Irving Kristol, In Memoriam

Irving Kristol, an American Jewish journalist and writer whose views shifted from left to right and who became known as the “godfather of neoconservatism,” died two days ago at the age of 89.

Kristol served the United States in World War II. Afterward, he became a journalist. Kristol had been a socialist who supported the policies of Franklin Roosevelt. He was, however, a staunch Cold Warrior, who broke with his fellow liberals when they defended Communists during the Red Scare if the 1950s.

Kristol rejected the massive welfare state of the liberal Great Society of President Lyndon Johnson. He was concerned about the concentration of power in government at the expense of the private sector. Kristol was also alarmed by the decline in public virtue associated with the liberal progressives who took over the Democratic party and succeeded in nominating George McGovern for president in 1972.

By this point, Kristol began to become identified as a “neoconservative,” a new conservative, which is a conservative with a historical persuasion different from traditional conservatives. Neoconservatives were comfortable with strong government, but believed in lower taxes and small, temporary budget deficits, at most. Kristol's most famous quotation described a neoconservative “as a liberal who has been mugged by reality.” He observed that the free market worked economically and fostered liberty. Neoconservative support for “supply-side” economics helped transform the Republican party and led to the election of Ronald Reagan as U.S. President in 1980 and the implementation of his tax and spending cuts.

Neoconservatives also supported a strong foreign policy, just as conservatives had during the Cold War. Kristol had been concerned about the defense of Israel, which was more of a priority for conservatives and Republicans than liberals and Democrats.

Together with his wife, historian Gertrude Himmelfarb, Kristol argued for a restoration of public virtues, allying with Christian conservatives in this cause. Journalist William Kristol is one of their two children. The younger Kristol is known as one of the current leaders of neoconservatism who believe in an aggressive Cold War-like resistance to the existential threat of Islamic militancy.

Kristol was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003 by President George W. Bush, the highest American civilian honor.