@engineer,
I think the difference between the conservatives of the '50s and the MAGAtards of today is that old-line conservatism was
implicitly racist; as their economic and cultural power wasn't threatened they sought to maintain — conserve — the status quo, which was working well for them. After the civil rights legislation and immigration reform of the Johnson era, African-Americans and non-European immigrants began to claim their rightful place in an integrated society. Over the next thirty years the status quo was being steadily transformed, to the point that "conserving" these values was no longer that desirable for the white racists who then began the reactionary "government is your enemy, burn it all down, starve the beast" line. Their racism became
explicit — they began to reject the notion of equality as soon as they realized it would win them votes.