The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism, Matthew Continetti undertakes an ambitious and much-needed project: to narrate and analyze the complex, often contradictory evolution of the American conservative movement from the early twentieth century to the present. Drawing on a wealth of political history, journalism, and intellectual biography, Continetti offers a nuanced portrait of a movement marked by internal tensions between populism and elitism, isolationism and interventionism, libertarianism and traditionalism.
Continetti’s central thesis is that American conservatism has always been a coalition rather than a coherent ideology. It has been shaped less by consistent philosophical commitments than by a shared opposition to perceived threats: communism, secularism, governmental overreach, and cultural liberalism. The right’s internal diversity, he argues, is both its source of dynamism and its Achilles’ heel. Periods of intellectual rigor and institutional consolidation, such as the mid-century efforts of William F. Buckley Jr. and the National Review, have been repeatedly challenged—and often destabilized—by populist insurgencies fueled by resentment, conspiracy theories, and radical anti-elitism.
This cyclical pattern forms the organizing principle of the book. Continetti divides the history of the right into several distinct eras, beginning with the “Old Right” isolationists of the interwar period, proceeding through the Cold War consolidation of “fusionism” under Buckley and Frank Meyer, and culminating in the fracturing of conservative consensus in the post-Reagan, post-Cold War era. In his telling, Donald Trump’s ascendancy represents not an aberration but a recurrence: a reassertion of the populist, anti-institutional impulses that have always been latent within American conservatism.
One of the strengths of The Right is its evenhandedness. Continetti, himself a conservative, does not lapse into hagiography. He is forthright about the darker elements of the right’s history: its entanglements with antisemitism, racism, nativism, and conspiracy-mongering. At the same time, he resists the temptation to caricature. He acknowledges the legitimate grievances and aspirations that have animated conservative politics, including concerns about community erosion, threats to religious life, and the dangers of centralized state power.
The book’s account of the right’s fluctuating relationship to government is particularly illuminating. Early conservatives, wary of Wilsonian internationalism and New Deal interventionism, championed small government. Later, however, conservatives increasingly embraced state power as a means of advancing social and cultural agendas. In recent years, the rise of “national conservatism” has further eroded the libertarian influence, as figures such as Senator Josh Hawley advocate a more aggressive use of state authority to defend traditional values and national cohesion.
For Jewish readers, this shift carries profound implications. Jewish tradition acknowledges the necessity of lawful governance—indeed, rabbinic literature warns that without strong government, “people would swallow one another alive” (Pirkei Avot 3:2). Yet Jewish historical memory also teaches the dangers of concentrated, unchecked power. The tension between order and liberty, between covenant and coercion, mirrors the tensions Continetti traces within the conservative movement itself.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of The Right is its insistence on complexity. Continetti resists the reductive binaries that dominate contemporary political discourse. He shows that figures often vilified today—such as Barry Goldwater—were themselves complex actors, animated by competing impulses. He also demonstrates that populist anger is not simply an irrational force; it often arises in response to genuine failures by elites to address the concerns of ordinary citizens.
Yet Continetti’s commitment to complexity sometimes leaves the reader wanting more sustained critical engagement. While he deftly chronicles the oscillations between populism and elitism, he is more reticent to judge when and how conservative institutions failed to meet the moral and political challenges of their times. For instance, while he notes the right’s sporadic accommodation of antisemitic and racist elements, he does not fully explore the consequences of these compromises for the movement’s long-term credibility and moral authority.
Moreover, Continetti largely confines his narrative to intellectual and political elites: editors, politicians, donors, and public intellectuals. While this is understandable given the scope of the project, it also risks underplaying the role of grassroots conservative activism in shaping the movement’s trajectory. The Tea Party, the Christian right, and Trump’s MAGA coalition were not mere outgrowths of elite discourse; they were, in many respects, independent forces with their own logics and grievances.
Despite these limitations, The Right is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand the intellectual and political ferment of the American right over the past century. It is particularly valuable for Jewish readers who must grapple with the movement’s ambivalent relationship to Jews and Judaism. Continetti shows that while significant strains of American conservatism have been profoundly philo-Semitic—championing Israel, defending religious liberty, celebrating Jewish contributions to American life—other strains have trafficked in xenophobic and conspiratorial rhetoric that threatens Jewish security.
For religious readers more broadly, Continetti’s work raises urgent questions about the intersection of faith and politics. At its best, conservative thought has sought to defend the moral structures—family, community, tradition—that undergird a flourishing society. At its worst, it has fallen into the idolatry of power, sacrificing moral clarity for political expediency. As the Hebrew prophets warned, political and religious leaders alike are accountable to a higher standard: not merely winning battles, but pursuing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8).
In an era where political identity often supplants religious and moral identity, The Right offers a sobering reminder that movements, like individuals, must continually examine their souls. Without such examination, the pursuit of justice devolves into the pursuit of domination.
In sum, The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism is a lucid, deeply informed, and morally serious account of a movement that has profoundly shaped—and continues to shape—American life. It deserves careful study not only by political historians but by all who care about the future of democracy, pluralism, and moral responsibility in a fractured age.netti
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