Robert Novak - Political Views

Political Views

Novak was a registered Democrat despite his conservative political views. He held more centrist views in his early career, and he supported the Democratic presidential candidacies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, of whom he was a friend. In later years, he said that he maintained his registered Democrat status so he could vote in District of Columbia Democratic primaries where victory would be tantamount to election. He was also close friends with Everett Dirksen. Novak later stated that reading Whittaker Chambers’ book Witness changed his views from moderate-to-liberal to a strident anti-communism. Reading Chambers' message as a U.S. Army lieutenant in the Korean war gave him a feeling of moral absolutism in his cause. Novak's views turned further rightward through the 1970s, but Novak remained strongly critical towards Ronald Reagan and his supply side economics in the early 1980s. Novak changed his mind after debating economics with Reagan face to face, and he later wrote that Reagan was one of the very few politicians that he ever respected.

Novak strongly supported the Korean, Vietnamese, and Grenadian wars, but he took an anti-interventionist stance after that. He was a hard-line social conservative as well, holding pro-life and anti-divorce views. He also generally tended toward low-tax, small-government libertarian views, but his disagreements with mainstream Republicans and neoconservatives — specifically his opposition to the Iraq War — earned him the label of being a "paleoconservative". Novak's political column once stated that he considered every single President in his lifetime to be a failure, with the lone exception of Reagan. After Novak's death on August 18, 2009, Chicago Sun Times described him as an independent voice. The Daily Telegraph stated that Novak felt "glee" at starting inter-party fighting.

In July 2007, Novak expressed support for Ron Paul's bid for the presidency. In the same year, and shortly after the summer publication Novak's memoirs, he was interviewed by former columnist Bill Steigerwald. Asked of the future of the country, Novak said:

From my standpoint, I see the long Republican realignment ending and going into a period of Democratic supremacy. I think there will be a lot of mistakes and a lot of bad things done. But I do believe the American people are really up to making the best of their politicians ... When I am given a chance to address college students, I always tell them, 'Always love your country but never trust your government.' I believe that."

David Frum, writing for National Review, essentially dismissed Novak as a contributor to the modern conservative movement in March 2003. His statement prompted a rejoinder from Novak and defenses by other commentators. Frum then wrote his book The Right Man motivated by what he called "Novak’s disregard for truth". Novak attacked Frum again in his autobiography, labeling Frum a “liar” and a "cheat". After Novak's death, Frum wrote on his blog criticizing Novak while also reflecting that "Novak and I were fated always to misunderstand one another."