Edward Crane huffs and puffs in defense of Goldwater, saying he knew he had no chance of winning the election after the JFK assassination and instead ran to remake the Republican Party.  Crane may be right that LBJ had it in the bag that year, but a better candidate -- e.g., one who had supported the Civil Rights Act instead of filibustering against it, in addition to unifying the party  -- would not have gone down to such ignominious defeat.  Goldwater got only 52 electoral votes; no other Republican candidate of the post-World War II era has gotten less than three times that many.

The second letter reads (as lightly edited by the WSJ editors):

Mr. Barnes notes that "Donald Trump has committed the Barry Goldwater mistake," not reaching out to heal party divisions after clinching the nomination. A Republican nominee and former Goldwater supporter did learn from Goldwater's mistake. Ronald Reagan reached out and chose former rival George H.W. Bush as his running mate.

This is the example Donald Trump should follow. Instead of picking needless fights with Republicans who have had disagreements with him, he needs to come to terms with them, and he needs to pick one of them as his candidate for vice president.

This election should be the Republicans' to win, and blowing it would be a disaster for the country.  If Trump wants to win, he should do what it takes, including bringing the party together and not being a jerk.  If he doesn't, he should withdraw before the convention and release his delegates.