The documents in this unit explore the 1964 presidential election and the charges of political extremism leveled against one of its candidates, Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. In analyzing the documents here, you will critically engage with primary sources to determine whether the charges made against Goldwater were accurate or exaggerated, and identify how these charges were defended against or used by political opponents. More broadly, you are invited to draw your own conclusions about the use and necessity for opponents to use negative campaigning to win elections. Finally, this unit introduces you to a variety of source types that will give you practice in working with evidence as historians do. Reading and analyzing the sources in this unit will help you answer the unit’s central question: How were accusations of extremism used in American politics during the 1964 presidential election and to what effect?