He relished his reputation as a profane, whiskey-drinking, devil-may-care World War II flier and, with his gravelly voice, knew how to communicate with people in the street in a way Taft never did.
Goldwater's speeches were visceral, particularly when he was attacking communism or big government, his favorite targets in those years.
His friends were often his fiercest political opponents, like President John F. Kennedy and former Washington Post Editor Benjamin C. Bradlee.
"He's one of my best friends. . . . We fought like hell," Goldwater said happily of Bradlee in a Times interview in his later years. "Hubert Humphrey was my dearest friend, and we used to fight like cats and dogs, but we always got along."
In his later years, Goldwater mellowed, developing a tolerance for other viewpoints and even warm friendships with former adversaries such as Sen. Jacob K. Javits (R-N.Y.) and New York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller. At the same time, he became increasingly critical of the conservatives of the New Right, whose major interests centered on such social issues as abortion, school prayer and busing.
But it was the early brand of Goldwaterism that appealed most to the staunch conservatives--those who had been embittered by the liberal policies of Democratic Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, by Eisenhower's defeat of Taft for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination, and by some of Eisenhower's fiscal policies.
At one point, when Eisenhower sent a red-ink budget to Congress, Goldwater accused him of "running a dime-store New Deal." This was greeted with hurrahs by Goldwater's supporters, and he kept them cheering with freewheeling attacks in his speeches, interviews and magazine articles.
Goldwater's breakthrough as a national figure began in 1959, when he agreed to serve a second term as chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, an organization created to help elect GOP Senate candidates.
He said in his memoirs: "This second time around I visited almost every state, appearing before dozens of party conventions and smaller gatherings."
That same year, 1959, after a rousing speech in Los Angeles, Goldwater was invited by The Times to write a column three times a week.
"Within a year 140 newspapers were buying and printing the column," Goldwater said in his book. "The column generated tremendous mail response. . . . I didn't see the column as a vehicle for political advancement. Now I realize this new constituency helped make me the Republican nominee in 1964."
