[Gelato]

Ronald Reagan was not only " pragmatic ", he wrote an interesting speech about it; which you can easily find in the FR archieves. Was President Reagan a Conservative or not ?

Nixon is the best example of pragmatism--that is, doing things for political gain rather than for the good of society.

I think you're confusing Reagan's "pragmatism" for settling for less than he might have wanted. This doesn't mean he compromised principle, as his closest staff have maintained, even as late as now. Michael Deaver has said that Reagan's staff was pragmatic, but not Reagan.

Barry Goldwater, OTOH, was never pragmatic, could NOT get elected, and turned lefty in his later years. Go figure

You are correct, Barry did not win the presidency. But he was elected numerous times as an Arizona senator, and he set the stage for Reagan's elections. Many credit him for sowing the seeds for the conservatism of today.

The influence of both men of principle far outways the contributions of the pragmatic Nixon.

[nopardons]

President Bush is far closer to Reagan, than Reagan was to Barry.

Barry " flipped " ( due to old age , his new wife , who later had his ear ? One two, or all combined ) and so, his " principles flew out of the window. Yes, I know that Goldwater has been enshrined as the one who made a Reagan presidency / the Conservative movement possible. I now have some doubts about this.

You can call what Reagan did , vis-a-vis the amnesty for ILLEGALS, and a number of other things, whatever you want ; it was still pragmatism ! Sematical arguements are more than a triffle silly.

[Texasforever]

This is not an attempt to slam but do you live your real life based on pure principle? Principle is a very subjective term. Others that do not share it may view what you may call “principle” as just plain bull-headedness. Do you always tell the truth? Do you never compromise to achieve a larger goal? Would you place your personal "principles" over the welfare of your family or those that you command or supervise? The term "principle" is used so loosely that it has lost all meaning and impact. Just because Bush did not veto CFR and on reflection decided to involve the 3rd leg of the constitutional government to exercise its constitutional duty does not make him "unprincipled" it just meant that he decided on a different course of action than you may have.