Conservatives in the United States

Conservatives in the United States support American traditions, Christianity, republicanism, businesses, anti-communism, American exceptionalism (the US is unique and special). They think America's enemies are socialism and authoritarianism.

Conservative thinkers and leaders

Below is a list of people considered "conservative".

Only a few politicians in the 19th century called themselves "conservative" but later scholars sometimes say the Federalist Party was conservative.

Politicians
Senator Barry Goldwater (1909–1998)
President Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004)
President George W. Bush (b.1946)
President Donald Trump (b.1946)
Vice-President Dick Cheney (b.1941)
Representative Newt Gingrich (b.1943)
Vice-President Mike Pence (b.1959)

Judges
Chief Justice William Rehnquist (1924–2005)
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia (1936–2016)
Judge Robert Bork (1927–2012)
Justice Neil Gorsuch (b. 1967)

Economists
Milton Friedman (1912–2006)
Russell Kirk (1918–1994)
Irving Kristol (1920–2009)
Alan Greenspan (b.1926)

Writers and intellectuals
Ayn Rand (1905–1982)
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925–2008)
Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016)
Robert Nozick (1938–2002)
Pat Buchanan (b.1938)

Media personalities
Rush Limbaugh (1951–2021)
Ann Coulter (b. 1961)
Glenn Beck (b. 1964)

Diplomats
John Bolton (b. 1943)
Paul Wolfowitz (b. 1948)

Financial supporters
Sheldon Adelson (1933–2021)
Charles G. Koch (b. 1935)
David H. Koch (1940–2019)

Gallery

Relevant pages

Conservatism

Conservatives In The United States Media

Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, whose phrase "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", is viewed as a foundational guiding principle by most American conservatives
Russell Kirk, whose 1953 book The Conservative Mind traced the origins of American conservativism to the philosophy of Edmund Burke and the Anglo-American tradition
During the Reagan era, American conservatives formed the Three Leg School, a coalition of social, fiscal, and foreign policy and national security conservatives
William F. Buckley Jr., an author who founded National Review magazine in 1955. "Among our convictions: It is the job of centralized government (in peacetime) to protect its citizens' lives, liberty and property. All other activities of government tend to diminish freedom and hamper progress," Buckley wrote in the magazine's first issue.
President Ronald Reagan holding a "Stop Communism Central America" t-shirt on the South Lawn of the White House in March 1986
An American Legion postcard urging parents to teach religion to their children as a civic duty, c. 1930s
Ronald Reagan gives a televised address from the Oval Office, outlining his plan for tax reductions in July 1981 (excerpt).
President Donald Trump (2017–2021, 2025-present)
Russell Kirk, conservative theorist and author of The Conservative Mind, published in 1953
Percent of self-identified conservatives by state as of 2018^[update], according to a Gallup poll:^{[needs update]}* 45% and above* 40–44%* 35–39%* 30–34%* 25–29%* 24% and under