Medford Stanton Evans
Encyclopedia
Medford Stanton Evans is an American
journalist, author and educator. He is the author of eight books, including Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies (2007).
on July 20, 1934 to Medford Bryan Evans
, a college professor, author, and United States Atomic Energy Commission
official, and classics scholar Josephine Stanton Evans.
He grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee
and the Washington, D.C.
metropolitan area. Evans graduated magna cum laude from Yale University
, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1955, with a B.A.
in English
, followed by graduate work in economics
at New York University
under Ludwig von Mises
.
. It was at Yale that he read One Is a Crowd by Frank Chodorov
. In The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945, George H. Nash writes:
Upon graduation, Evans became assistant editor of The Freeman
, where Chodorov was editor. The following year, he joined the staff of William F. Buckley's fledgling National Review
(where he served as associate editor from 1960 to 1973) and became managing editor of Human Events
, where he is currently a contributing editor. He became a proponent of National Review co-editor Frank Meyer
's "fusionism," a political philosophy reconciling the traditionalist and libertarian tendencies of the conservative movement. Evans argued that freedom and virtue are not antagonistic, but complementary:
In 1959, Evans became head editorial writer of The Indianapolis News, rising to editor the following year—at 26, the nation's youngest editor of a metropolitan daily newspaper—a position he held until 1974. In 1971, Evans became a commentator for the CBS
Television and Radio Networks, and in 1980 became a commentator for National Public Radio, the Voice of America
, Radio America
and WGMS-FM in Washington, D.C.
In 1974, he became a nationally syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times
syndicate. Barry Goldwater
wrote that Evans "writes with the strength and conviction and authority of experience." In a 1975 radio address, Ronald Reagan
cited Evans as "a very fine journalist." In 1977, Evans founded the National Journalism Center
, where he served as director until 2002. In 1980, he became an adjunct professor of journalism at Troy University
in Troy, Alabama
, where he currently holds the Buchanan Chair of Journalism. In 1981-2002, he was publisher of Consumers' Research magazine. Evans expressed his journalistic philosophy as follows:
, Connecticut
, at the founding of Young Americans for Freedom
, where on September 11, 1960, he drafted YAF's charter, the Sharon Statement
. Some conservatives still revere this document as a concise statement of their principles.
In 1971-1977, Evans served as chairman of the American Conservative Union
(ACU). He was one of the first conservatives to denounce Richard Nixon
, just a year into his first term and long before Watergate, co-writing a January 1970 ACU report condemning his record. Under Evans' leadership, the ACU issued a July 1971 statement concluding, “the American Conservative Union has resolved to suspend our support of the Administration.” In June 1975, ACU called upon Ronald Reagan
to challenge incumbent Gerald Ford
for the 1976 Republican
presidential nomination. In June 1982, Evans and others met with President Reagan, warning him about White House
staff who thought they could make a deal with the Democratic
Congress
. (Reagan subsequently made such a deal, in which for each $1 in higher taxes Congress promised $3 in spending cuts; Reagan delivered the tax hike, but Congress reneged, actually increasing spending.)
In 1974, Evans founded the Education and Research Institute
, of which he is still chairman. He has also served as president of The Philadelphia Society; a member of the Council for National Policy
and Young Americans for Freedom
National Advisory Board; and a trustee of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
(ISI), and is a member of the Board of Advisers of the National Tax Limitation Committee. Evans has also been an effective plaintiff in numerous Federal Court cases involving the First Amendment issue of "freedom of information."
, John Marshall Law School
, Grove City College
and Francisco Marroquín University. He is a past winner of two Freedom Foundation awards for editorial writing and the National Headliners Club Award for “consistently outstanding editorial pages.” Evans has also been awarded the Media Research Center
's William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence, Accuracy in Media
's Reed Irvine
award for excellence in journalism, the American Spectators Barbara Olson
Award for Excellence & Independence in Journalism, the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs
' John M. Ashbrook
Award, the ISI's Regnery Award for Distinguished Institutional Service and four Freedoms Foundation George Washington
medals. Troy University ’s Hall School of Journalism hosts an annual M. Stanton Evans symposium named in his honor, as is the ISI's M. Stanton Evans Alumni Award.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist, author and educator. He is the author of eight books, including Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies (2007).
Early life and education
He was born in Kingsville, TexasKingsville, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,575 people, 8,943 households, and 6,134 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,848.8 people per square mile . There were 10,427 housing units at an average density of 753.8 per square mile...
on July 20, 1934 to Medford Bryan Evans
Medford Bryan Evans
Medford Bryan Evans was a college professor, author, editor and father of M. Stanton Evans.Evans was born August 21, 1907 in Lufkin, Texas, the son of Lysander Lee Evans and Bird Medford Evans. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1927 and took a Ph.D....
, a college professor, author, and United States Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
official, and classics scholar Josephine Stanton Evans.
He grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
and the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
metropolitan area. Evans graduated magna cum laude from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1955, with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English
English major
The English Major is a term in the United States and a few other countries for an undergraduate university degree focused around the consumption, analysis, and production of texts in the English language...
, followed by graduate work in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
under Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian economist, philosopher, and classical liberal who had a significant influence on the modern Libertarian movement and the "Austrian School" of economic thought.-Biography:-Early life:...
.
Journalism
As an undergraduate, Evans was an editor for the Yale Daily NewsYale Daily News
The Yale Daily News is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878...
. It was at Yale that he read One Is a Crowd by Frank Chodorov
Frank Chodorov
Frank Chodorov was an American member of the Old Right, a group of libertarian thinkers who were non-interventionist in foreign policy and anti–New Deal...
. In The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945, George H. Nash writes:
Upon graduation, Evans became assistant editor of The Freeman
The Freeman
The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty is one of the oldest and most respected libertarian journals in the United States. It is published by the Foundation for Economic Education . It started as a digest sized monthly study journal; it currently appears 10 times per year and is a larger-sized magazine. FEE...
, where Chodorov was editor. The following year, he joined the staff of William F. Buckley's fledgling National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
(where he served as associate editor from 1960 to 1973) and became managing editor of Human Events
Human Events
Human Events is a weekly American conservative magazine. It takes its name from the first sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence...
, where he is currently a contributing editor. He became a proponent of National Review co-editor Frank Meyer
Frank Meyer
Frank Straus Meyer was a libertarian political philosopher and co-founding editor of the National Review magazine.-Personal life:...
's "fusionism," a political philosophy reconciling the traditionalist and libertarian tendencies of the conservative movement. Evans argued that freedom and virtue are not antagonistic, but complementary:
In 1959, Evans became head editorial writer of The Indianapolis News, rising to editor the following year—at 26, the nation's youngest editor of a metropolitan daily newspaper—a position he held until 1974. In 1971, Evans became a commentator for the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Television and Radio Networks, and in 1980 became a commentator for National Public Radio, the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
, Radio America
Radio America
Radio America is an American radio network specializing in conservative-oriented talk programming. A division of the American Studies Center, the network describes its mission as "to produce and syndicate quality radio programs reflecting a commitment to traditional American values, limited...
and WGMS-FM in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
In 1974, he became a nationally syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
syndicate. Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
wrote that Evans "writes with the strength and conviction and authority of experience." In a 1975 radio address, 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....
cited Evans as "a very fine journalist." In 1977, Evans founded the National Journalism Center
National Journalism Center
The National Journalism Center, established in 1977 by conservative journalist M. Stanton Evans, runs programs and internships for journalism students to help them to become professional journalists, and to educate them on topics which relate to conservative political issues and values.-...
, where he served as director until 2002. In 1980, he became an adjunct professor of journalism at Troy University
Troy University
Troy University is a public university that is located in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was originally founded in 1887 as Troy Normal School. Its main campus enrollment is 7,194 students. The total enrollment of all Troy University campuses is 29,689...
in Troy, Alabama
Troy, Alabama
Troy is a city in Pike County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,003. Troy experienced a growth spurt of over 4,000+ people since 2000. The city is the county seat of Pike County....
, where he currently holds the Buchanan Chair of Journalism. In 1981-2002, he was publisher of Consumers' Research magazine. Evans expressed his journalistic philosophy as follows:
Political activism
Evans was present at Great Elm, the family home of William F. Buckley in SharonSharon, Connecticut
Sharon is a town located in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the northwest corner of the state. It is bounded on the north by Salisbury, on the east by the Housatonic River, on the south by Kent, and on the west by Dutchess County, New York...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, at the founding of Young Americans for Freedom
Young Americans for Freedom
Young Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
, where on September 11, 1960, he drafted YAF's charter, the Sharon Statement
Sharon Statement
The Sharon Statement is the founding statement of principles of the Young Americans for Freedom.Written by M. Stanton Evans with the assistance of Annette Kirk, wife of Russell Kirk, and adopted on September 11, 1960, the statement is named for the location of the inaugural meeting of Young...
. Some conservatives still revere this document as a concise statement of their principles.
In 1971-1977, Evans served as chairman of the American Conservative Union
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
(ACU). He was one of the first conservatives to denounce Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, just a year into his first term and long before Watergate, co-writing a January 1970 ACU report condemning his record. Under Evans' leadership, the ACU issued a July 1971 statement concluding, “the American Conservative Union has resolved to suspend our support of the Administration.” In June 1975, ACU called upon 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....
to challenge incumbent Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
for the 1976 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
presidential nomination. In June 1982, Evans and others met with President Reagan, warning him about White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
staff who thought they could make a deal with the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. (Reagan subsequently made such a deal, in which for each $1 in higher taxes Congress promised $3 in spending cuts; Reagan delivered the tax hike, but Congress reneged, actually increasing spending.)
In 1974, Evans founded the Education and Research Institute
Education and Research Institute
The Education and Research Institute is a US tax-exempt nonprofit organization devoted to advancing greater awareness and understanding of America's traditional values. It was founded in 1974. In 1988 ERI founded a subsidiary group, the Center for Security Research to form a centralized collection...
, of which he is still chairman. He has also served as president of The Philadelphia Society; a member of the Council for National Policy
Council for National Policy
The Council for National Policy , is an umbrella organization and networking group for social conservative activists in the United States...
and Young Americans for Freedom
Young Americans for Freedom
Young Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
National Advisory Board; and a trustee of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc., or ', is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1953 as the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists...
(ISI), and is a member of the Board of Advisers of the National Tax Limitation Committee. Evans has also been an effective plaintiff in numerous Federal Court cases involving the First Amendment issue of "freedom of information."
Honors
Evans has been awarded honorary doctorates from Syracuse UniversitySyracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, John Marshall Law School
John Marshall Law School
John Marshall Law School may refer to:*John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois*John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, Georgia*Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Cleveland, Ohio...
, Grove City College
Grove City College
Grove City College is a Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about north of Pittsburgh. According to the College Bulletin, its stated three-fold mission is to provide an excellent education at an affordable price in a thoroughly Christian environment...
and Francisco Marroquín University. He is a past winner of two Freedom Foundation awards for editorial writing and the National Headliners Club Award for “consistently outstanding editorial pages.” Evans has also been awarded the Media Research Center
Media Research Center
The Media Research Center is a content analysis organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1987 by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III...
's William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence, Accuracy in Media
Accuracy in Media
Accuracy In Media is an American, non-profit news media watchdog founded in 1969 by economist Reed Irvine. AIM describes itself as "a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that...
's Reed Irvine
Reed Irvine
Reed Irvine was an economist who founded the media watchdog organization Accuracy in Media, and remained its head for 35 years....
award for excellence in journalism, the American Spectators Barbara Olson
Barbara Olson
Barbara Olson was a lawyer and conservative American television commentator who worked for CNN, Fox News Channel, and several other outlets...
Award for Excellence & Independence in Journalism, the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs
Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs
The Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs is a conservative academic center at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, dedicated by Ronald Reagan on May 9, 1983.It is named for the late Congressman John M...
' John M. Ashbrook
John M. Ashbrook
John Milan Ashbrook was an American politician of the Republican Party who served in the United States House of Representatives from Ohio from 1961 until his death. His father was William A. Ashbrook, a newspaper editor, businessman, and U.S...
Award, the ISI's Regnery Award for Distinguished Institutional Service and four Freedoms Foundation George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
medals. Troy University ’s Hall School of Journalism hosts an annual M. Stanton Evans symposium named in his honor, as is the ISI's M. Stanton Evans Alumni Award.
Books by M. Stanton Evans
- Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies (Random House, Inc., 2007) ISBN 140008105X
- The Theme Is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition (Regnery Publishing, 1996) ISBN 0895267187
- Clear and Present Dangers: A Conservative View of America's Government (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975), ISBN 015507685X
- The Future of Conservatism: From Taft to Reagan and Beyond (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968)
- The Lawbreakers: America's Number One Domestic Problem (Arlington House, 1968)
- The Politics of Surrender (Devin-Adair Co., 1966)
- The Liberal Establishment (Devin-Adair Co., 1965)
- The Fringe on Top: Political Wildlife Along the New Frontier (American Features, 1963), with Allan H. Ryskind and William Schulz
- Revolt on the Campus (H. Regnery Co., 1961)
Quotations
- "Tax cuts are like sex; when they are good, they are very, very good. And when they are bad, they are still pretty good."
- "Gridlock is the next best thing to having a Constitution."
- Evans’ Law: “Whenever ‘one of our people’ reaches a position of power where he can do us some good, he ceases to be ‘one of our people.’”
- Evans’ law of inadequate paranoia: “[N]o matter how bad you think something is, when you look into it, it's always worse."
- "Most conservatives know when they come to Washington that it is a sewer; the trouble is, too many of them wind up treating it like a hot tub."
- "Any country that can land a man on the moon can abolish the income tax."
- "Liberals don't care what you do as long as it's compulsory."
- "I've always felt that anyone who has his head screwed on right should be conservative when he is young and, as he gets older, become more and more conservative."
- "One of the things that happens to you when you get old, really two bad things, one of them is that you lose your hearing, and I forget what the other one is."
- "We have two parties here, and only two. One is the evil party, and the other is the stupid party. I'm very proud to be a member of the stupid party. Occasionally, the two parties get together to do something that's both evil and stupid. That's called bipartisanship."
- "We all know that Mrs. Clinton has complained about the vast right-wing conspiracy, and of course, she is correct about that, and we are all part of it, but when I was starting out, it was only half vast."
- "The National Council of ChurchesNational Council of ChurchesThe National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
adopted a resolution condemning the Reverend Jerry FalwellJerry FalwellJerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
for mixing religion and politics. It's a mistake that the National Council itself does not make, of course: It has nothing to do with religion." - "There’s only two things I don’t like about Nixon: his domestic policy, and his foreign policy."
- "I never liked NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
until Watergate." "[A]fter wage and price controls, Watergate was like a breath of fresh air." - "It was really hard for us young conservatives to recover from the GoldwaterBarry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
defeat; it was all the worse because in those days we had no grief counselors." - “I didn’t much care for Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
’s ends, but I always admired his methods.” - "There’s been a revival of sorts of traditional conservative values, the desire for sound fiscal policy, and a strong foreign policy. In other words—hate."
External links
- Evans, M. Stanton. Revolt on the Campus. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1961 (mises.org)
- M. Stanton Evans, Intercollegiate Studies Institute
- M. Stanton Evans, Human Events
- The Freeman (mises.org)
- "Right Dukes of the Left," October 1955, pp. 702–703
- "Yale's 'Four Hundred'," December 1955, pp. 773–775
- Imprimus, Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan
- "There Is No Urban Crisis," December 1972
- "Government Can Be Hazardous to Your Health," June 1975
- "The Liberal Twilight," August 1976
- "Unlearning the Liberal History Lesson: Some Thoughts Concerning Conservatism and Freedom," March 1980
- "The Religious Roots of Freedom," April 1995
- M. Stanton Evans videos, youtube.com