Latest news with #EdwinFeulner
USA Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Heritage Foundation founder Edwin Feulner dies at 83
Edwin Feulner, founder and longtime president of the influential U.S. conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, has died, the foundation announced in a statement. He was 83. Feulner, a Chicago-born political scientist, founded Heritage in 1973 and became its president in 1977, a position he held until 2013. Republican President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989. The foundation's statement, released on July 18, did not specify when Feulner died or the cause. Current Heritage president Kevin Roberts and Board of Trustees Chairman Barb Van Andel-Gaby, wrote in a joint statement that Feulner founded Heritage to plant "a flag for truth in a town too often seduced by power." "What started as a small outpost for conservative ideas became - under Ed's tireless leadership - the intellectual arsenal for the Reagan Revolution and the modern conservative movement," they wrote. Heritage continues to deeply impact American conservatism - including being the institution that created Project 2025, widely considered the policy blueprint of President Donald Trump's quick-moving second term. Senator Mitch McConnell, a longtime leader of Congressional Republicans, wrote on social media that Feulner "was a great man" and that "his dedication to promoting peace through strength at the end of the Cold War offers a particularly enduring lesson." Representative Steve Scalise, a Republican and majority leader in the House of Representatives, wrote on social media that Feulner "was one of the architects who built the conservative movement in this country." The Excerpt: Trump, Project 2025 and the plan to remake government (Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
New York Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Edwin Feulner, ‘Heritage Foundation's George Washington,' Dies at 83
Edwin J. Feulner Jr., a right-wing congressional aide who felt himself in the ideological 'wilderness' in the 1970s, but who, as the co-founder of the Heritage Foundation and its leader for most of its existence, became one of the most influential figures of a resurgent conservative movement, died on Friday. He was 83. The Heritage Foundation announced his death in a statement that did not specify where he died or the cause. Mr. Feulner (pronounced FULL-ner) created Heritage with a friend, Paul Weyrich, in 1973. They wanted to go beyond informing public debate, as other think tanks did at the time, to influencing votes on legislation. Heritage would produce its work before big bills were introduced in Congress distill its findings into easily digestible blurbs, called 'backgrounders,' for harried politicians and their aides. Mr. Weyrich went on to found several other conservative groups. Mr. Feulner ran Heritage from 1977 until 2013, and he became interim head again for a brief period in 2017. Two years ago, during a 50th anniversary celebration at Mount Vernon, the organization's current president, Kevin Roberts, called Mr. Feulner 'the Heritage Foundation's George Washington.' As Mr. Feulner described it, the foundational principles of Heritage included 'free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional values and a strong national defense,' The New York Times reported in 2018. The group was in the news during the last presidential election, when Kamala Harris and other Democrats argued that a Heritage document called Project 2025 would become a shadow agenda for Donald Trump's second term. Mr. Trump strenuously sought to disassociate himself from the nearly 900-page list of policies, which included doctrinaire right-wing positions on such politically delicate subjects as abortion. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Edwin J. Feulner, 1941-2025
It seems long ago, but Republicans were once the party of ideas. One of the leaders of that era was Edwin Feulner, who died Friday at age 83. In 1973 Ed Feulner and his friend Paul Weyrich co-founded the Heritage Foundation, the think tank that nurtured and spread many of the policies that informed the Reagan Administration. Its 'Mandate for Leadership' policy compendium in 1980 became a guide for the Reaganauts out to change Washington. Under Feulner, the think tank also became known for short, fast policy summaries delivered to Members of Congress and staff in anticipation of votes. Turnover on Capitol Hill is rapid, and Heritage's missives were influential guides to policies developed on the right over many years. Like many Reagan-era conservatives, Feulner believed in a coalition built on the three-legged stool of free markets and a smaller government, strong national defense, and traditional views on social policy. He welcomed all factions of what was once called the 'conservative movement,' from libertarians to Russell Kirk traditionalists to neocons.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Heritage Foundation founder Feulner dies at 83
(Corrects spelling of Reagan in third paragraph) (Reuters) -Edwin Feulner, founder and longtime president of the influential U.S. conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, has died at age 83, Heritage said in a statement. The Friday statement did not say when Feulner died or the cause. Feulner, a Chicago-born political scientist, founded Heritage in 1973 and became its president in 1977, a position he held until 2013. Republican President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989. Current Heritage president Kevin Roberts and Board of Trustees Chairman Barb Van Andel-Gaby, wrote in a joint statement that Feulner founded Heritage to plant "a flag for truth in a town too often seduced by power." "What started as a small outpost for conservative ideas became - under Ed's tireless leadership - the intellectual arsenal for the Reagan Revolution and the modern conservative movement," they wrote. Heritage continues to deeply impact American conservatism - including being the institution that created Project 2025, widely considered the policy blueprint of President Donald Trump's quick-moving second term. Senator Mitch McConnell, a longtime leader of Congressional Republicans, wrote on social media that Feulner "was a great man" and that "his dedication to promoting peace through strength at the end of the Cold War offers a particularly enduring lesson." Representative Steve Scalise, a Republican and majority leader in the House of Representatives, wrote on social media that Feulner "was one of the architects who built the conservative movement in this country."
Reuters
5 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Heritage Foundation founder Feulner dies at 83
July 19 (Reuters) - Edwin Feulner, founder and longtime president of the influential U.S. conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, has died at age 83, Heritage said in a statement. The Friday statement did not say when Feulner died or the cause. Feulner, a Chicago-born political scientist, founded Heritage in 1973 and became its president in 1977, a position he held until 2013. Republican President Ronald Regan awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989. Current Heritage president Kevin Roberts and Board of Trustees Chairman Barb Van Andel-Gaby, wrote in a joint statement that Feulner founded Heritage to plant "a flag for truth in a town too often seduced by power." "What started as a small outpost for conservative ideas became - under Ed's tireless leadership - the intellectual arsenal for the Reagan Revolution and the modern conservative movement," they wrote. Heritage continues to deeply impact American conservatism - including being the institution that created Project 2025, widely considered the policy blueprint of President Donald Trump's quick-moving second term. Senator Mitch McConnell, a longtime leader of Congressional Republicans, wrote on social media that Feulner "was a great man" and that "his dedication to promoting peace through strength at the end of the Cold War offers a particularly enduring lesson." Representative Steve Scalise, a Republican and majority leader in the House of Representatives, wrote on social media that Feulner "was one of the architects who built the conservative movement in this country."
