The backlash against liberalism, welfare, Vietnam and "Johnson sandwiches" (debased currency in the form of clad coinage introduced first in 1965) started conservatism on its way back in the 1966 election cycle (similar backlash that brought in Gingrich's class of 1994 to power against Clinton) and the election of Ronald Reagan to the governorship of California.
I read “A Choice not an Echo” and “The Conscience of a Conservative” when I was in my early teens. Goldwater was a breath of fresh air. He brought hope to those of us with Libertarian Conservative philosophies. I remember at the convention of 1964, he said “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in defense of justice is no virtue.”
Also, he said “Keep the Government out of our pocketbooks and bedrooms.”