 Goldwater began his political career in 1949 when he was elected to the city council of Phoenix with a focus on eliminating rampant gambling and prostitution. Three years later, he ran for the U.S. Senate as a member of the Republican Party and unseated incumbent Democrat Ernest McFarland, who had served in the body since 1941. After winning re-election in 1958 against McFarland, who was heavily funded by labor unions, critics hailed Goldwater as the conservative successor of Robert A. Taft. His political stock rose significantly two years later when he ran his first campaign for president and published the widely circulated book The Conscience of a Conservative. In the book, Goldwater criticized the effectiveness of the "radical, or Liberal, approach" to politics and discussed many contemporary issues that divided the nation at the time including civil rights and the welfare state. After publication, it rose to the top of many national bestseller lists.
