The termsneoconservative andpaleoconservative were coined byPaul Gottfried in the 1980s,[4] originally relating to the divide in American conservatism over theVietnam War. Those supporting the war became known as theneoconservatives (interventionists), as they made a decisive split from traditional conservatism (nationalistisolationism), which then became known as paleoconservatism.[5][6][7] Paleoconservatives press for restrictions on immigration, a rollback of multicultural programs and large-scale demographic change, thedecentralization of federal policy, the restoration ofcontrols upon free trade, a greater emphasis uponeconomic nationalism, and non-intervention in the politics of foreign nations.[8]
The prefixpaleo derives from theGreek rootπαλαιός (palaiós), meaning "ancient" or "old". It is somewhattongue-in-cheek and refers to the paleoconservatives' claim to represent a more historic, authentic conservative tradition than that found inneoconservatism. Adherents of paleoconservatism often describe themselves simply as "paleo".Rich Lowry ofNational Review claims the prefix "is designed to obscure the fact that it is a recent ideological creation of post-Cold War politics".[9]
Samuel T. Francis,Thomas Fleming, and some other paleoconservatives deemphasize theconservative part of thepaleoconservative label, claiming they do not want thestatus quo preserved.[10][11] Fleming andPaul Gottfried called such thinking "stupid tenacity" and described it as "a series of trenches dug in defense of last year's revolution".[12] Francis defined authentic conservatism as "the survival and enhancement of a particular people and its institutionalized cultural expressions".[13][14]
Paleoconservatism differs from neoconservatism in opposingfree trade and promotingrepublicanism. Paleoconservatives see neoconservatives asimperialists and themselves as defenders of the republic.[16][17]
Paleoconservatives believe tradition is a form of reason, rather than a competing force.Mel Bradford wrote that certain questions are settled before serious deliberation concerning a preferred course of conduct begins. This ethic is based on a "culture of families, linked by friendship, common enemies, and common projects",[21] so a good conservative keeps "a clear sense of what Southern grandmothers have always meant in admonishing children, 'we don't do that'".[22]
Pat Buchanan argues that a good politician must "defend the moral order rooted in theOld andNew Testament andNatural Law"—and that "the deepest problems in our society are not economic or political, but moral".[23]
According to historian Paul V. Murphy, paleoconservatives developed a focus onlocalism andstates' rights. From the mid-1980s onward,Chronicles promoted a Southern traditionalist worldview focused on national identity, regional particularity, and skepticism of abstract theory and centralized power.[24] According to Hague, Beirich, and Sebesta (2009), theanti-modernism of the paleoconservative movement defined theneo-Confederate movement of the 1980s and 1990s. During this time, notable paleoconservatives argued thatdesegregation, welfare, tolerance ofgay rights, andchurch-state separation had been damaging to local communities, and that these issues had been imposed by federal legislation and think tanks. Paleoconservatives also claimed theSouthern Agrarians, an early 20th century group of poets and writers famous for the literary manifestoI'll Take My Stand, as forebears in this regard.[25]
Historian George Hawley states that, although influenced by paleoconservatism,Donald Trump is not a paleoconservative, but rather anationalist and aright-wing populist.[45] Hawley also argued in 2017 that paleoconservatism was an exhausted force in American politics,[46] but that, for a time, it represented the most serious right-wing threat to the mainstreammovement conservatism.[46] Regardless of how Trump himself is categorized, others regard the movement known asTrumpism as supported by,[47] if not a rebranding of, paleoconservatism. From this view, the followers of the Old Right did not fade away so easily and continue to have significant influence in theRepublican Party and the entire country.[48] Trump is largely pro-Israel, unlike the usual anti-Zionist paleoconservatives.[49][50][51][52]
^Bradford, M. E. (1990).The Reactionary Imperative: Essays Literary and Political. Peru, Illinois: Sherwood Sugden. p. 129. Quoted inMurphy 2001, p. 233.
^Bradford, M. E. (1990).The Reactionary Imperative: Essays Literary and Political. Peru, Illinois: Sherwood Sugden. pp. 119, 121. Quoted inMurphy 2001, p. 233.
^Morris, Edwin Kent (December 24, 2018). "Inversion, Paradox, and Liberal Disintegration: Towards a Conceptual Framework of Trumpism".New Political Science.41 (1): 21.doi:10.1080/07393148.2018.1558037.S2CID149978398.
^"Gaza starvation widens MAGA's rupture with Israel".Axios. July 31, 2025. RetrievedSeptember 22, 2025.Trump, who has described himself as the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history, is increasingly at odds with many of his youngest supporters.
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Media related toPaleoconservatism at Wikimedia Commons
