By the time Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, conservatism commanded wider popular support than at any time since the 1920s. As the New Deal Democratic coalition continued to fragment, the Republican Party accelerated the realignment of the American electorate that had begun during the 1960s. Conservatism’s ascendancy did more than realign the nation politically. Its emphasis on free markets, low taxes, and individual success shaped the nation’s culture and inaugurated a conservative era. Reagan exhorted Americans, “Let the men and women of the marketplace decide what they want.”