What Conservatives Believe

“It’s a perilous time for liberty in our nation. The ever-dangerous lure of power over others has captivated people on both ends of our political life. This book charts the course back to the America the entire world needs us to be. At a moment when freedom desperately needs friends, it doesn’t have a better one than Mike Pence.”

“Mike Pence’s What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience is an important book that should be read by every conservative who believes in less government and more freedom. Not since Barry Goldwater’s Conscience of a Conservative have the basic values of conservatism been more clearly defined. The day after the 2026 mid-term elections, a competition will be underway to define the guiding principles of the Republican Party. There is no better place to rediscover the principles of American conservatism than in this book. As Vice President, Mike Pence put America and our Constitution first and earned our lasting respect and gratitude. In What Conservatives Believe, he has given us a blueprint for rebuilding our party and our country.”

“Respecting these principles elucidated by the former vice-president will enable the American people, as Benjamin Franklin put it, to keep our republic. Ignoring them will mean that we cannot. It is that simple, and it is that dire. Mike Pence is well qualified to make the recommendations herein, as he has always steadfastly and without fear defended constitutional process and the founding principles of the United States. These days, it is a rare politician who can make that claim.”

“Some ask these days what has conservatism conserved. Others have redefined conservatism into a political operation or tied it to personalities. Conservatism is more expansive, timeless, and woven into the fabric of this country, which it has conserved. Vice President Pence has long been a faithful steward of the conservative project and here reminds us of the timeless principles, the thought behind those principles, and how conservatism applies in these postmodern times.”

“Mike Pence has long embodied the heart and soul of America’s conservative movement. As a radio host, Congressman, Governor, and Vice President, he has spent decades articulating and advancing conservative principles with both compassion and conviction. Mike understands that conservatism is not about grievance but about a commitment to freedom and the dignity of every individual. His latest book is an essential and incisive guide to understand what true, twenty-first-century American conservatives believe.”

“Barry Goldwater’s The Conscience of a Conservative ignited a movement. Ronald Reagan’s nationally televised 1964 speech supporting Goldwater energized that movement’s sixteen-year ascent to victory. Now, Mike Pence, with his characteristic clarity, takes his earned place in the vanguard of the millions who adhere to the Goldwater-Reagan George Will limited-government agenda for national flourishing. His book shows why conscientious conservatism’s future is bright.”

“Mike Pence knows Conservatism. Like Goldwater and Reagan before him, Pence breathes new life into these timeless principles. This is a great gift for any high school or college student as well as any freedom-loving adult who wants to get excited about conservatism again.”

“Mike Pence will go down in history as one of the most courageous and principled Vice Presidents to have ever served in office. Coupling these traits, which are all too often lacking in Washington today, with his record of conservative accomplishments over two decades, he is undoubtedly one of the few who has what it takes to truly lead America to a “great rediscovery” of bedrock conservative principles. With democratic socialism on the rise and populism often becoming unmoored from principle, this book is sorely needed. To paraphrase a verse from the Book of Proverbs, Mike Pence’s iron will sharpen our nation’s iron.”

“I was very excited when I learned that Vice President Mike Pence was going to write a new, twenty-first-century version of Barry Goldwater’s classic, Conscience of a Conservative.
I am confident that Pence’s new book, What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience, is an important contribution to our national dialogue as we seek to find our way forward in an increasingly complex world. Mike was a committed conservative as a candidate for Congress, as a leader in the US House of Representatives, where his colleagues chose him to chair the House Republican Conference, and as a Vice President for President Trump’s first term. As Vice President, Pence provided enormous leadership in rebuilding and expanding the space program, and he was probably the most pro-space Vice President in modern times. He made a real impact, and we are seeing it in today’s dramatically expanded space program. Every concerned citizen will gain insights by reading What Conservatives Believe.”

“Many who self-identify as conservatives are not. In this timely and necessary book, the former Vice President shows how one can tell the difference between a real conservative and a ‘CINO’—a conservative in name only.”

“At a moment when the word ‘conservative’ has been stretched beyond recognition—co-opted by populists, inflated by big-government pragmatists, and emptied of its philosophical and moral moorings—Mike Pence has done the essential work of a statesman and a scholar. What Conservatives Believe is not merely a book; it is a reclamation. Pence reaches back to the principled tradition of Goldwater’s conscience, Buckley’s clarity, and Reagan’s conviction—and hands that inheritance, intact and alive, to a generation that desperately needs it. What Conservatives Believe is not nostalgia; it is a compass. And every student who aspires to lead this republic should read this book before they read another poll.”