I strongly favored Barry Goldwater in 1964 because of his support for the Tenth Amendment and his pro-military, anti-communist stance. He certainly advocated a smaller government and, in fact, called for defunding the United Nations.
What did trouble me later about Goldwater is how he engaged in political combat against the so-called Christian Right. He never seemed to fully embrace the bedrock Christian values upon which America was built. Still, he gave us this immortal line which I rank up there with the words of Patrick Henry's "...liberty or death" proclamation:
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
I always felt most of the public figures who made up the so-called “Christian Right” were charlatans (Pat Robertson, really?), and I think deep down Reagan felt that way too, but he knew how to use them for his own benefit, and he would throw them just enough bones to keep them happy, he was just more diplomatic towards them, than Goldwater was.