Citizens for America
Encyclopedia
Citizens for America was a United States
conservative grass-roots
organization founded by President Ronald Reagan
's "Kitchen Cabinet" (principally Jacqueline “Jack” Hume, CEO of Basic American Foods of San Francisco, and including Southern California car dealer Holmes Tuttle and others) to support President Reagan's national defense and economic initiatives. CFA called itself "President Reagan's Lobby" and was lead first by drugstore magnate Lewis E. Lehrman and later by Gerald P. Carmen, who had served as administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations mission in Geneva, Switzerland. CFA was organized as an IRS 501 (C) (3) and (4) non-profit. Among the early employees was Jack Abramoff
, who was later terminated for cause.
Citizens for America staged an unprecedented meeting of anti-Communist
rebel leaders called the "Democratic International", including Nicaraguan, Laotian
, Angola
n and Afghan
(Mujahideen
) rebels in 1985 in Jamba
, Angola
. The meeting was held in the UNITA headquarters of Angolan rebel Jonas Savimbi
. The guerrilla leaders were presented with a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence
, and a letter from President Reagan supporting CFA was read, although the Reagan administration refused to officially support all of the guerrilla groups.
Mark Holtzman (who later ran for governor of Colorado) served as CFA's first executive director. He resigned in 1985 and was replaced by Abramoff, who had been director of College Republicans. Lehrman fired Abramoff after only nine months due to his mismanagement of the organization’s $3 million budget and his hiring of friends and cronies.
Abramoff was replaced by CFA's legal counsel Frank Trotta, who served as interim Executive Director until Bill Wilson, formerly of Right to Work, came on as executive director. Wilson served for a year, after which attorney and writer Jack R. Stevens became the executive director. Stevens served for two years and was the organization’s executive director in its final days under President Reagan. Wilson and Stevens (who had earlier served as CFA’s western regional director) were credited with restoring CFA's finances and reputation after Abramoff’s brief but damaging tenure.
CFA supported its grass-roots lobbying campaigns by hosting two fundraisers annually. The "Founder's Circle" required a contribution of $25,000 per year and included donors like Joseph and Holly Coors, Holmes Tuttle and Jack Hume. President Reagan hosted CFA donors and staff regularly at the White House. At one such session in 1987, he recognized CFA National Director Gerald P. Carmen and Executive Director Jack Stevens for their efforts in orchestrating the organization’s successful campaign to secure $100 million in congressional aid to the Nicaraguan Contras. CFA staff met in the White House with Reagan Administration officials on a weekly basis to coordinate field activities.
Stevens hired Liam Weston, who later became Mayor Pro Tem of El Segundo, California and now a columnist for the Sacramento Union [1], as CFA’s eastern regional director in 1987. Weston later served as a Republican staff member in the 104th U.S. Congress. He left Congress and moved to Central America to administer the U.S. aid to the Nicaraguan Resistance 1989-1991. In 1991-1993, he was posted to Africa, where he managed an aid program for the Angolan UNITA rebels.
President Reagan mentioned CFA 11 times in "The Reagan Diaries", including a entry in his final days in office that CFA is one of the few groups with which would consider staying involved upon leaving office.
President Reagan credited CFA's extensive field operations, and cited field leaders Weston; Gordon Bloyer;(now an Internet blogger and video commentator); Kelly Cardwell of Alabama; Cecil Martin “Bud” Starr, III (now a Kern County, California prosecutor); Robert Miltenberg (now a Los Angeles advertising executive); former California legislator Doug Carter (now deceased); and San Francisco activist Dorothy Vuksich (now deceased) with having helped secure congressional support for Afghan rebel aid, Contra aid, and tax reduction and simplification, among other issues. CFA organized volunteer committees and chairmen in each congressional district to conduct grass-roots campaigns in support of Reagan's strategic and economic agenda. The organization was able to unite all segments of the conservative movement, though it took no position on social issues.
Stevens and Weston, in coordination with Reagan's OMB Director Jim Miller and former CFA communications director David Carmen (now CEO of the Washington, D.C. public affairs firm, The Carmen Group), created the first annual "Pork Barrel" spending awards, a dubious distinction for member's of Congress CFA considered to be profligate spenders. CFA published “The Pork Book” in 1987.. Taxpayers Against Government Fraud and Waste along with other public policy organizations have continued the annual event by recognizing certain congressmen for supporting excessive "pork barrel" spending.
The organization occupied the 4th Floor of the Heritage Foundation building on Massachusetts Ave. in Washington, D.C. Other employees of CFA included fundraiser Abigail Pearlman (now married to Congressman Roy Blunt); office assistant Marjorie Huge; communications director Andre Bogolubov; controller,Mike Russell; research director Peter Conlin (now a Sacramento, California attorney); Texas regional director Gwen Faro (now deceased); eastern regional director Kerry Moody; midwestern regional director Mike Simpfenderfer; project manager Mary Ann Gordon; project manager Ed Priola; project manager Brian Malnak; John Szelest, Eastern Regional Director; Terry Henry, Finance Director; Patricia Patterson, Assistant to the Chairman; Timothy Carey, Northeast Field Director; computer operations director Grayden Frick (now deceased), research director Grover Norquist, field director Mathew Tsien, and western regional director and field operations director Carol Hallett. Hallett was appointed U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas during the Reagan Administration. She later served as director of U.S. Customs under President George H.W. Bush. Subsequently, she headed the Air Transport Association in Washington, D.C. and now is a senior officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Former New Jersey Senate candidate, Jeffrey Bell served as Deputy Chairman of CFA.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conservative grass-roots
Grassroots democracy
Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes where as much decision-making authority as practical is shifted to the organization's lowest geographic level of organization: principle of subsidiarity....
organization founded by President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's "Kitchen Cabinet" (principally Jacqueline “Jack” Hume, CEO of Basic American Foods of San Francisco, and including Southern California car dealer Holmes Tuttle and others) to support President Reagan's national defense and economic initiatives. CFA called itself "President Reagan's Lobby" and was lead first by drugstore magnate Lewis E. Lehrman and later by Gerald P. Carmen, who had served as administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations mission in Geneva, Switzerland. CFA was organized as an IRS 501 (C) (3) and (4) non-profit. Among the early employees was Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...
, who was later terminated for cause.
Citizens for America staged an unprecedented meeting of anti-Communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
rebel leaders called the "Democratic International", including Nicaraguan, Laotian
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
n and Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
(Mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
) rebels in 1985 in Jamba
Jamba
Places*Jamba, Cuando Cubango, Angola, former base of rebel group UNITA*Jamba, Huíla, Angola, location of the airport with the IATA code JMB *Jamba, Moxico Province, AngolaPeople*Almerindo Jaka Jamba, an Angolan politician...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
. The meeting was held in the UNITA headquarters of Angolan rebel Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was an Angolan political leader. He founded and led UNITA, a movement that first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966–1974, then confronted the rival MPLA during the decolonization conflict, 1974/75, and after independence in 1975 fought the ruling...
. The guerrilla leaders were presented with a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
, and a letter from President Reagan supporting CFA was read, although the Reagan administration refused to officially support all of the guerrilla groups.
Mark Holtzman (who later ran for governor of Colorado) served as CFA's first executive director. He resigned in 1985 and was replaced by Abramoff, who had been director of College Republicans. Lehrman fired Abramoff after only nine months due to his mismanagement of the organization’s $3 million budget and his hiring of friends and cronies.
Abramoff was replaced by CFA's legal counsel Frank Trotta, who served as interim Executive Director until Bill Wilson, formerly of Right to Work, came on as executive director. Wilson served for a year, after which attorney and writer Jack R. Stevens became the executive director. Stevens served for two years and was the organization’s executive director in its final days under President Reagan. Wilson and Stevens (who had earlier served as CFA’s western regional director) were credited with restoring CFA's finances and reputation after Abramoff’s brief but damaging tenure.
CFA supported its grass-roots lobbying campaigns by hosting two fundraisers annually. The "Founder's Circle" required a contribution of $25,000 per year and included donors like Joseph and Holly Coors, Holmes Tuttle and Jack Hume. President Reagan hosted CFA donors and staff regularly at the White House. At one such session in 1987, he recognized CFA National Director Gerald P. Carmen and Executive Director Jack Stevens for their efforts in orchestrating the organization’s successful campaign to secure $100 million in congressional aid to the Nicaraguan Contras. CFA staff met in the White House with Reagan Administration officials on a weekly basis to coordinate field activities.
Stevens hired Liam Weston, who later became Mayor Pro Tem of El Segundo, California and now a columnist for the Sacramento Union [1], as CFA’s eastern regional director in 1987. Weston later served as a Republican staff member in the 104th U.S. Congress. He left Congress and moved to Central America to administer the U.S. aid to the Nicaraguan Resistance 1989-1991. In 1991-1993, he was posted to Africa, where he managed an aid program for the Angolan UNITA rebels.
President Reagan mentioned CFA 11 times in "The Reagan Diaries", including a entry in his final days in office that CFA is one of the few groups with which would consider staying involved upon leaving office.
President Reagan credited CFA's extensive field operations, and cited field leaders Weston; Gordon Bloyer;(now an Internet blogger and video commentator); Kelly Cardwell of Alabama; Cecil Martin “Bud” Starr, III (now a Kern County, California prosecutor); Robert Miltenberg (now a Los Angeles advertising executive); former California legislator Doug Carter (now deceased); and San Francisco activist Dorothy Vuksich (now deceased) with having helped secure congressional support for Afghan rebel aid, Contra aid, and tax reduction and simplification, among other issues. CFA organized volunteer committees and chairmen in each congressional district to conduct grass-roots campaigns in support of Reagan's strategic and economic agenda. The organization was able to unite all segments of the conservative movement, though it took no position on social issues.
Stevens and Weston, in coordination with Reagan's OMB Director Jim Miller and former CFA communications director David Carmen (now CEO of the Washington, D.C. public affairs firm, The Carmen Group), created the first annual "Pork Barrel" spending awards, a dubious distinction for member's of Congress CFA considered to be profligate spenders. CFA published “The Pork Book” in 1987.. Taxpayers Against Government Fraud and Waste along with other public policy organizations have continued the annual event by recognizing certain congressmen for supporting excessive "pork barrel" spending.
The organization occupied the 4th Floor of the Heritage Foundation building on Massachusetts Ave. in Washington, D.C. Other employees of CFA included fundraiser Abigail Pearlman (now married to Congressman Roy Blunt); office assistant Marjorie Huge; communications director Andre Bogolubov; controller,Mike Russell; research director Peter Conlin (now a Sacramento, California attorney); Texas regional director Gwen Faro (now deceased); eastern regional director Kerry Moody; midwestern regional director Mike Simpfenderfer; project manager Mary Ann Gordon; project manager Ed Priola; project manager Brian Malnak; John Szelest, Eastern Regional Director; Terry Henry, Finance Director; Patricia Patterson, Assistant to the Chairman; Timothy Carey, Northeast Field Director; computer operations director Grayden Frick (now deceased), research director Grover Norquist, field director Mathew Tsien, and western regional director and field operations director Carol Hallett. Hallett was appointed U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas during the Reagan Administration. She later served as director of U.S. Customs under President George H.W. Bush. Subsequently, she headed the Air Transport Association in Washington, D.C. and now is a senior officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Former New Jersey Senate candidate, Jeffrey Bell served as Deputy Chairman of CFA.
External links
- "The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff" - Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi, The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Thursday, December 29, 2005. - "My Dinner with Jack" - Mark Hemingway, The Weekly StandardThe Weekly StandardThe Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
, April 3, 2006.