Changes

Becoming the Minority Whip in 1943,<ref name=latobituary>LAT Archives (July 17, 1985). [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-07-17-me-7907-story.html 30-Year House GOP Whip Leslie Arends Dies at Age 89 ]. ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved June 13, 2021.</ref> Arends helped create the powerful [[Conservative Coalition]] of Republicans and [[Boll Weevils]] which controlled the domestic agenda from 1937 to 1964. He supported [[Robert A. Taft]] over [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination, and was an early supporter of the party's nominees [[Richard M. Nixon]] and [[Barry Goldwater]] in the campaigns of the 1960s. He organized the GOP opposition to [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s [[Great Society]]. Arends also supported civil rights legislation. He defended [[Richard Nixon]] throughout the [[Watergate affair]], differing with his Republican colleague John Anderson.<ref name=upiobituary>United Press International (July 17, 1985). [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-07-17-8502160546-story.html EX-REP. LESLIE ARENDS, 89, HOUSE GOP WHIP FOR 30 YEARS]. ''UPI'' via ''Chicago Tribune''. Retrieved June 13, 2021.</ref> His close personal friendship with [[Gerald R. Ford]] insured a good relationship with Nixon's successor.<ref>Schapsmeier, Edward L. and Frederick H. Schapsmeier, "Serving under Seven Presidents: Les Arends and His Forty Years in Congress." ''Illinois Historical Journal'' 1992 85(2): 105-118. Issn: 0748-8149</ref>

In a March 1963 interview, Arends remarked:<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/special-collections/fenno/arends Leslie Arends]. ''National Archives''. Retrieved June 13, 2021.</ref>