American Conservatives Must Embrace First Principles
Mike R. Pompeo
American Center for Law and Justice
November 21, 2025
What does it mean to be a conservative? It’s worth contemplating, as there seems to be a proliferation of public figures who claim the mantle of conservatism without appearing to have even a passing acquaintance with its foundational values.
There have always been different strands of American conservatism: Some are more libertarian-minded, others more firmly rooted in social conservatism. Not only is there room for dissenting views within the movement, but it is critical to the intellectual health of any political philosophy to contain a diversity of perspectives in order to keep it alive and responsive to real-world conditions. Yet without core pillars undergirding a consensus view of conservatism, the term loses all meaning. President Reagan understood this well, which is why his “three-legged stool” model – uniting fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, and foreign policy hawks – proved so successful.
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