Editing Barry Goldwater (section)

===Final campaign and Senate term===
With his fourth Senate term due to end in January 1981, Goldwater seriously considered retiring from the Senate in 1980 before deciding to run for one final term. It was a surprisingly tough [[1980 United States Senate election in Arizona|campaign for re-election]]. Goldwater was viewed by some as out of touch and vulnerable for several reasons, chiefly because he had planned to retire in 1981 and he had not visited many areas of Arizona outside of [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] and [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]]. Additionally, his Democratic challenger, [[Bill Schulz (politician)|Bill Schulz]], proved to be a formidable opponent. A former Republican and a wealthy real estate developer, Schulz's campaign slogan was "Energy for the Eighties." Arizona's changing population also hurt Goldwater. The state's population had greatly increased, and a large portion of the electorate had not lived in the state at the time Goldwater was previously elected, meaning unlike most incumbents, many voters were less familiar with Goldwater's actual beliefs. Goldwater spent most of the campaign on the defensive. Although he was eventually declared as the winning candidate in the general election by a very narrow margin, receiving 49.5% of the vote to Schulz's 48.4%,<ref>{{cite web| title=Schulz, William| url=http://www.ahfweb.org/download/Schulz_MSS_125.pdf| website=ahfweb.org| publisher=Arizona Historical Foundation| location=Tempe, Arizona| access-date=November 1, 2019| archive-date=March 5, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305193144/http://www.ahfweb.org/download/Schulz_MSS_125.pdf| url-status=live}}</ref> early returns on election night indicated that Schulz would win. The counting of votes continued through the night and into the next morning. At around daybreak, Goldwater learned that he had been reelected thanks to [[absentee ballot]]s, which were among the last to be counted.{{Sfn | Goldberg | 1995 | loc = chapter 12}}

Goldwater's close victory in 1980 came despite Reagan's 61% landslide over Jimmy Carter in Arizona. Despite Goldwater's struggles, in 1980, Republicans were able to pick up 12 senate seats, regaining control of the chamber for the first time since 1955, when Goldwater was in his first term. Goldwater was now in the most powerful position he had ever been in the Senate. In October 1983, Goldwater voted against the [[Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day|legislation]] establishing [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]] as a [[Federal holidays in the United States|federal holiday]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/98-1983/s293|title=To Pass H.R. 3706. (Motion Passed) See Note(s) 19. – Senate Vote #293 – Oct 19, 1983|website=GovTrack.us|access-date=March 26, 2022|archive-date=May 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520132928/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/98-1983/s293|url-status=live}}</ref>

On September 21, 1981, Goldwater voted in favor of [[Ronald Reagan Supreme Court candidates|Reagan's Supreme Court nomination]] of [[Sandra Day O'Connor]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – September 21, 1981|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=127|issue=16|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=21375|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1981-pt16/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1981-pt16-5-1.pdf|access-date=February 20, 2022|archive-date=February 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220165206/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1981-pt16/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1981-pt16-5-1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Goldwater was absent during the nominations of William Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the United States and [[Antonin Scalia]] as Associate Justice on September 17, 1986.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – September 17, 1986|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=132|issue=17|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=23803|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1986-pt17/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1986-pt17-1-2.pdf|access-date=February 12, 2022|archive-date=February 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212080903/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1986-pt17/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1986-pt17-1-2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – September 17, 1986|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=132|issue=17|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=23813|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1986-pt17/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1986-pt17-1-2.pdf|access-date=February 12, 2022|archive-date=February 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212080903/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1986-pt17/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1986-pt17-1-2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

After the new Senate convened in January 1981, Goldwater became chairman of the [[Senate Intelligence Committee]]. In this role he clashed with the Reagan administration in April 1984 when he discovered that the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) had been [[CIA activities in Nicaragua#Nicaragua 1981|mining the waters of Nicaragua]] since February, something that he had first denied when the matter was raised.<ref name=Brogan>Brogan ''The Fighting Never Stopped'', 1989 p. 449</ref> In a note to the CIA director [[William Casey]], Goldwater denounced what he called an "act of war", saying that "this is no way to run a railroad" as he stated crossly that only Congress had the power to declare war and accused the CIA of illegally mining Nicaraguan waters without the permission of Congress.<ref name=Brogan /> Goldwater concluded, "The President has asked us to back his foreign policy. Bill, how can we back his foreign policy when we don't know what the hell he is doing? Lebanon, yes, we all knew that he sent troops over there. But mine the harbors in Nicaragua? This is an act violating international law. It is an act of war. For the life of me, I don't see how we are going to explain it."<ref name="Brogan" /> Goldwater felt compelled to issue an apology on the floor of the Senate because the Senate Intelligence Committee had failed in its duties to oversee the CIA as he stated, saying, "I am forced to apologize for the members of my committee because I did not know the facts on this case. And I apologize to all the members of the Senate for the same reason".<ref>Grande, ''Our Own Backyard'', 2000 p.334</ref> Goldwater subsequently voted for a Congressional resolution condemning the mining.<ref name="Brogan" />

In his 1980 Senate reelection campaign, Goldwater won support from [[religious conservative]]s but in his final term voted consistently to uphold [[Abortion in the United States|legal abortion]] and in 1981 gave a speech on how he was angry about the bullying of American politicians by religious organizations and would "fight them every step of the way".<ref>{{citation | last = Goldwater | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = September 17, 1981 | title = The 'New Right' Has Nothing to Do with the 'Old Conservatism'}}</ref><ref>{{citation | page = 39 | title = The God Delusion| title-link = The God Delusion}}</ref>

He introduced the [[1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act]], which allowed local governments to require the transmission of [[public, educational, and government access]] (PEG) channels, barred cable operators from exercising editorial control over the content of programs carried on PEG channels and absolved them from liability for their content. On May 12, 1986, Goldwater was presented with the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by President Reagan.

[[File:Reagan Goldwater pin star on Jimmy Doolittle 1985.jpg|thumb|left|President Ronald Reagan and Senator Goldwater award retired General [[Jimmy Doolittle]], [[USAFR]], with a fourth star, April 10, 1985]]

In response to [[Moral Majority]] founder [[Jerry Falwell]]'s opposition to the nomination of [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] to the Supreme Court, of which Falwell had said, "Every good Christian should be concerned", Goldwater retorted, "Every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass."<ref>{{citation|first=Ed |last=Magnuson |newspaper=[[Time Magazine|Time]] |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,212563,00.html |title=The Brethren's First Sister |date=July 20, 1981 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070115035218/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954833,00.html|archive-date=January 15, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Goldberg, ''Barry Goldwater'', p. 315</ref> According to [[John Dean]], Goldwater actually suggested that good Christians ought to kick Falwell in the "nuts", but the news media "changed the anatomical reference".<ref>{{citation | last = Dean | first = John | title = Broken Government | year = 2008 | publisher = Penguin}}</ref>{{Rp | needed = yes | date =July 2013}} Goldwater also had harsh words for his one-time political protégé, President Reagan, particularly after the [[Iran–Contra Affair]] became public in 1986. Journalist [[Robert MacNeil]], a friend of Goldwater's from the 1964 presidential campaign, recalled interviewing him in his office shortly afterward. "He was sitting in his office with his hands on his cane... and he said to me, 'Well, aren't you going to ask me about the [[Iran]] arms sales?' It had just been announced that the Reagan administration had sold arms to Iran. And I said, 'Well, if I asked you, what would you say?' He said, 'I'd say it's the god-damned stupidest foreign policy blunder this country's ever made!{{'"}}<ref>{{citation | url = http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-374469737793037291&q=Robert+MacNeil | type = archive | publisher = American Television | title = Interview | first = Robert | last = MacNeil | chapter = Part 5 of 14 | format = video}}</ref> Aside from the Iran–Contra scandal, Goldwater thought nonetheless that Reagan was a good president.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLATQAU-Hw0 |title=YouTube |first=Charlie |last=Rose |contribution=Goldwater tribute |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606040632/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLATQAU-Hw0 |archive-date=June 6, 2015}}</ref>