Highlights
& Quotes
Paul Weyrich, often called the founding father of the conservative movement, cofounded with Edwin Feulner (and a lot of Coors cash) the Heritage Foundation in 1973. He currently is associated with the secretive far-right outfit the Council on National Policy and heads up the Free Congress Foundation, described by Matt Bai of the New York Times Magazine as "an army of well-financed, loyal ideologues, each occupying a place in the power structure and with enough reach to turn ideas into policy." (2)
Wrote Bai, "Weyrich was 31 when he and Edwin Feulner, then serving as disgruntled aides in a Congress dominated by Democrats, founded the Heritage Foundation in 1973 with early donations from a handful of wealthy families with names like Coors and Scaife. Determined to foster conservative scholarship and get it into the hands of like-minded policy makers, Weyrich and his compatriots were driven by a single, overarching conviction that grew out of the Goldwater campaign in 1964: government needed to be stingier at home and tougher abroad." (2)
Underscoring the strength of today's right-wing movement, Weyrich said at a recent meeting of the Free Congress Foundation, "There are 1,500 conservative radio talk show hosts. You have Fox News. You have the Internet, where all the successful sites are conservative. The ability to reach people with our point of view is like nothing we have ever seen before." (2)
According to Media Transparency: "Weyrich, a member of the extreme Catholic right and a professed admirer of the pro-Nazi demagogue Father Coughlin, has founded or cofounded numerous right-wing organizations, including the Moral Majority. The Weyrich juggernaut played a decisive role in the ascendancy of Newt Gingrich and the right-wing Republicans of the 104th Congress. Among its top ten 'Censored News stories of 1994,' Project Censored cites the press's lack of coverage of the political machinations of Weyrich's Council for National Policy, a secretive high-level strategy-formulating organization whose membership is a Who's Who of the far right. Admitting that he and his colleagues are not conservatives in the traditional sense, he has described the New Right as 'radicals who want to change the existing power structure.' Weyrich was one of the earliest commentators to advance the idea that the United States is engulfed in a cultural civil war." (4)
Describing this "cultural civil war," Weyrich once said, "It may not be with bullets, and it may not be with rockets and missiles, but it is a war, nonetheless. It is a war of ideology, it's a war of ideas, it's a war about our way of life. And it has to be fought with the same intensity, I think, and dedication as you would fight a shooting war." (4)
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Institutional
Affiliations
Council
for National Policy: Member of Executive Committee (1992-current)
Treasurer (1981-1992) (1)
The Freedom
and Democracy Institute of Russia: Member of Board of Directors
(1997-current) (1)
Free Congress
Foundation: Chairman and Chief Executive Office (1996-current);
President (1977-2002); President of Kreible Institute of Free Congress
Foundation (1989-1996) (1)
Melkite
Greek Catholic Eparchy: Proto Deacon (2000-current); Deacon
(1990-2000) (1)
Coalitions
for America: National Chairman (1978-current) (1)
Endangered
Liberties" weekly syndicated TV show: Co-host (1999-2002)
(1)
Public
Disclosure syndicated investigative show: Executive Producer
and Host (1995-1998) (1)
"Direct
Line" daily talk show: Host (1993-1998) (1)
NET:
Member of Board of Directors (1991-1998); President and Chief Operating
Officer (1991-1997) (1)
Empowerment:
Publisher (1991-1994) (1)
BBC:
Political Commentator (1989; 1992) (1)
Texas Review, University of Texas: Member of Board of Advisers (1986-1991)
(1)
Listen
America Radio Network: Radio Commentator (1985-1988) (1)
Conservative
Digest: Columnist (1980-1990); Co-Publisher (1988); Senior Editor
(1985-1988) (1)
Helen Broadcasting
Corporation: Member of Board of Directors (1984-1990) (1)
WEEI Newsradio:
Member of Board of Directors (1984-1990) (1)
Journal
of Family and Culture: Publisher (1984-1988) (1)
Election
Politics Journal: Publisher (1983-1988) (1)
Family,
Law & Democracy Report: Publisher (1979-1990) (1)
The Political
Report: Publisher (1977-1990) (1)
American
Legislative Exchange Council: Former Director (1975-1978) (1)
Heritage
Foundation: Founding President (1973-1974) (1) Founder (1973)
(1)
Committee
for Effective State Government: National Chairman (1980-current)
(1)
Free Congress
Political Action Committee: National Chairman (1974-current)
(1)
Indochinese
American Voters General League: Chairman of Board of Sponsors
(1989-1991) (1)
Government
Posts/Panels/Commissions
Virginia
Republican State Convention: Reagan Delegate (1980) (1)
Senate
Steering Committee: Co-Founder (1974) (1)
U.S. Senator
Carl T. Curtis: Special Assistant (1973-1977) (1)
Republican
Study Committee: Co-Organizer (1973) (1)
U.S. Senate:
Staff Assistant for Transportation Appropriations (1967-1993) (1)
U.S. Senator
Gordon Allott: Press Secretary (1967-1971) (1)
Racine
County, Wisconsin Young Republicans: Vice Chairman (1961-1963)
(1)
Corporate
Connections/Business Interests
National
Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK): Member of Board of
Directors (1987-1993) (1)
Dulles
International Airport Light Rail Task Force: Chairman of the
Board (1985-1990) (1)
Education
University of Wisconsin (1)
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