Barry Goldwater is best known for losing the 1964 presidential election to Lyndon B. Johnson and the pro-LBJ short ad that labeled Goldwater as a warmonger by showing a daisy-picking girl blown up by a nuclear blast. His granddaughter CC Goldwater sought out members of the media and various politicians to help understand him, why he was vilified, and the conservative movement he founded. She interviews John McCain, Hillary Clinton, George Will, Walter Cronkite, James Carville, and many members of her family for this documentary. She portrays him as a self-made, self-reliant man who was really more of a libertarian than what one considers a modern-day conservative. Conservatives didn’t court the religious right until the mid-70s . . .
Goldwater’s relationships to JFK, LBJ, and Nixon are all fascinatingly explored. It’s surprising how influential the man really was given how little he’s mentioned in more modern times. His involvement in the last days of the Nixon presidency is especially interesting. His social views have some accuse him of being a liberal: pro-choice and pro-gays in the military are the 2 most prominent issues that set him in opposition to the religious right. But he’s really a modern day libertarian and probably my new political hero. The film has many emotional, touching moments where his children and grandchildren reminisce, but it’s the political stuff that sticks, depicting a time when people weren’t so cautious with their words and Democrats and Republicans could speak to each other humanely, intelligently, and respectfully. B+
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