What were the chief factors that contribute to the decline of liberalism in the late 1970s?

"A conservative is not, by definition, a selfish or a stupid person; instead, he is a person who believes there is something in our life worth saving. Conservatism, indeed, is a word with an old and honorable meaning - but a meaning almost forgotten by Americans until recent years ... Conservatism, then, is not simply the concern of the people who have much property and influence; it is not simply the defense of privilege and status. Most conservatives are neither rich nor powerful. But they do, even the most humble of them, derive great benefits from our established Republic ... Conservatism is not simply a defense of capitalism... But the true conservative does stoutly defend private property and a free economy, both for their own sake and because these are means to great ends. Those great ends ... involve human dignity, human personality, human happiness. They involve even the relationship between God and man."