Russell Kirk (1918-1994) is one of the most prominent, post-World War II, American conservative thinkers. Indeed, most histories of the American conservative movement begin in 1945. It may be remembered that, in 1945, the entire “€œright-wing option”€ stood as discredited in the eyes of most people in the Western democracies, although very many traditionalists, conservatives, and nationalists in Europe had fiercely opposed Nazi Germany. That the American conservatives of the 1950s were able to achieve what they did may in itself be quite amazing. Leading the revolt against the supremely confident liberal intellectuals of the day, was Russell Kirk’s book, The Conservative Mind, published in 1953.