Patrick Buchanan was one of the earliest and most prominent modern advocates of the “America First” slogan, using it as a central theme in his presidential campaigns—especially in 1992, 1996, and 2000. His use of the phrase revived and rebranded a term with isolationist roots from the 1940s, and it became one of his most recognizable rallying cries.
1992 GOP Convention Speech:
“We must put America First, and we must put American jobs, American workers, and American sovereignty ahead of the interests of foreign lobbies and foreign wars.”
Stance on Israel
“There are only two groups that are beating the drums for war in the Middle East — the Israeli defense ministry and its ‘amen corner’ in the United States.” – The McLaughlin Group in 1990
“They charge us with anti‑Semitism… The truth is, those hurling these charges harbor a ‘passionate attachment’ to a nation not our own… they subordinate the interests of their own country… as though what’s good for Israel is good for America.”
In Neoconservatism and paleoconservatism, Buchanan described neoconservatives as “Jewish Neoconservatives, children and grandchildren of immigrants from Eastern Europe,” contrasting their “pluralistic” ideology with a cultural-nationalist view of America.
Patrick Buchanan is a conservative American political commentator, author, and former presidential candidate. Born in 1938, he served as a speechwriter for Presidents Nixon and Reagan, co-founded The American Conservative, and ran for president three times.
