I was reading about how Phyllis Shlafly has attended every Republican Convention since 1952. In 1952, the conservative candidate was Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio, who was a bitter opponent of FDR's big government policies. Shlafly supported him. The establishment candidate was Gen. Eisenhower. But who was the first prominent American conservative activist? My vote would be for Albert Jay Nock (1870-1945), who led a national intellectual movement opposed to Woodrow Wilson's big government policies. He also opposed World War One. Before Wilson came into office in 1913, America did not have an income tax. It was, therefore, not necessary...