with Lewis McCrary and Kelley Beaucar Vlahos as Executive Editors. After Merry's retirement in July 2018, W. James Antle III was named editor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In April 2020, Johnny Burtka, executive director and acting editor of The American Conservative, said that the publication's ambition is to "become The Atlantic of the right" and said its online page views had "grown significantly" under the Trump administration.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The American Conservative is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Publication

Originally published semi-monthly, it was reduced to a monthly publication in August 2009 and, in 2013, a bimonthly publication.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Impact

Largely reviled by many American conservatives following its founding due to its pacifist and iconoclastic positions, the magazine spent its early history, according to The Washington Post, as "an unheeded voice in the face of indifferent or hostile elite opinion".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In subsequent years, the publication evolved into what Matthew Continetti described as a "durable platform for the anti-war right"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and, by 2023, Vanity Fair reported that over "the last seven years, the Republican Party has grown to embody just about everything The American Conservative has ever wanted".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Influence

In July 2016, J.D. Vance gave an interview to The American Conservative about his book Hillbilly Elegy, which was later credited by the New York Times' Jennifer Senior with launching the volume's success and putting it "on the map".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

In 2004, Peter Carlson wrote in The Washington Post that for scathing attacks on Bush and the invasion of Iraq, The American Conservative might have the edge over The Nation, Mother Jones, and The Progressive.<ref name="crackup">Alexander Konetzki, "The American Conservative Crackup: Why I quit Pat Buchanan’s magazine", The Washington Monthly, accessed June 15, 2004</ref> In 2009, Reihan Salam, National Review editor, wrote that the publication had "gained a devoted following as a sharp critic of the conservative mainstream".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2012, David Brooks, columnist at The New York Times, called The American Conservative "one of the more dynamic spots on the political Web" and said its "writers like Rod Dreher and Daniel Larison tend to be suspicious of bigness: big corporations, big government, a big military, concentrated power and concentrated wealth."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2014, Ralph Nader credited The American Conservative with demonstrating "the possibility of Left-Right fusion" and attributed to it "the most devastating critiques of the neocons' lust for unlawful wars". According to Nader, "The Nation magazine could easily carry most of its articles without skipping a paragraph".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Contributors

Contributors to The American Conservative have included Helen Andrews,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Andrew Bacevich,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Doug Bandow,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Pat Buchanan,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Andrew Cockburn,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rod Dreher,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Paul Gottfried,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Leon Hadar,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> James Kurth,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Christopher Layne,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Michael Lind,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> William S. Lind,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Douglas Macgregor,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Eric Margolis,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Scott McConnell,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Robert W. Merry,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rand Paul,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mark Perry,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Scott Ritter,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Steve Sailer,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Paul W. Schroeder,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Benjamin Schwarz,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Roger Scruton,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Taki Theodoracopulos,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ron Unz,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> JD Vance<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Tom Woods.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Classical liberalism
• Communitarianism
• Conservatism in the United States
• Libertarianism
• List of United States magazines
• Natural Law
• Neoconservatism
• Realism (international relations)
• Religion in the United States
• Tory
• Traditionalist conservatism

External links

• Template:Official website
• "Buchanan's Takeoff" by Murray Polner, Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2003.
• "Paleocon's Revenge" by Whitney Joiner. Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, September 1, 2002.
• The American Conservative by J. Bradford DeLong, May 15, 2012.