There is a line that draws the state of Texas in two—the I-35 corridor. Along 35 and to the east is where 85% of Texans live.
To the west of I-35— which is 65% of the state’s land — is where 15% of the state’s population lives.
But West Texas with its cinematic landscapes, sweet light crude and cattle ranches plays an outsized role in defining the entire state’s identity, culture and politics.
Despite its modest demographics, West Texas has punched above its weight in both Texas state politics and national conservative politics—especially as recognized by presidential figures such as Ronald Reagan and both George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, who understood that this region carried symbolic, cultural and political momentum.
It was in this region that America’s now dominant political point of view was born.
Jeff Roche argues that much of what we think of as modern American political conservatism was forged in West Texas, where it predominates today.
In his new book “The Conservative Frontier: Texas and the Origins of the New Right,” Roche explores how the region’s business ethos, culture, small-town values and even the mythology of the cowboy created fertile ground for a form of deep-rooted conservative ideology.
Based on the ideals of self-reliance, personal responsibility, a distain for government, individualism but with high conformity Roche brands it as “cowboy conservatism.”
Guest: Jeff Roche is a professor of history at the College of Wooster in Ohio. His most recent book is "The Conservative Frontier: Texas and the Origins of the New Right a critical examination of the history and politics of West Texas."
