Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Search
Search
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Barry Goldwater
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
Edit source
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
Edit source
View history
Move
General
What links here
Related changes
Special pages
Page information
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Early life and family background== Goldwater was born in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] in what was then the [[Arizona Territory]], the son of Baron M. Goldwater and his wife, Hattie Josephine "JoJo" Williams. Goldwater long believed that he was born on January 1, 1909, and thus works published during his career list this as his date of birth; however, in his later years, he discovered documentation revealing that he was actually born at 3 a.m. on January 2.<ref>Internet Accuracy Project, [http://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Goldwater,Barry.html Senator Barry Goldwater] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115231846/https://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Goldwater,Barry.html |date=November 15, 2018 }}. Retrieved September 23, 2010.</ref> His father's family founded [[Goldwater's|Goldwater's Department Store]], a leading upscale [[department store]] in Phoenix.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kathleen Garcia|title=Early Phoenix|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F25aMroD_IUC&pg=PA62|year=2008|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|page=62|isbn=978-0738548395}}</ref> Goldwater's paternal grandfather, Michel Goldwasser, a [[History of the Jews in Poland|Polish Jew]], was born in 1821 in [[Konin]], then part of [[Congress Poland]]. He emigrated to London following the [[Revolutions of 1848]]. Soon after arriving in London, Michel [[anglicized]] his name to Michael Goldwater. Michel married Sarah Nathan, a member of an [[History of the Jews in England|English-Jewish]] family, in the [[Great Synagogue of London]].<ref>{{cite web| first = George | last = Zornik | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1284836.html | title =Thoroughly modern grandmothers | access-date=March 3, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430215538/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1284836.html | archive-date=April 30, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/barrygoldwater.htm | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=May 13, 1997 | access-date=March 30, 2010 | title=Barry Goldwater | archive-date=February 1, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201013052/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/barrygoldwater.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> The Goldwaters later emigrated to the United States, first arriving in San Francisco, California before finally settling in the Arizona Territory, where Michael Goldwater opened a small department store that was later taken over and expanded by his three sons, Henry, Baron and Morris.<ref>apps.azlibrary.gov/officials/Legislators/person/527</ref> [[Morris Goldwater]] (1852–1939) was an Arizona territorial and state legislator, mayor of [[Prescott, Arizona]], delegate to the Arizona Constitutional Convention and later President of the Arizona State Senate.<ref>'State Mourns Death of Morris Goldwater,' ''The Arizona Republic,'' April 12, 1939, p. 1</ref> Goldwater's father was Jewish, but Goldwater was raised in his mother's [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] faith. Hattie Williams came from an established [[New England]] family that included the theologian [[Roger Williams]] of [[Rhode Island]].{{Sfn | Goldberg | 1995 | p = 21}} Goldwater's parents were married in an Episcopal church in Phoenix; for his entire life, Goldwater was an Episcopalian, though on rare occasions he referred to himself as Jewish.<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/01/specials/goldwater-obit.html | work=The New York Times |author=Clymer, Adam|date=May 29, 1998| archive-date=March 7, 2013 | title=Barry Goldwater, Conservative and Individualist, Dies at 89| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307223049/http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/01/specials/goldwater-obit.html |url-status=live}}</ref> While he did not often attend church, he stated that "If a man acts in a religious way, an ethical way, then he's really a religious man—and it doesn't have a lot to do with how often he gets inside a church."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876116,00.html |title=Worship: Goldwater's Faith |magazine=Time |date=August 28, 1964 |access-date=March 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823153750/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C876116%2C00.html |archive-date=August 23, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Sfn | Goldberg | 1995 | pp = 22–27 [27]}}<ref>A Jewish essayist famously remarked of Goldwater: {{citation|last=Golden |first=Harry Golden |quote=I have always thought that if a Jew ever became President, he would turn out to be an Episcopalian. |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898063,00.html |title=The Taboo |newspaper=Time |date=November 22, 1963 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817071659/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C898063%2C00.html |archive-date=August 17, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His first cousin was [[Julius Goldwater]], a convert to Buddhism and [[Jodo Shinshu]] priest who assisted interned Japanese Americans during World War II.<ref name=WaPo>{{cite news |last=Woo |first=Elaine |date=June 24, 2001 |title=J.A. Goldwater Dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/06/24/ja-goldwater-dies/c733c99b-2779-442c-84bd-e9a552e2fcdb/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |location= |access-date=February 20, 2022 |archive-date=August 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827081505/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/06/24/ja-goldwater-dies/c733c99b-2779-442c-84bd-e9a552e2fcdb/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After he did poorly as a freshman in high school, Goldwater's parents sent him to [[Staunton Military Academy]] in Virginia where he played varsity football, basketball, track and swimming, was senior class treasurer and attained the rank of captain.<ref name="NYTObit" /><ref name="StauntonMilitary">{{cite book|last=Malakoff|first=L.E.|title=Blue & Gold Yearbook|publisher=Staunton Military Academy|year=1928|url=http://smahistory.com/smayearbooks/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/1928.pdf|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308062235/http://smahistory.com/smayearbooks/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/1928.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> He graduated from the academy in 1928 and enrolled at the [[University of Arizona]].<ref name="StauntonMilitary" /><ref>{{Biographical Directory of Congress|G000267|inline=yes}}</ref> but dropped out after one year. Barry Goldwater is the most recent non-college graduate to be the nominee of a major political party in a presidential election. Goldwater entered the family's business around the time of his father's death in 1930. Six years later, he took over the department store, though he was not particularly enthused about running the business.<ref name="NYTObit" />
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Ikwipedia are considered to be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (see
Ikwipedia:Copyrights
for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource.
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Toggle limited content width