I’m not sure where I first encountered conservatism as a political philosophy. Was it in the Baptist environment where I was raised to love God, be faithful to family, and honor the country? Was it in the thousands of conversations I had with my father, a plumber, as we drove back and forth to construction sites? Was it in observing the patriotism of my first-generation Jewish grandfather, who fought in the Pacific in World War II? Perhaps.
I do know that the conservatism that shaped me—that of Ronald Reagan and National Review, of Jack Kemp and William Bennett, of Chuck Colson and Russell Kirk—is the same conservatism that shaped the 48th vice president of the United States, Mike Pence. It is a conservatism that still believes in the three stools of fiscal responsibility, strong national defense, and family values. And much to the chagrin of the left that has relentlessly mocked Pence’s piety and personal integrity and a right-wing influencer class still smarting from his decision to uphold the Constitution, the former congressman, governor, and vice president is not going away.
Pence’s new book, What Conservatives Believe, breaks no new ground. It does not yield to the performative narcissism of the age by settling old scores or dishing insider gossip. What it does provide is an accessible, practical 21st-century update of the conservative canon.
It’s especially notable that Pence, a born again Christian, includes two passages of Scripture in the book’s opening pages. One is from the prophet Jeremiah, urging a return to “the ancient paths” and “the good way” (Jeremiah 6:16). The other is from Hebrews, which warns against the tendency to “drift away” (Hebrews 2:1).
Pence’s intention is both to rebut the progressive policies of the Democratic Party and to urge his fellow conservatives to resist the novel ideologies of the contemporary age and return to the governing philosophies of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. In fact, in the introduction, he shares his first interactions with the Arizona senator and one-time presidential candidate whose book, The Conscience of a Conservative, was formative. Pence even titles his first chapter “A Time for Choosing” in a play off of Reagan’s catalytic 1964 speech, rebuking those on the right who today mock those who still hold to these conservative ideas as “not knowing what time it is.”
But lest you feel What Conservatives Believe is a predictable anti-Trump harangue, Pence criticizes Republican departures from orthodoxy wherever he sees them, including many stories of resistance to Bush-era policies while he was a leader of the Republican Study Committee as a congressional leader in the House. What’s more, he’s quick to praise President Trump where he agrees and positively champions Trump’s first-term accomplishments, which Pence helped to orchestrate. He is also quick to praise many of Trump’s second-term policy decisions.
Still, Pence, because he believes things, finds himself at odds with much right-wing populism, which he views as warmed over left-wing ideas that conflict with traditional conservatism. This is particularly acute when it comes to economic policy, where the former vice president opposes the tariff regime that has become a staple of Trump’s second-term economic agenda. And he vociferously opposes the appointment of the extremely pro-choice Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the cabinet position of secretary of Health and Human Services, as well as the administration’s intransigence on the regulation of the abortion pill, Mifepristone.
Yet the book is no mere list of grievances but a careful and winsome articulation of conservative first principles and why they are essential for America’s flourishing. Comprehensive in scope, What Conservatives Believe tackles issues from education and crime policies to the national debt to marriage and family concerns. The chapters on foreign policy are particularly worth reading, especially the chapter on Israel, where Pence articulates a well-thought-out defense of America’s most important ally.
Conservatives and traditionalists will nevertheless find areas of disagreement with Pence. For instance, I am less worried than he is about the pro-family economic proposals being floated by many conservatives. Others may take issue with his opposition to the expansion of Medicare in the Bush administration or some finer aspects of his foreign policy. But these are differences of degrees. Pence is right in urging conservatives to resist a Washington-centric approach to every problem, promoting in chapter 9 a “new birth of federalism.”
As America approaches her 250th birthday, Pence’s book is a timely one. It’s especially important as a resource in the inevitable debates over the future of conservatism in a post-Trump era. In his last chapter on civility, Pence looks forward to a new generation of American statesmen buoyed by conviction and faith:
In the rough-and-tumble of politics, it is not always easy to stand with integrity to principle. Having faced criticism from my colleagues for my conservative stands, and even the wrath of a president, I understand the angst that standing on principle may cause. But by God’s grace, it can be done.
Having been in the arena, the former vice president is speaking from experience. In this season of his long and storied political life, he’s still contributing to the national discourse. Young conservatives unfamiliar with names like Kirk, Buckley, Friedman, and Hayek might find in Mike Pence a gateway to those giants and refreshing winds on the old paths of conservatism.
Amid the chaos of this era, when social media algorithms, viral influencers, and provocative rhetoric often substitute for actual principles, it would be good for conservatives to ask ourselves what we really believe.
