ONE MAN’S FREEDOM | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

From the acclaimed author of The Fire Is upon Us, the dramatic untold story of Barry Goldwater and Martin Luther King Jr.'s decade-long clash over the meaning of freedom–and how their conflicting visions still divide American politics

In the mid-1950s, Barry Goldwater and Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as the leaders of two diametrically opposed freedom movements that changed the course of American history--and still divide American politics. King mobilized civil rights activists under the banner of "freedom now," insisting that true freedom would not be realized until all people--regardless of race--were empowered politically, economically, and socially. Goldwater rallied conservatives to the cause of "extremism in defense of liberty," advocating radical individualism. In One Man's Freedom, Nicholas Buccola tells the compelling story of Goldwater and King's dramatic decade-long debate over the meaning of an all-important American ideal.

Part dual biography, part history, One Man's Freedom traces the actions and words of Goldwater and King over a crucial and eventful decade, from their dizzying rise through 1964, which ended with Goldwater's landslide defeat in the presidential election and King's Nobel Peace Prize. The book chronicles why Goldwater and King, who never met in person, came to view each other as perhaps the greatest threat to freedom in America. It explains how their ideas of freedom could be so vastly different, yet both so deeply rooted in American history and their times. And it shows how their disagreement continues to shape and explain politics today, when the bitter divisions between Republicans and Democrats often come down to the question of what kind of freedom Americans want--the one defined by Goldwater or by King?

Nicholas Buccola is joining us on the Busboys stage alongside political theorist Laura K. Field to share more about “this strikingly profound, original meditation on freedom's contested meanings” and reflect on “the forces that continue to divide American public life” (Melvin L. Rogers, author of The Darkened Light of Faith). Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Buccola will be signing following the program.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of ONE MAN’S FREEDOM will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed. 

We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books

Nicholas Buccola is professor of government and the Jules L. Whitehill Professor of Humanism and Ethics at Claremont McKenna College. He is the author of The Fire Is upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America (Princeton), which was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass.

Laura K. Field is a political theorist who has written about the New Right for The New Republic, Politico, The Bulwark, and other publications. She holds a PhD in government from the University of Texas at Austin and lives in Washington, DC. She is the author of the forthcoming, Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right (https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691255262/furious-minds)

BOOK DETAILS

One Man’s Freedom

Goldwater, King, and the Struggle Over an American Ideal

By Nicholas Buccola

October 7, 2025 | Hardcover, 464 pages, $35.00

Host or Publisher Busboys and Poets