The Shafer Commission and the Effect of Conservative Ideology on the Republican Party and Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs
Abstract:
Former Pennsylvania Governor and Allegheny College alumnus Raymond P. Shafer was a liberal Republican at a time when conservative influences were rapidly building momentum within the party. After completing his term as Governor in 1971, Shafer was appointed by President Richard Nixon to chair the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. Rather than corroborate the assumptions of the War on Drugs however, the “Shafer Report” called for the decriminalization of marijuana, a decision which was met with animosity in the White House. This project traces the parallel narratives of Shafer’s life, the emergence of the conservative movement and the history of drug legislation in the United States to better illustrate the full scope of Nixon’s rejection of the Commission’s findings. The story of the “Shafer Commission” illustrates how the spread of a conservative consensus has led to the marginalization of ideological diversity in the Republican Party which often impedes its ability to govern effectively.