- After some journalists garnered a quote from a psychiatrist saying he might be insane, he sued for libel. There is now the "Goldwater Principle", that you should not speculate about someone's mental health from a distance.
- In his later years, he became estranged from his own party, which he saw as becoming influenced by the religious right - something he strongly opposed as a conservative libertarian.
- In 2006, his nephew, Donald Goldwater, sought the Republican nomination for Arizona governor, only to lose the nomination to Len Munsil (who eventually lost the gubernatorial election to Democratic incumbent Governor Janet Napolitano).
- Retired from the U.S. Senate in 1986. John McCain held his former seat from 1987 until his death.
- U.S. senator from Arizona (1953-1965, 1969-1987). Lost 1964 presidential election to Lyndon B. Johnson.
- He served as a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II - he retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1969 with the rank of Major General.
- The chemical equasion "AuH2O" was often used as a symbol for support of Goldwater during one of his presidential campaigns. "Au" is the Periodic table symbol for gold, and "H2O" hydrogen (x2) and oxygen, creating water. "AuH2O" literally being "gold water".
- Was an amateur radio operator and held license K7UGA.
- Credited with defining the core values of the modern-day Republican party.
- Member of the US Republican Party.
- During his 1964 presidential campaign, a television ad featuring a girl counting daisies, followed by a mushroom cloud, was broadcast. The commercial was designed to imply that he would start a nuclear war if he were elected president. Known as the "Daisy ad", the attack ad was viewed as a factor in his landslide defeat by incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson.
- In 1974, during the height of the Watergate scandal, he advised President Richard Nixon he should resign from office.
- His presidential campaign slogan was "In your heart, you know he's right." In response, President Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign spoofed it with "In your heart, you know he might" and "In your guts, you know he's nuts".
- While running for president, he was endorsed by Ronald Reagan. In addition, despite his election loss, he was credited for helping pave the way for Reagan's presidency.
- Stepfather of Molly Schaffer.
- Father of Barry Goldwater Jr..
- Inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame in 2001 (inaugural class).
- Son of Hattie Josephine (Williams) and Baron M. Goldwater, whose family had founded the Goldwater's department store. His father was Jewish and his mother Protestant. Barry's paternal grandfather, Michael Goldwasser, was a Polish Jewish immigrant, and his paternal grandmother, Sarah Nathan, was from an English Jewish family. Barry's mother had roots in the American Midwest for several generations, and was of English ancestry.
- Through his father, he was a second cousin, three times removed, of actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Goldwater's paternal great-grandparents, Hirsch Goldwasser and Scheindel-Chawe/Fravda, were also Christopher's maternal great-great-great-great-grandparents.
- During World War II while serving at Luke Field he was squadron leader to Gene Autry.
- Was a Charter and Founding member of the Arizona NAACP.
- As a Colonel, he also founded the Arizona Air National Guard, and he would desegregate it two years before the rest of the U.S. military. Goldwater was instrumental in pushing the Pentagon to support desegregation of the armed services.
- Born on exactly the same date as Dana Andrews.
- Inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame in 1990.
- He was well known as the first Amateur Radio operator to serve in the United States Senate.
- Inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1991.
- Was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
- Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 235-237. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
- Received the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Gold Medallion in 1983.
- Inducted into the Arizona Outdoor Hall of Fame in 1998 (inaugural class).
- Inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1982.
- In 1964, became the first Republican nominee for U.S. President to receive less than twenty percent of the black vote.
- Following World War II, Goldwater was a leading proponent of creating the United States Air Force Academy, and later served on the Academy's Board of Visitors.
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