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Former good article nomineeBarry Goldwater was a good articles nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There may be suggestions below for improving the article. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
June 28, 2006Peer reviewReviewed
February 28, 2007Good article nomineeNot listed
Current status: Former good article nominee

Replace controversial claim about Goldwater's support for civil rights with a more neutral sentence that contrasts his actions locally versus nationally

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Change "Barry Goldwater was fundamentally a staunch supporter of racial equality" (in the section "Local support for civil rights") to "Despite his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Goldwater supported local racial equality organizations in Arizona" Csb06 (talk) 05:43, 23 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done for now: This may be worth forming some consensus on and perhaps finding a source for, as it fundamentally changes the meaning of the sentence. The section already talks about specific work in Arizona, and his vote on the 1964 Act is mentioned later on in the section. Do you potentially have a source that links his vote as something that qualifies "staunch support"? Bestagon ⬡ 17:00, 24 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I think we should at least remove the terms “staunch” and “fundamentally” due to Goldwater’s vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “Staunch” implies he was an unwavering advocate of civil rights, when in fact he voted against one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history. At the very least that deserves less absolute qualifiers. Csb06 (talk) 19:46, 26 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I’ve edited the wording as well as included a quote from MLK drawing the distinction between his “support” for local civil rights from his voting record. GonzoTribune (talk) 21:59, 14 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@GonzoTribune Can you explain why you have scare quotes around the word 'support', and are insisting that straightforward characterizations of his civil rights record are "lie(s)", a claim for which you don't appear to have any actual RS support? Goldwater desegregated (i) his family's department stores, (ii) the Arizona Air National Guard, two years before Truman desegregated the military outright, (iii) befriended black families in Phoenix and was instrumental in desegregating schools, restaurants, and airports in Arizona (three separate initiatives, not one), (iv) cofounded the Phoenix (Maricopa) chapter of the NAACP, and belonged to both the Phoenix and Tucson chapters, (v) founded the Arizona chapter of the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, and further bankrolled its operating deficits for its first two years, (vi) as a newly elected Senator from a segregated state arriving in segregated Washington DC, nonetheless made as his first hire a black woman, as his legislative assistant, in 1952, (vii) forced the desegregation of the senate cafeteria in his first year as a senator after a black legislative assistant of his was denied service, (viii) backed every federal civil rights bill except the 1964 act, which he only opposed on account of two titles.
Most, if not all, of these statements are in the article; all can be easily and copiously sourced to RS across the entire partisan spectrum. That Goldwater rejected one particular civil rights bill on advice from his legal counsel, backed up by a second opinion, both from jurists of unsurpassed rank hardly impeaches this - if you disagree, can you cite several other major articles where a consensus exists that one cannot be a staunch supporter of X if one does not support bills that would advance X that one sincerely believes are unconstitutional? @Bestagon @Actualcpscm YackDaddy (talk) 08:06, 23 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{Edit semi-protected}} template. As mentioned above, some discussion may be in order. I agree that we should portray this matter accurately, but to do so, we will need reliable sources. Do you have any you could point us to? Actualcpscm (talk) 11:59, 1 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Cross Country

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The article says that Goldwater did not want to run cross country (his parents encouraged it to his dismay). Is there any source or evidence for this? 205.172.134.223 (talk) 20:38, 10 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't have much luck. There are references to him running track, and even one stating that he threw the javelin: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Barry_Goldwater/ntamDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22track%22. But I found nothing for him running cross country or his feelings on the matter. I inserted a "citation needed" tag in the article. Kerdooskistalk 17:01, 11 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Date of birth

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Is the claim that he was actually born on January 2nd verifiable? AleChoel (talk) 18:20, 2 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@AleChoel I was wondering the same thing because, in fact, there is no trace of the articles published in the Arizona Republic and Arizona Gazette that are supposed to prove he was born on January 2, 1909. I think more compelling evidence is needed to confidently state that he was born on January 2, 1909, rather than on January 1. 2A02:B021:8F00:1B37:5243:B6D7:7E85:F50F (talk) 13:16, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 23 January 2025

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Goldwater’s public funeral service was held at Grady Gammage Auditorium on the campus of Arizona State University. The service was officiated by Episcopal and Hopi religious leaders. 47.221.26.26 (talk) 14:34, 23 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 17:35, 23 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Support for civil rights

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Specifically the claim that Barry Goldwater was "A lifetime member of the NAACP, Goldwater helped found the group's Arizona chapter." This claim seems to be largely unsubstantiated and has no clear source.

I have found a newspaper from 1964 where G. Benjamin Brooks, president of the Maricopa County Branch of the NAACP, denied the claims that Goldwater was a member, stating, “The Maricopa County Branch of the NAACP has no record that the junior Senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater, has ever been a member of the branch.” He did confirm, however, that the branch did have records that “Mr. Goldwater, along with many other business men in Phoenix, did make a contribution of $400…to desegregate the Phoenix Union High School District,” substantiating claims that Goldwater contributed to the desegregation of schools in the begging of his political career.

So I feel that there might be a need to further look into the claim that Goldwater was a member of the NAACP.

Source of the newspaper clipping: https://www.proquest.com/docview/564701203?parentSessionId=6VRwkTEdNVm70H3%2FPXnJ5UvV41tVQzLZapQpvqv6%2B8E%3D&accountid=14677&sourcetype=Historical%20Newspapers Henrikcg (talk) 21:12, 23 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think Goldwater or his aides were telling reporters that he once had been a member. Here is Time magazine. August 2 1963. : "He was a member of the N.A.A.C.P. in the early 1950s, contributed $400 to the N.A.A.C.P. effort to get the Phoenix school system desegregated. He quit the N.A.A.C.P. several years ago, but he remains a member of the Urban League, which is also dedicated to the advancement of Negroes." see https://time.com/archive/6807933/nation-where-barry-stands/

Rjensen (talk) 21:25, 23 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

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