National Conservatism "did not begin, nor will it end, with Trump."

Nor is he its best current champion

John Fonte has written an important piece called “National Conservatism, Freedom Conservatism, and Americanism.” John begins by discussing three waves of modern conservatism in America.

The first was the Buckley-Reagan wave. It was the product of a fusion of two pre-existing strands of conservatism — traditionalism, which was concerned above all with virtue, and classical liberalism, which was concerned above all with freedom.

The two strands were fused when Frank Meyer of National Review argued that freedom is a prerequisite for a virtuous society. The fusion was facilitated by the common cause of fighting communism.

The second wave was the Bush (43)-Ryan wave. This wave promoted free trade, entitlement reform, increased immigration, and amnesty for illegal immigrants. It also was interested in promoting democracy abroad.

The third wave is what John calls “a nationalist-populist revolt against the policies of the second wave, particularly on issues of immigration, trade, sovereignty, and national identity.” Jeff Sessions was a leading figure in this wave at the beginning, but Donald Trump “turbocharged” it.

Trump’s central role can’t be denied. His current centrality can be. (More on this below)

“To a large extent,” John says, “the current divide between National Conservatives and Freedom-Conservatives is a divide between third wavers (NatCons) and second wavers (FreeCons).”

I tend to think of myself as a FreeCon, but in reality I’m a “one-from-column-A, one-from-column-B” guy. I’m largely pro-free trade and a fair amount of legal immigration, but against illegal immigration and amnesty.

I think promoting democracy overseas is a worthy goal, but not one worth sending American troops to achieve. And not one that warrants harming strategic alliances with undemocratic nations.

I’m strongly behind NatCons when they insist, for example, on U.S. sovereignty over the authority of international institutions, an education system that affirms patriotism and repudiates the contemporary academy, and a color-blind approach to civil rights that opposes special treatment for any group regardless of outcomes.

I question whether most FreeCons stand against these parts of the NatCon agenda. To be fair, though, John points to statements by Avik Roy, a leader of the FreeCons, that suggest softness on some of these matters.

In the end, John sees the key difference between the two waves as over “the character of the current political struggle against progressives on the Left.”

FreeCons believe we are mainly involved in policy arguments. FreeCon signatory Yuval Levin, for instance, writes that our divisions are a family argument between two forms of liberalism: progressive liberalism and conservative liberalism—we are not, he assures us, in a “political fight to the death.” National conservatives, on the other hand, generally believe we are involved in what the late Angelo Codevilla called a “Cold Civil War”—or as third waver Victor Davis Hanson has put it, we are in an “existential war for the soul of America.”

I’d like to believe Yuval, but I fear Codevilla and Hanson may be right. It’s not easy to view those who hate our history and some of our core traditions and values as part of the same family as the “deplorables” who don’t.

John concludes by proposing his own “fusion.”

Those who affirm the American nation—whether they are NatCons, FreeCons, or patriotic liberals—should be called Americanists. Those who find our inheritance deeply problematic and seek a revolutionary transformation of the American regime should, logically, be called Transformationists. Today’s polarization should be viewed as an existential struggle between Americanists and Transformationists.

I’ll conclude, as promised, by discussing the matter of Trump’s current role in National Conservatism. Obviously, his role will remain central and indispensable if he becomes our next president. However, John is careful to point out that “that third-wave conservatism did not begin, nor will it end, with Trump.”

In fact, when John describes key fights and, more importantly, victories of the NatCons, Ron DeSantis emerges as a central figure:.

At the state level, more than 30 bills have been introduced in 25 states prohibiting, restricting, and defunding DEI in public colleges. To date, ten bills have been signed into law. In Florida alone, Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that prohibited classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade; required transparency in educational materials so that parents could see what is being taught; prevented critical race theory indoctrination from kindergarten to public universities; revised a biased College Board African-American studies course, changing it into an academically sound black history course; revised history and civics standards to eliminate progressive bias; and transformed New College in Sarasota into an institution dedicated to the classical liberal arts.

And:

In his campaign against woke progressivism in Florida, Governor DeSantis is perhaps best known for his conflict with the Walt Disney Corporation. The drama of a Republican governor in a serious conflict with a major corporation in his state over core principles highlights the difference between second- and third-wave conservatives.

I think it’s unfortunate that Republicans rejected DeSantis in favor of the less electable and less focused Trump. Unfortunate for the country, for the GOP, and for the NatCons.