Mobilizing the Moral Majority: Paul Weyrich and the Creation of a Conservative Coalition, 1968-1988

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2018 Mobilizing the Moral Majority: Paul Weyrich and the Creation of a Conservative Coalition, 1968-1988 Tyler J. Poff Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Poff, Tyler J., "Mobilizing the Moral Majority: Paul Weyrich and the Creation of a Conservative Coalition, 1968-1988" (2018). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 6427. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/6427 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Mobilizing the Moral Majority: Paul Weyrich and the Creation of a Conservative Coalition, 1968-1988 Tyler J. Poff Thesis submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Elizabeth Fones-Wolf, Ph.D., Chair Ken Fones-Wolf, Ph.D. James Siekmeier, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2018 Keywords: Conservatism, Think Tanks, Politics, Paul Weyrich, Joseph Coors, American Legislative Exchange Council, Heritage Foundation, Free Congress Foundation. Copyright 2018 Tyler J. Poff ABSTRACT Mobilizing the Moral Majority: Paul Weyrich and the Creation of a Conservative Coalition, 1968-1988 Tyler J. Poff This study examines the growth of the conservative movement in twentieth century America through the political network built by conservative activist, Paul M. Weyrich. Weyrich is heralded as a founding father of the New Right political movement and credited as a founding member of three major political think tanks. This study aims to more accurately understand America’s rightward political turn, while simultaneously exploring the breakdown of the New Deal Democratic Party coalition. Chapter one offers readers a review of the historiography of conservatism coupled with detailed outlines of the body chapters. Chapter two begins with a biography of Weyrich discussing his entrance into politics, while also providing insight into the Washington political arena Weyrich entered in the late 1960s. The chapter also examines the American Legislative Exchange Council, a think tank devoted to conservative policy at the state level. Chapter three covers the Heritage Foundation, the premier think tank of the right, responsible for much of the conservative intellectual revolution at the national level during the Reagan administration. Chapter four is devoted to the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress (later referred to as the Free Congress Foundation). This chapter examines the organization’s role first as a political action committee, devoted to a grassroots movement aimed at ousting liberal Congressional incumbents in favor of conservative representatives. In the late 1970s, this group restructured to become the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, a think tank responsible for conservative social policy. Chapter five provides concluding remarks as well as a brief history of American politics following the Reagan administration. Table of Contents Chapter 1—Introduction 1 Chapter 2—The American Legislative Exchange Council 11 Chapter 3—The Heritage Foundation 37 Chapter 4— The Free Congress Foundation 68 Chapter 5—Conclusion 99 Bibliography 107 iii Chapter 1—Introduction My thesis explores the efforts of conservative activists during the late 1960s through the Reagan administration to create a politically powerful conservative coalition to rival the clout of the New Deal coalition that dominated American politics in much of the period following World War II. In particular my research focuses on the efforts of Senate staffer turned activist, Paul Weyrich, to build institutions with the ability to directly influence election cycles and the legislative process. To achieve his ends, Weyrich spent the early 1970s organizing three conservative organizations, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Heritage Foundation, and the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress. From their offices in Washington, these three tax-exempt research institutions spent the 1970s preparing to lead a conservative revolution which by the decade’s end had its first major success at the national level with the election of Ronald Reagan. Each of Weyrich’s think tanks served a unique purpose. The American Legislative Exchange Council, founded in 1973, was conceived with the intent to create model policy for state legislatures, furthering the conservative agenda at the state and local level. The Heritage Foundation, organized the same year, was tasked with affecting change at the national level, producing policy research for both Congress and the president. The Committee for the Survival of Free Congress, founded in 1974, was designed to help elect conservative politicians to Congress, but by the end of the seventies, its focus shifted to promoting cultural conservatism. With Ronald Reagan assuming the presidency in January 1981, these three organizations capitalized on the conservative atmosphere to reshape American politics. While conservatism, like any political ideology is complex and often difficult to define, historians have generally agreed that its philosophy is centered on a laissez-faire free market 1 approach to economics, opposition to communism, and an adherence to traditional gender and sexual norms. Analysis of Weyrich’s activist work through his Washington think tanks helps to illuminate the links that brought about a political coalition with the ability to topple the already crumbling liberal consensus. From the margins of the Republican Party in the early 1970s, these groups emerged as an active voice in American politics, forcing the party at large to the further right of the political spectrum by the end of the Reagan administration. The aim of this thesis is three-fold. The first of these goals is to illuminate the history of these understudied organizations, placing their significance in the larger conservative movement. Secondly, the aim of this research is to examine the influence of these institutions on both election cycles and the legislative process. The third purpose I hope to achieve, is to discuss the liberal response to the rise of conservatism during this time, putting the two ideologies in conversation with one another to better understand the breakdown of New Deal liberalism. To achieve these ends I will examine literature produced by these organizations for consumption by political agents, scholars, and average Americans. These publications consist of model policy proposals, conservative periodicals, and policy research studies. Also, the personal papers of Paul M. Weyrich, housed at the Library of Congress, serve as a valuable source, providing personal correspondence with other actors in the conservative movement, personal memorandums, meeting minutes, and a large collection of newspaper articles and editorials covering Weyrich and his think tanks. Likewise, newspapers from the time provide crucial insight into national perceptions of these organizations. Beyond simply detailing the rise and actions of these think tanks during this time, I hope to put the sources into conversation with one another. On one hand, my thesis will outline the history of these organizations, and their 2 contributions to the conservative movement as a whole. On the other hand, I also hope to address liberalism’s response to conservative victories. Historiography In the last several decades, the history of the modern American conservative movement has become a blossoming field of study with a deeply rich historiography. Early studies claimed the breakdown of liberalism and the growth of the Right were products of the intense battles of the 1960 and 1970s over prevailing notions on race, class, and gender, championed by the antiwar, civil rights, welfare rights, student, and feminist movements of the time.1 Historians have also outlined a strong response from white and urban working-class Americans to affirmative action, busing, and desegregation as crucial in understanding the growth of conservatism.2 Allen J. Lichtman’s White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement examines the conservative movement from post-World War I racial and fascist groups through the new century, identifying the idea of America as a white Protestant nation as the driving force of American conservatism.3 Historians Kevin M. Kruse, Matt Lassiter, and Joseph Crespino have traced the roots of the modern conservative movement to the postwar Sunbelt where the middle-class of the suburbs abandoned explicitly racial dialogue in favor of a rights-based approach to combatting higher taxes and racial integration.4 Likewise, 1 Dan T. Carter, The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University

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