Since late spring, numerous great scholars and authors have died, including several of interest to conservatives, as have two key current or former conservative United States Senators. What follows is a brief summary of the
particular significance of each of these individuals, Richard Pipes, Bernard
Lewis, Charles Krauthammer, Paul Laxalt and John McCain.
Richard Pipes
Pipes was an American historian of
the Soviet Union who helped implement U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s successful
strategy of rolling back the Soviets, which was a break from the policy of
Containment that had been implemented at the beginning of the Cold War.
Bernard Lewis
Lewis was
an American author and the foremost Western scholar on Islam, whose analysis
was sought especially after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks against
the U.S.
by al-Qeada Islamists. Lewis recognized
the difference between Muslims and militant Islamists who believed in violent
jihad (Islamic holy war) to advance Islam.
Charles Krauthammer
Krauthammer was an author and
television pundit. Despite a paralyzing
injury, he became a psychiatrist and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as
a director of psychiatric research and later by President George W. Bush to the
Commission on Bioethics. In the
meantime, Krauthammer became a contributor to the New Republic
Krauthammer then became a Pulitzer-prize
winning columnist for the Washington Post. During this time, the anti-Communist and pro-Israel
he became a leading neo-conservative, having coined the term, the “Reagan
Doctrine,” in reference to the President’s support for anti-Communist rebels
around the world, while writing for Time. Krauthammer also was a contributor to the Weekly Standard. He supported a rigorous defense against
militant Islam, both secular and Islamist, including the Liberation of Kuwait
in 1991 and of Iraq
in 2003 and the global War on Terrorism.
Krauthammer believed not only in defending America against threats, but in
supporting liberty throughout the world.
He became a television contributor, first on PBS and then on Fox News. Known for the articulate promotion of his
principles, Krauthammer was a mentor and inspiration to many other political
commentators.
Paul Laxalt
Laxalt represented
Nevada in the
U.S. Senate from 1974-1987, where he was a conservative Republican leader,
particularly in opposition to the Panama Canal Treaties. He had served in the Army in the Second World
War, became a lawyer, was elected District Attorney, Lieutenant Governor and
then Governor, serving from 1967-1971.
Laxalt was a friend of President Reagan who worked with his neighboring
Governor, chaired Reagan’s presidential campaigns, including the unsuccessful
campaign for the Republican nomination in 1976 and then his winning campaigns
for the GOP nomination and the election to the presidency in 1980 and 1984, and
then served in the Senate as Reagan’s main ally for the advancement of his
policies, such as tax cuts, increased defense spending and the Reagan Doctrine. He chaired George H.W. Bush’s election
campaign in 1988 and Robert Dole’s in 1996.
John McCain
McCain was
a war hero, a lion of the Senate and the leading American elected official to
advocate for American security and liberty around the world.
McCain was
a Navy pilot during the
Vietnamese War. He was shot down over Hanoi , injured and made a
prisoner of war for five and a half years, enduring torture and prolonged solitary
confinement. McCain had refused to break
the military code by accepting an early release because he was the son and
grandson of Admirals, a publicity stunt which would have made the Communist
North Vietnamese appear to have been merciful.
McCain was
elected a U.S. Representative as a Republican from Arizona in 1982, serving two terms from 1983-1987
and a U.S. Senator in 1986, serving from 1987 until his death. Although he was an independent thinker and
was able to compromise with the opposing party, he had a conservative record
especially on defense and foreign policy, during the late Cold War in support
of Reagan’s policies and afterwards against Islamist terrorism and the
authoritarian Russian regime of Vladimir Putin, as well as in opposition to
wasteful government spending and in support of the right to life. McCain was the GOP presidential nominee in
2008. Among his accolades was the
Liberty Medal, which he was awarded because of his championing of human rights
around the world.
Krauthammer and McCain did not
support Donald Trump’s election to the presidency and were highly critical of
him, adhering to their conservative principles over partisanship.
