Young Americans for Freedom
Encyclopedia
Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) is a 501(c)(3) 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. While the 1960s were its most successful years in terms of numbers and influence, YAF continues to be active as a national organization with chapters throughout the United States
. YAF's official publication is The New Guard.
According to many historians who have studied YAF, the conservative movement that exists in America today, and especially its beachhead in the Nation's Capital, would not have developed were it not for Young Americans for Freedom.
The purposes of YAF are to advocate public policies consistent with the Sharon Statement
, which was adopted by young conservatives at a meeting at the home of Mr. William F. Buckley in Sharon, Connecticut on September 11, 1960; To promote social welfare and individual freedom; To study any legislation from any governmental bodies or agencies that seek to affect social and economic problems of the individual; To support the preservation and enhancement of individual freedom for all Americans; To provide aid and information to students and such young adults throughout the nation to assist them in achieving and maintaining the ideological realization of the beliefs in the Sharon Statement; and to maintain and operate a chapter based organization with national, regional and local networks throughout the United State of America.
From its beginning as an outgrowth of the efforts to obtain the Republican vice presidential nomination for a conservative in 1960 up through its determined campaign to ensure that a conservative vice president was renominated in 1992, YAF was a major player in the politics of late 20th century America.
Karl Zinsmeister
wrote the following about YAF:
Although YAF members and chapters were engaged in many projects to influence public policy and elect conservative candidates to office, the leadership of the organization was well aware that their goals and objectives were more long-term. YAF was recruiting, training and preparing young people to assume even more important roles later in life. YAF spawned many of the organizational elements of the 21st century conservative movement and provided the leadership and manpower to build those publications, organizations, and foundations into the significant elements of American society that they are today.
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 Americans for Freedom, held at William F. Buckley, Jr.
's estate in Sharon, Connecticut
. The statement reads:
Founded in March 1961, one year after the creation of YAF, its first issue appeared under the editorship of Lee Edwards
. Starting out as a sixteen page publication it grew in size and continued as a monthly or ten times a year magazine until 1978 when it was converted to a quarterly magazine with interim newsletters, and was published sporadically thereafter. As the initial editorial noted,
The New Guard served as the voice of Goldwater-Buckley and American conservative youth for decades, but in the 1990s, during the rebuilding years of YAF, the magazine went defunct.
Today, similar to the situation in 1961 when the hard Left decided to take the country down the path of "collectivism, socialism, statism and the other utopian isms," the conservative youth have been re-invigorated, launching a renewed call for the American values of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, traditional values, strong defense and adherence to the Constitution.
In 2010 The New Guard was relaunched and saw its debut at CPAC
2010. Under the guidance of YAF's former Executive Director Jordan Marks, and The New Guard's current Executive Editor, Christopher Bedford, YAF gathered a group of writers, editors and artists to re-found The New Guard. The re-launch came 49 years after it first stood up against a liberal elite that believed Conservatism was dead and socialism was king.
Currently The New Guard is published quarterly and is handed out to thousands of young conservatives across the country.
began to dominate American foreign policy, the old conservatism disintegrated. After Robert Taft
was defeated for the Republican nomination in 1952, non-interventionist conservatism mostly vanished. In the 1950s, a new kind of conservatism arose. This new ideology was formulated in large part by the newspaper Human Events
, the magazine National Review
, and National Reviews editor William F. Buckley, Jr.
This new conservatism combined free-market economics, respect for traditional values
, orderly society
and anti-communism
.
In the late 1960s, the term libertarianism
began to be used for a political philosophy. Many of those who popularized this term were initially part of the conservative movement, but came to separate themselves from the conservatives on certain issues. Libertarians within YAF believed, for example, the military draft was a violation of the individual freedom the organization claimed to embrace. To oppose it they were willing to reject existing laws against burning draft cards and supported those who fled to Canada or went underground when drafted for military service. The conservatives (or traditionalists as they were sometimes called)also opposed the draft directed their efforts towards changing the law. In the end, the goals of both groups were achieved, and YAF was "in the forefront of the drive to end the draft and create a volunteer military."
After 1969, the relationship between conservatives and libertarians in YAF was often rocky. A majority of members identified themselves simply as conservative, but some identified as both conservative and libertarian, and still others identified themselves simply as libertarian. From time to time, power struggles broke out; when this happened, the libertarians almost always ended up losing.
In later years, new viewpoints would be amalgamated by the conservative movement, including neoconservatism
in the early 1970s, the New Right
in the late 1970s and the Religious Right
in the 1980s. Some YAF members identified with some of these philosophies, others opposed them and still others were content to simply identify themselves as conservative without further specificity.
Since its founding, YAF members on college campuses focused primarily on national and international politics, rather than on-campus politics. Thus members were much more likely to pass out handbills for a candidate for Congress than for student body president.
, was drafted. The New Guard magazine made its debut as the official magazine of YAF in 1961. In the first four years of its existence, YAF grew rapidly on college campuses.
Ronald Reagan
joined the YAF National Advisory Board in 1962 and for 42 years served as the Honorary Chairman.
In the 1960s, the Republican Party was divided between its conservative wing, led by Barry Goldwater
, and its more liberal
wing, led by Nelson Rockefeller
. YAF members fell squarely on Goldwater's side and spearheaded the campaign of Barry Goldwater for president. However, some members had sympathy with the conservative Southern Democrats
known as Dixiecrat
s, and thus from its inception YAF was deliberately non-partisan.
On March 7, 1962, a YAF-sponsored conservative rally filled Madison Square Garden
in New York City, drawing 18,000 people. In attendance was Barry Goldwater
. The event has been described as "the birthday of the conservative movement."
The second national YAF convention was held in 1963 at the Gault Hotel in Florida. With over 450 voting delegates in attendance. Hotel management at the Gault Hotel refused accommodations to Don Parker, an African-American delegate from Brooklyn. As word of this spread around the YAFer's in attendance, a number of delegates and numerous others began gathering in the lobby of the hotel demanding that either the Gault Hotel allow all the black YAFers to stay and the hotel change its segregation policy or YAF would move the convention to another site. From that day on any person was allowed into the Gault Hotel.
By 1964, YAF was a major force in the campaign to nominate Goldwater, and then after his nomination, to elect him president. Goldwater's run for the White House catalyzed YAF more than any other event in its history. Lee Edwards, former New Guard editor, said "Barry Goldwater made YAF, but YAF also made Barry Goldwater." Goldwater's massive defeat in the presidential election of 1964 demoralized many members.
"STOP RED TRADE" becomes a hallmark of YAF's 50 plus year history. IBM
, Mack Truck, and Firestone
Tire and Rubber were targeted for engaging in high visibility trade with the Soviet Bloc. YAF successfully stopped Firestone's attempt to build a synthetic rubber plant in communist
Romania through letter-writing campaigns, boycotts, and demonstrations. YAF's plan to distribute 500,000 flyers at the Indianapolis 500
was seen as a key to the decision by Firestone executives to cancel their Romanian plans in April 1965.
YAF faced opposition from groups like the American Nazi Party
because of the presence of Jews in the organization and its close relationship with Marvin Liebman
. Most members also kept their distance from segregationists
such as George Wallace
and conspiracy theorists such as the John Birch Society
.
However, YAF did honor segregationist and Senator from South Carolina
Strom Thurmond
with its Freedom Award in 1962. An unsubstantiated claim has been made that a YAF member was involved with the 'Welcome Mr. Kennedy to Dallas' ad placed in the Dallas Morning News (coincidentally on the morning of JFK's assassination), which accused him of ignoring the constitution.
and radicalism
dominated campuses from the mid-1960s until the early 1970s, primarily as a result of the civil rights movement
and the Vietnam War
. Though outnumbered, YAF went on the offensive against radical left-wing organizations by challenging and rebutting groups like Students for a Democratic Society
(SDS) and New MOBE in support of a U.S. victory in Vietnam. These fights carried YAF into its second decade.
YAF members tended to hold similar opinions to their older compatriots within the conservative movement. YAF began and continued a number of projects to support Vietnam veterans and their causes. "Project Appreciation" gave YAFers the opportunity to write, visit, and provide needed supplies to hospitalized veterans. YAF worked on various POW/MIA issues and treasonous "Hanoi" Jane Fonda
became a target of YAF attacks. While U.S. soldiers were fighting in the fields of Vietnam, YAF was fighting on the college campuses and in communities across the country. YAF, though opposing the draft, supported the move to resist communism in Southeast Asia and in American classrooms. Most Members vocally supported an aggressive policy of seeking victory in the Vietnam War, but opposed how the war was being conducted, such as the use of conscription and allowing the enemy sanctuary in the Laos
, Cambodia
, and North Vietnam
.
A faction of YAF philosophically extended the group's traditional support of limited government in economic issues to social issues and a foreign policy of non-interventionism. This group came to be known as libertarians
. A more serious and lasting challenge for YAF came from this group, those who believed in limited or even no government - radical libertarians and anarchists. Members of this faction were among the founding members of the Libertarian Party
in 1971. In fact the founding of the Libertarian Party was a direct effect of the purging of YAF's Libertarian and Anarchist Caucuses a YAF's 1969 national convention in St. Louis.
The majority of members during this era supported Ronald Reagan
's successful bid for governor of California
in 1966, as well as his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968.
YAF went on the offensive when President Nixon
enacted wage controls, price controls, abandoned the gold standard and opened relations with the communist People's Republic of China
, ceasing relations with Taiwan
. YAF felt he was abandoning conservative principles so YAF publicly denounced the administration for these moves, becoming the first conservative organization to do so.
A number of YAF projects were started as ad hoc committees and affiliated groups to address specific issues. These groups include Youth for the Voluntary Prayer Amendment, Student's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Young America's Foundation, Free Campus News Service, STOP-NSA Committee, and the National Student Committee for Victory in Vietnam. Today some of these organizations still exist, and continue "to fight the good fight."
In 1974, YAF, along with the American Conservative Union
, sponsored a modest and ambitious gathering called the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC). CPAC has become the largest annual gathering of conservatives and is still held annually in the DC area.
On college campuses, YAF was more conservative and less partisan than the College Republicans
. Members were willing to oppose liberal candidates and support conservative candidates regardless or party affiliation. During many local and national races throughout this era, YAF members were divided about whether to support a moderately conservative electable candidate or to support a staunchly conservative long-shot candidate.
YAF supported Reagan's
almost-successful bid to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1976 and his victorious race for the presidency in 1980.
The Carter Administration was an easy target of YAF. With government growth the order of the day, Carter's policies flew in the face of all that YAF stood for. YAF was active in opposing the Panama Canal and SALT treaties. The Iran Hostage Crisis focused public criticism on the Carter Administration and provided YAF a rallying point in 1979. YAF held a campaign to generate thousands of letters of encouragement to the hostages and pressed the Administration to take action.
In 1980, Young Conservatives of Texas
was formed by a group of YAF members in Texas
that broke off to found their own organization. Since that time, YAF itself has never had a major presence in the state. That same year, YAF's long time friend and advisor Ronald Reagan became the 40th President of the United States. The election of Reagan ushered in the conservative decade. YAFers around the nation mobilized in support of Reagan's agenda.
Many YAFers received appointments to the Reagan Administration. Reagan Administration officials and prospective appointees who were targeted by the radical left were strongly defended by YAF. YAFers rallied to the support of Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, Interior Secretary James Watt
, Circuit Court Judge Dan Manion, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork
, and NSC staff member Lt. Colonel Oliver North
.
By the mid-1980s, many of YAF's leaders were in their thirties and long out of college. Some of them held positions in government while continuing to run the organization as a lobbying and fund-raising group for conservative causes. At the same time, internal problems paralyzed the YAF hierarchy. The national board was still controlled by lawyers and lobbyists who remembered the glory days of YAF fund-raising in the early 1980s. The new activist element resented and distrusted the old guard, and began to gradually whittle away at their power.
n Contras
, in favor of Reagan's anti-communist policies and in opposition to the United Nations
.
YAF scored a victory for free speech when the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Boos vs. Barry. The ruling overturned an ordinance in our nation's capitol that forbade demonstrators against a foreign government to carry their protest within 500 feet of the nation's embassy. YAF stood solidly behind the Reagan Doctrine and supported Freedom Fighters around the globe through campus activities. YAF sponsored a variety of speaking tours by representatives of the Nicaraguan Resistance, the Mujahaddin of Afghanistan, UNITA from Angola, and the ARENA Party of El Salvador.
In 1989, an alliance of Californian and New York activists ousted most of the old guard from national leadership positions.
YAF opened the decade after launching the most successful Fall Offensive in recent history. YAF recruiters were active in 16 states and on over 75 college campuses. The drive centered on a push to pardon Oliver North and generated tremendous response in support of this American hero.
By 1991, the national board of YAF contained a majority of Californians—the first time a single state had had a majority in the governing council. However, this new régime found itself unable to effectively run YAF as a financial and organizational entity. The strength of its activism was shattered by the Gulf War
that begin in January 1991. Most members considered President George H. W. Bush
to be insufficiently conservative, and his rhetoric justifying the war -- "a new world order" -- to be dangerously utopia
n. While conservative-oriented students on campuses around the country were showing support for the American effort against Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, many YAF leaders of the time were expressing opposition to the war effort. Thus, an opportunity to expand the organization's membership was lost.
In August 1991, YAF held its 16th National Convention in Washington D.C. YAF members from around the country gathered to reaffirm its commitment to conservative principles and heard such speakers as William F. Buckley, Jr., Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, and G. Gordon Liddy. The following year, YAF National Chairman Jeff Wright met with Vice President Dan Quayle and delivered over 40,000 petitions in support of his renomination as Vice President. YAF launched an Anita Hill Truth Squad and YAFers confronted Anita Hill on college campuses across America. YAF pushed 1992 Republican National Convention to continue strong support for conservative issues.
At the1995 Conservative Political Action Conference, YAF held a "Colloquium on Revolution." Young Americans for Freedom members rallied around speakers such as YAF founding elder Howard Phillips, Congressman Robert Dornan, Joseph Sobran, and other speakers motivating the young crowds to continue YAF's conservative charge to preserve freedom and individual liberty. In 1996, National chairman Jon Pastore led a delegation of YAFers to bring national attention to a group called the North American Man/Boy Love Association
(NAMBLA). NAMBLA members got quite a surprise at one of their events in Washington DC in 1996 when YAFers held banners warning the effects of 'deviant and un-natural sexual practices.'
In 1997, Brian Park, National Director and state Chairman of California YAF, organized support for the rights of American Indians when their tribal sovereignty was being encroached upon by Governor Pete Wilson
.
Full page newspaper ads centered on YAF’s resolution to support tribal sovereignty were place in every major newspaper across the state of California to pressure the Governor. The negotiations failed and the historic Proposition 5 was placed on the ballot in 1998. YAF made over 1 million voter contacts with direct-mail pieces to educate the public on American Indian Sovereignty issues and the measure passed overwhelming with bi-partisan support of 62.4% to 32.6%. Proposition 5 was eventually challenged in the courts and YAF filed a “Friends of the Court” brief (case number S074850) with the State Supreme court in 1999. Though YAF lost, its leg work assisted in a passage of Proposition 1A in year 2000 with no real opposition to fix the legal problems with Proposition 5.
In 1998 Cigar-Man was launched against President Bill Clinton
. A YAFer dressed in a Cigar-Costume followed President Clinton to various fundraising functions to highlight Clinton’s presidential achievements.
At the 1999 Academy Awards in Los Angeles, YAFer's rallied in support of the Academy of Motion Pictures decision to award famous director Elian Kazan with the lifetime achievement award. Confronted by over 600 union activists and other leftists YAFers continued with their peaceful pro-Kazan rally. When the rally turned ugly YAFers defended themselves and assisted the police to apprehend the violent leftist perpetrators.
Later in the 1990s, YAF returned to national advocacy politics. The national office organized petition drives and staged a variety of events to promote the conservative viewpoint on a variety of public issues. Some of these events would have an attention-grabbing theme such as "Pardon Oliver North" and "Impeach Janet Reno".
Beginning in 2009, Young Americans for Freedom has organized a number of new college chapters to supplement the long-standing units on campuses such as Penn State. On college campuses, YAF chapters have been involved in activities including sponsoring conservative speakers, rallies supporting the armed forces, advocacy for strict control of illegal immigration
, demonstrations against affirmative action
and protesting liberal campus speakers. YAF has also organized protests against legislation
enacting anti-discrimination protection for transsexuals.
In 2009, YAF, a coalition of Tea Party groups, retired police and fire fighter association, and Keep America Safe hosted the "9/11 Never Forget" Rally in New York City. The Coalition united to fight the decision of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to try the 9/11 co-conspirators in New York City’s federal court. The coalition claimed Holder's decision gave alleged war criminals the same rights as American citizens; it also said trying the defendants in New York City would endanger the citizenry. The rally brought nationwide attention to Holder's decision and eventually led the Department of Justice and the Obama administration to move the trial from New York City.
with Young Americans for Freedom on April 1, 2011. Young America’s Foundation provides students with speakers, activism programs, conferences and opportunities to learn about Ronald Reagan’s accomplishments by visiting his beloved ranch, Rancho del Cielo, in Santa Barbara, California. Young America's Foundation has been known for bringing speakers like Ann Coulter
, David Horowitz
, and Michelle Malkin
to College Republican groups across the United States.
As of May 16, 2011 Young Americans for Freedom officially became a project of Young America's Foundation
. The existing board members of Young Americans for Freedom, at the time of the unification, became part of a newly formed [board of governors]. Existing YAF chapters are being brought under the Foundation’s auspices. Both existing and new clubs will receive materials, training, support, and encouragement based on decades of activism experience from both organizations.
Young America's Foundation
Young America's Foundation is a conservative youth organization, founded in 1969, with a focus on sharing conservative ideas with students through conferences, campus lectures, seminars, posters, and activism initiatives.-History:...
. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives
Traditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
and libertarians. While the 1960s were its most successful years in terms of numbers and influence, YAF continues to be active as a national organization with chapters throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. YAF's official publication is The New Guard.
According to many historians who have studied YAF, the conservative movement that exists in America today, and especially its beachhead in the Nation's Capital, would not have developed were it not for Young Americans for Freedom.
The purposes of YAF are to advocate public policies consistent with 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...
, which was adopted by young conservatives at a meeting at the home of Mr. William F. Buckley in Sharon, Connecticut on September 11, 1960; To promote social welfare and individual freedom; To study any legislation from any governmental bodies or agencies that seek to affect social and economic problems of the individual; To support the preservation and enhancement of individual freedom for all Americans; To provide aid and information to students and such young adults throughout the nation to assist them in achieving and maintaining the ideological realization of the beliefs in the Sharon Statement; and to maintain and operate a chapter based organization with national, regional and local networks throughout the United State of America.
Influence
YAF's indirect influence is felt through the number of conservative political figures who began their careers as members in college.From its beginning as an outgrowth of the efforts to obtain the Republican vice presidential nomination for a conservative in 1960 up through its determined campaign to ensure that a conservative vice president was renominated in 1992, YAF was a major player in the politics of late 20th century America.
Karl Zinsmeister
Karl Zinsmeister
Karl Zinsmeister is an executive, researcher, and writer. From 2006 to 2009 he served in the White House as President George W. Bush's chief domestic policy adviser, and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.-Biography:...
wrote the following about YAF:
Although YAF members and chapters were engaged in many projects to influence public policy and elect conservative candidates to office, the leadership of the organization was well aware that their goals and objectives were more long-term. YAF was recruiting, training and preparing young people to assume even more important roles later in life. YAF spawned many of the organizational elements of the 21st century conservative movement and provided the leadership and manpower to build those publications, organizations, and foundations into the significant elements of American society that they are today.
Creating a conservative movement
YAF played a critical role in the development of many of the new conservative organizations that were established in the 1960s, 1970s and beyond. Those who were college students and young adults active in YAF went on to form new groups or serve as important personnel in conservative organizations founded by others. To fully understand the influence of YAF on the creation of a lasting movement in America, it is helpful to view those organizations formed by YAF alumni and then those which YAFers have played an important contributing role.Conservative organizations
Below is a list of conservative organizations YAFers founded or played an important contributing role:- American Conservative UnionAmerican Conservative UnionThe American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
- founded in 1964 - William F. Buckley, David R. JonesDavid R. JonesDavid Rumph Jones was a Confederate general in the American Civil War.-Early life:Jones was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina. By his marriage to Sarah Taylor, daughter of Brig. Gen. Joseph Pannell Taylor, he was a nephew of Zachary Taylor, the 12th US President, and a cousin of Jefferson Davis...
& others. - The Fund for American Studies - founded in 1966 - David R. Jones, Charles Edison, Dr. Walter Judd, Marvin Liebman and William F. Buckley Jr.
- The American SpectatorThe American SpectatorThe American Spectator is a conservative U.S. monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. From its founding in 1967 until the late 1980s, the small-circulation magazine featured the writings of authors...
- founded in 1967 - Publisher Alfred S. Regnery; Editor-in-Chief R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. (both YAF alumni) - Conservative Victory Fund - founded in 1969 - Congressman John Ashbrook & Tom WinterThomas Daniel WinterThomas Daniel Winter was a U.S. Representative from Kansas.Born in Columbus, Kansas, Winter attended the public and high schools.During the First World War served as a private in the United States Air Corps in 1918 and 1919....
. - Young Americas Foundation - founded in 1969 - Students at Vanderbilt University, Ron Robinson (YAF) & others
- The Libertarian PartyLibertarian Party (United States)The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
of America - founded in 1971 - David Nolan - American Legislative Exchange CouncilAmerican Legislative Exchange CouncilThe American Legislative Exchange Council is a politically conservative 501 non-profit Policy Organization, consisting of both state legislators and members of the private sector. ALEC's mission statement describes the organization's purpose as the advancement of free-market principles, limited...
- founded in 1973 - Kathy King Rothschild, assisted by Connie Campanella. - Conservative Political Action ConferenceConservative Political Action ConferenceThe Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States....
- started in 1974 - Young Americans for Freedom, American Conservative UnionAmerican Conservative UnionThe American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
, Human EventsHuman EventsHuman Events is a weekly American conservative magazine. It takes its name from the first sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence...
& National ReviewNational ReviewNational 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... - The Conservative CaucusThe Conservative CaucusThe Conservative Caucus, or TCC, is an American public policy organization and lobbying group emphasizing grassroots citizen activism and headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1974 by Howard Phillips, who continues to lead it today...
- founded in 1974 - Howard Phillips - The Second Amendment FoundationSecond Amendment FoundationThe Second Amendment Foundation or SAF is an educational- and legal-defense organization which describes its mission as “promoting a better understanding about our constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms...
- founded in 1974 - Alan Gotlieb; Treasurer Sam Slom, Hawaii State Senator and YAF alumnus - The National Journalism CenterNational Journalism CenterThe 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.-...
- founded in 1977 - M. Stanton Evans - Cato InstituteCato InstituteThe Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
- founded in 1977 - David BoazDavid BoazDavid Boaz is the executive vice president of the Cato Institute, an American libertarian think tank. He played a key role in the Institute's development and the American libertarian movement.... - Reason FoundationReason FoundationThe Reason Foundation is an American nonprofit think tank founded in 1978 that also publishes Reason magazine. Based in Los Angeles, Reason is self-described as nonpartisan and publishes a statement of values that can best be described as libertarian...
- founded in 1978 - Robert W. Poole Jr. - The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education - founded in 1978 - Jay A. Parker
- The Leadership Institute - founded in 1979 - Morton BlackwellMorton BlackwellMorton C. Blackwell is an American Republican Party activist. He is president and founder of the Leadership Institute , a 5013 non-profit educational foundation that teaches political technology....
- Young Conservatives of TexasYoung Conservatives of TexasYoung Conservatives of Texas is a nonpartisan conservative youth organization based in Texas. YCT was founded in 1980 and now has chapters at six universities including Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Austin, and Baylor University.A total of 177...
- founded in 1980 - Steve Munisteri - The Ludwig von Mises InstituteLudwig von Mises InstituteThe Ludwig von Mises Institute , based in Auburn, Alabama, is a libertarian academic organization engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy. Its scholarship is inspired by the work of Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises...
- founded in 1982 - Lewellyn Rockwell - The National Center for Public Policy ResearchNational Center for Public Policy ResearchThe National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a self-described conservative think tank in the United States. Its president since its founding has been Amy Ridenour. David A. Ridenour, her husband, is vice president, and David W. Almasi is executive director...
- founded in 1982 - Amy Moritz Ridnour. - The Institute for Policy Innovation - founded in 1987 - Peter FerraraPeter FerraraPeter J. Ferrara is an American lawyer, policy analyst, and columnist who is the current general counsel for the American Civil Rights Union and analyst for The Heartland Institute...
- The Media Research CenterMedia Research CenterThe Media Research Center is a content analysis organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1987 by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III...
- founded in 1987 - L. Brent Bozell III & Brent Baker - Citizens UnitedCitizens UnitedCitizens United is a conservative non-profit organization in the United States. Its president and chairman is David Bossie.-Overview:Citizens United describes its mission as being dedicated to restoring the United States government to "citizens' control" and to "assert American values of limited...
- founded in 1988 - Floyd BrownFloyd BrownFloyd Gregory Brown is an American author, speaker and media commentator. He is president of Excellentia Inc., a consulting company specializing in non-profit organizational strategy, development and marketing. Brown has also worked as a political consultant and conducted opposition research for... - The American Policy Center - founded in 1988 - Tom DeWeese
- The Goldwater InstituteGoldwater InstituteThe Goldwater Institute is a Phoenix, Arizona-based conservative public policy research organization established in 1988. The president is Darcy A. Olsen. The Goldwater Institute advances public policies with emphasis on lower taxes, limited government spending, school choice, and a reduction in...
- founded in 1988 - Dr. Michael Sanera - The National Legal and Policy CenterNational Legal and Policy CenterThe National Legal and Policy Center is a right-leaning 501 non-profit group that monitors and reports on the ethics of public officials, supporters of liberal causes, and labor unions in the United States. Among the NLPC's more high-profile targets have been Reverend Al Sharpton, Reverend Jesse...
- founded in 1991 - Kenneth Boehm & Peter Flaherty - Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute - founded in 1993 - Michelle Easton
- The Thomas Jefferson Institute - founded in *** - Michael Thompson, Chris Braulich, Randal C. Teague & Robert Turner.
- Grasstops USA - founded in 2004 - Christoper Carmouche
Notable alumni - public service
- U.S. President Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald 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....
, former YAF Honorary National Chairman - U.S Vice President Dan QuayleDan QuayleJames Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
; - U.S. Senator Jeff SessionsJeff SessionsJefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. First elected in 1996, Sessions is a member of the Republican Party...
; - Former U.S. Senator and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge James BuckleyJames L. BuckleyJames Lane Buckley is a retired judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and previously served as a United States Senator from the state of New York as a member of the Conservative Party of New York from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1977...
- U.S. Representative Dana RohrabacherDana RohrabacherDana Tyron Rohrabacher is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 45th and 42nd, serving since 1989. He is a member of the Republican Party...
; - U.S. Representative Ed RoyceEd RoyceEdward Randall "Ed" Royce is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 39th, serving in Congress since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district lies in northern Orange County, including portions of Stanton, Cypress, Buena Park, Fullerton, Anaheim, Placentia, and Orange...
; - U.S. Representative ((James Sensenbrenner));
- U.S. Representative Ted PoeTed PoeLloyd "Ted" Poe is a Republican politician currently representing Texas's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. The district includes most of northern Houston, as well as most of the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area. He is the first Republican to ever...
; - U.S. Representative Peter KingPeter T. KingPeter T. "Pete" King is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. King's central Long Island district includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties....
; - U.S. Representative Chuck FleischmannChuck FleischmannCharles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann is the U.S. Representative for . The district is based in Chattanooga and includes a large swath of East Tennessee, including Oak Ridge. He is a member of the Republican Party....
- U.S. Representative Jeb HensarlingJeb HensarlingJeb Hensarling has been the Republican congressman representing Texas' 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2003.-Early life:...
; - U.S. Representative Donald Manzullo;
- U.S. Representative John "Jimmy" Duncan;
- U.S. Representative Robert E. Bauman, YAF Chairman, ACU founder and national chairman;
- Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox;
- U.S. Circuit Court Judges Daniel A. Manion, Alice Batchelder, Jerry Smith, David B. Sentelle, Danny Boggs, Randall Rader, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, and Paul V. Niemeyer;
- California legislatorLegislatorA legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
Pat NolanPat NolanPatrick J. Nolan is an American lawyer, politician and conservative activist.-Early Political Activism:Nolan began his career as a conservative activist at the age of 14 in the Goldwater for President campaign. Pat was a leader in the Youth for Reagan for Governor in 1966 and in each of Reagan's...
, former California chairman;
Notable alumni - conservative movement
- David KeeneDavid KeeneDavid A. Keene , President of the National Rifle Association as of May 2, 2011, was the chairman of the American Conservative Union, from 1984 to 2011. Additionally, he is the managing associate at the Carmen Group Lobbying, a lobbying firm based in Washington, D.C...
, President of National Rifle AssociationNational Rifle AssociationThe National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
and former Chairman of American Conservative UnionAmerican Conservative UnionThe American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
; - Ron Robinson, President of Young Americas Foundation and former YAF executive director;
- Carol Dawson, YAF founder, former member, US Products Safety Commission, Virginia GOP official;
- Michelle Easton, Founder and President of Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute;
- Christopher Long (ISI), President of Intercollegiate Studies InstituteIntercollegiate Studies InstituteThe Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc., or ', is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1953 as the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists...
and former YAF executive director; - David J. PorterDavid J. PorterDavid Jerome Porter , a Certified Public Accountant, is a member of the Texas Railroad Commission. Formerly in a private CPA practice in Midland in Midland County, Porter has since relocated to Giddings in Lee County, Texas.-Background:...
of GiddingsGiddings, TexasGiddings is the county seat of Lee County, Texas, United States situated on the intersection of U.S. Highways 77 and 290, east of Austin. Its population was 5,105 at the 2000 census. The city's motto is "Giddings Texas: Experience Hometown Hospitality"....
, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Railroad Commission of TexasRailroad Commission of TexasThe Railroad Commission of Texas is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and surface coal and uranium mining .Established by the Texas Legislature in 1891, it is the state's oldest regulatory...
; - James BoppJames Bopp- Biography :Bopp is a native of Terre Haute, Indiana, and holds a bachelor's degree from Indiana University and a law degree from the University of Florida...
Jr., Prominent conservative attorney and Republican National Committeeman from Indiana; - Dr. Lee EdwardsLee EdwardsLee Edwards is a distinguished fellow in conservative thought at the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation...
, Conservative historian, founding YAF member and founding editor of YAF's New Guard Magazine; - M. Stanton Evans, YAF founder and conservative writer;
- Richard ViguerieRichard ViguerieRichard Art Viguerie is a conservative figure, pioneer of political direct mail and writer on American politics...
, Conservative fundraiser, founder of direct mail marketing, and YAF's first executive director; - Deroy MurdockDeroy MurdockDeroy Murdock is an American syndicated columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service and a contributing editor with National Review Online....
, Syndicated columnist; - ((Mark Levin)), Syndicated talk-show host;
- Bruce Eberle, Conservative Fundraiser;
The Sharon Statement
The Sharon StatementSharon 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...
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
Russell Kirk
Russell Kirk was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, literary critic, and fiction author known for his influence on 20th century American conservatism. His 1953 book, The Conservative Mind, gave shape to the amorphous post–World War II conservative movement...
, and adopted on September 11, 1960, the statement is named for the location of the inaugural meeting of Young Americans for Freedom, held at William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...
's estate in Sharon, Connecticut
Sharon, 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...
. The statement reads:
The New Guard - Yesterday and Today
The New Guard is the official publication of Young Americans for Freedom.Founded in March 1961, one year after the creation of YAF, its first issue appeared under the editorship of Lee Edwards
Lee Edwards
Lee Edwards is a distinguished fellow in conservative thought at the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation...
. Starting out as a sixteen page publication it grew in size and continued as a monthly or ten times a year magazine until 1978 when it was converted to a quarterly magazine with interim newsletters, and was published sporadically thereafter. As the initial editorial noted,
The New Guard served as the voice of Goldwater-Buckley and American conservative youth for decades, but in the 1990s, during the rebuilding years of YAF, the magazine went defunct.
Today, similar to the situation in 1961 when the hard Left decided to take the country down the path of "collectivism, socialism, statism and the other utopian isms," the conservative youth have been re-invigorated, launching a renewed call for the American values of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, traditional values, strong defense and adherence to the Constitution.
In 2010 The New Guard was relaunched and saw its debut at CPAC
Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States....
2010. Under the guidance of YAF's former Executive Director Jordan Marks, and The New Guard's current Executive Editor, Christopher Bedford, YAF gathered a group of writers, editors and artists to re-found The New Guard. The re-launch came 49 years after it first stood up against a liberal elite that believed Conservatism was dead and socialism was king.
Currently The New Guard is published quarterly and is handed out to thousands of young conservatives across the country.
Philosophy
Since its founding, YAF continuously identified itself as "conservative". However, the term "conservative" has changed in meaning over several generations. Before World War II, most American conservatives were non-interventionist. But as the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
began to dominate American foreign policy, the old conservatism disintegrated. After Robert Taft
Robert Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft , of the Taft political family of Cincinnati, was a Republican United States Senator and a prominent conservative statesman...
was defeated for the Republican nomination in 1952, non-interventionist conservatism mostly vanished. In the 1950s, a new kind of conservatism arose. This new ideology was formulated in large part by the newspaper 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...
, the magazine 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...
, and National Reviews editor William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...
This new conservatism combined free-market economics, respect for traditional values
Traditional values
Traditional values refer to those beliefs, moral codes, and mores that are passed down from generation to generation within a culture, subculture or community.-Summary:Since the late 1970s in the U.S., the term "traditional values" has become synonymous...
, orderly society
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
and anti-communism
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:...
.
In the late 1960s, the term libertarianism
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
began to be used for a political philosophy. Many of those who popularized this term were initially part of the conservative movement, but came to separate themselves from the conservatives on certain issues. Libertarians within YAF believed, for example, the military draft was a violation of the individual freedom the organization claimed to embrace. To oppose it they were willing to reject existing laws against burning draft cards and supported those who fled to Canada or went underground when drafted for military service. The conservatives (or traditionalists as they were sometimes called)also opposed the draft directed their efforts towards changing the law. In the end, the goals of both groups were achieved, and YAF was "in the forefront of the drive to end the draft and create a volunteer military."
After 1969, the relationship between conservatives and libertarians in YAF was often rocky. A majority of members identified themselves simply as conservative, but some identified as both conservative and libertarian, and still others identified themselves simply as libertarian. From time to time, power struggles broke out; when this happened, the libertarians almost always ended up losing.
In later years, new viewpoints would be amalgamated by the conservative movement, including neoconservatism
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
in the early 1970s, the New Right
New Right
New Right is used in several countries as a descriptive term for various policies or groups that are right-wing. It has also been used to describe the emergence of Eastern European parties after the collapse of communism.-Australia:...
in the late 1970s and the Religious Right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
in the 1980s. Some YAF members identified with some of these philosophies, others opposed them and still others were content to simply identify themselves as conservative without further specificity.
Since its founding, YAF members on college campuses focused primarily on national and international politics, rather than on-campus politics. Thus members were much more likely to pass out handbills for a candidate for Congress than for student body president.
National conservative activism, 1960-1965
In September 1960, about 90 young people met at the Sharon, Connecticut home of William F. Buckley, Jr. They gathered to lay the groundwork for a new national conservative youth organization. It is here that Young Americans for Freedom was born and their statement of principles, the Sharon StatementSharon 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...
, was drafted. The New Guard magazine made its debut as the official magazine of YAF in 1961. In the first four years of its existence, YAF grew rapidly on college campuses.
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....
joined the YAF National Advisory Board in 1962 and for 42 years served as the Honorary Chairman.
In the 1960s, the Republican Party was divided between its conservative wing, led by 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...
, and its more liberal
Liberalism in the United States
Liberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on the unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems, and the separation of church and state, right to due process...
wing, led by Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
. YAF members fell squarely on Goldwater's side and spearheaded the campaign of Barry Goldwater for president. However, some members had sympathy with the conservative Southern Democrats
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...
known as Dixiecrat
Dixiecrat
The States' Rights Democratic Party was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States in 1948...
s, and thus from its inception YAF was deliberately non-partisan.
On March 7, 1962, a YAF-sponsored conservative rally filled Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in New York City, drawing 18,000 people. In attendance was 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...
. The event has been described as "the birthday of the conservative movement."
The second national YAF convention was held in 1963 at the Gault Hotel in Florida. With over 450 voting delegates in attendance. Hotel management at the Gault Hotel refused accommodations to Don Parker, an African-American delegate from Brooklyn. As word of this spread around the YAFer's in attendance, a number of delegates and numerous others began gathering in the lobby of the hotel demanding that either the Gault Hotel allow all the black YAFers to stay and the hotel change its segregation policy or YAF would move the convention to another site. From that day on any person was allowed into the Gault Hotel.
By 1964, YAF was a major force in the campaign to nominate Goldwater, and then after his nomination, to elect him president. Goldwater's run for the White House catalyzed YAF more than any other event in its history. Lee Edwards, former New Guard editor, said "Barry Goldwater made YAF, but YAF also made Barry Goldwater." Goldwater's massive defeat in the presidential election of 1964 demoralized many members.
"STOP RED TRADE" becomes a hallmark of YAF's 50 plus year history. IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, Mack Truck, and Firestone
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 to supply pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles. The company...
Tire and Rubber were targeted for engaging in high visibility trade with the Soviet Bloc. YAF successfully stopped Firestone's attempt to build a synthetic rubber plant in communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
Romania through letter-writing campaigns, boycotts, and demonstrations. YAF's plan to distribute 500,000 flyers at the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
was seen as a key to the decision by Firestone executives to cancel their Romanian plans in April 1965.
YAF faced opposition from groups like the American Nazi Party
American Nazi Party
The American Nazi Party was an American political party founded by discharged U.S. Navy Commander George Lincoln Rockwell. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Rockwell initially called it the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists , but later renamed it the American Nazi Party in...
because of the presence of Jews in the organization and its close relationship with Marvin Liebman
Marvin Liebman
Marvin Liebman , conservative activist and fundraiser, and gay rights advocate....
. Most members also kept their distance from segregationists
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
such as George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
and conspiracy theorists such as the John Birch Society
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....
.
However, YAF did honor segregationist and Senator from South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
with its Freedom Award in 1962. An unsubstantiated claim has been made that a YAF member was involved with the 'Welcome Mr. Kennedy to Dallas' ad placed in the Dallas Morning News (coincidentally on the morning of JFK's assassination), which accused him of ignoring the constitution.
Reaction to radical activism, 1965-1971
LiberalismLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and radicalism
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
dominated campuses from the mid-1960s until the early 1970s, primarily as a result of the civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Though outnumbered, YAF went on the offensive against radical left-wing organizations by challenging and rebutting groups like Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
(SDS) and New MOBE in support of a U.S. victory in Vietnam. These fights carried YAF into its second decade.
YAF members tended to hold similar opinions to their older compatriots within the conservative movement. YAF began and continued a number of projects to support Vietnam veterans and their causes. "Project Appreciation" gave YAFers the opportunity to write, visit, and provide needed supplies to hospitalized veterans. YAF worked on various POW/MIA issues and treasonous "Hanoi" Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
became a target of YAF attacks. While U.S. soldiers were fighting in the fields of Vietnam, YAF was fighting on the college campuses and in communities across the country. YAF, though opposing the draft, supported the move to resist communism in Southeast Asia and in American classrooms. Most Members vocally supported an aggressive policy of seeking victory in the Vietnam War, but opposed how the war was being conducted, such as the use of conscription and allowing the enemy sanctuary in the Laos
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...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, and North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
.
A faction of YAF philosophically extended the group's traditional support of limited government in economic issues to social issues and a foreign policy of non-interventionism. This group came to be known as libertarians
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
. A more serious and lasting challenge for YAF came from this group, those who believed in limited or even no government - radical libertarians and anarchists. Members of this faction were among the founding members of the Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
in 1971. In fact the founding of the Libertarian Party was a direct effect of the purging of YAF's Libertarian and Anarchist Caucuses a YAF's 1969 national convention in St. Louis.
The majority of members during this era supported 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 successful bid for governor of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1966, as well as his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968.
Advocacy politics, 1971-1985
In the 1970s, YAF became much older, demographically speaking. Rather than merely staging campus demonstrations, they focused on influencing national politics by lobbying and occasionally staging and publicizing small demonstrations.YAF went on the offensive when President 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...
enacted wage controls, price controls, abandoned the gold standard and opened relations with the communist People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, ceasing relations with Taiwan
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
. YAF felt he was abandoning conservative principles so YAF publicly denounced the administration for these moves, becoming the first conservative organization to do so.
A number of YAF projects were started as ad hoc committees and affiliated groups to address specific issues. These groups include Youth for the Voluntary Prayer Amendment, Student's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Young America's Foundation, Free Campus News Service, STOP-NSA Committee, and the National Student Committee for Victory in Vietnam. Today some of these organizations still exist, and continue "to fight the good fight."
In 1974, YAF, along with 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:...
, sponsored a modest and ambitious gathering called the Conservative Political Action Conference
Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States....
(CPAC). CPAC has become the largest annual gathering of conservatives and is still held annually in the DC area.
On college campuses, YAF was more conservative and less partisan than the College Republicans
College Republicans
The College Republican National Committee is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States...
. Members were willing to oppose liberal candidates and support conservative candidates regardless or party affiliation. During many local and national races throughout this era, YAF members were divided about whether to support a moderately conservative electable candidate or to support a staunchly conservative long-shot candidate.
YAF supported Reagan's
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....
almost-successful bid to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1976 and his victorious race for the presidency in 1980.
The Carter Administration was an easy target of YAF. With government growth the order of the day, Carter's policies flew in the face of all that YAF stood for. YAF was active in opposing the Panama Canal and SALT treaties. The Iran Hostage Crisis focused public criticism on the Carter Administration and provided YAF a rallying point in 1979. YAF held a campaign to generate thousands of letters of encouragement to the hostages and pressed the Administration to take action.
In 1980, Young Conservatives of Texas
Young Conservatives of Texas
Young Conservatives of Texas is a nonpartisan conservative youth organization based in Texas. YCT was founded in 1980 and now has chapters at six universities including Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Austin, and Baylor University.A total of 177...
was formed by a group of YAF members in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
that broke off to found their own organization. Since that time, YAF itself has never had a major presence in the state. That same year, YAF's long time friend and advisor Ronald Reagan became the 40th President of the United States. The election of Reagan ushered in the conservative decade. YAFers around the nation mobilized in support of Reagan's agenda.
Many YAFers received appointments to the Reagan Administration. Reagan Administration officials and prospective appointees who were targeted by the radical left were strongly defended by YAF. YAFers rallied to the support of Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, Interior Secretary James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
, Circuit Court Judge Dan Manion, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork
Robert Bork
Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
, and NSC staff member Lt. Colonel Oliver North
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, a military historian, and a New York Times best-selling author....
.
By the mid-1980s, many of YAF's leaders were in their thirties and long out of college. Some of them held positions in government while continuing to run the organization as a lobbying and fund-raising group for conservative causes. At the same time, internal problems paralyzed the YAF hierarchy. The national board was still controlled by lawyers and lobbyists who remembered the glory days of YAF fund-raising in the early 1980s. The new activist element resented and distrusted the old guard, and began to gradually whittle away at their power.
Campus activism, 1985-1990
As YAF grew older, most of the original members went on to other things, while younger members dominated YAF. The conservative decade also brings a new resurgence of left-wing intolerance on college campuses. Radical left-wing administrators, faculty, and students go on the rampage in their attempts to silence conservative student organizations and publications. YAFers began focusing on opposing these movements and continued to fight to bring First Amendment rights to college campuses. This growth was strongest in California, where members staged protests in favor of aid to the NicaraguaNicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
, in favor of Reagan's anti-communist policies and in opposition to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
YAF scored a victory for free speech when the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Boos vs. Barry. The ruling overturned an ordinance in our nation's capitol that forbade demonstrators against a foreign government to carry their protest within 500 feet of the nation's embassy. YAF stood solidly behind the Reagan Doctrine and supported Freedom Fighters around the globe through campus activities. YAF sponsored a variety of speaking tours by representatives of the Nicaraguan Resistance, the Mujahaddin of Afghanistan, UNITA from Angola, and the ARENA Party of El Salvador.
In 1989, an alliance of Californian and New York activists ousted most of the old guard from national leadership positions.
YAF opened the decade after launching the most successful Fall Offensive in recent history. YAF recruiters were active in 16 states and on over 75 college campuses. The drive centered on a push to pardon Oliver North and generated tremendous response in support of this American hero.
The rebuilding years 1991-1999
Though the presence of National YAF was lax during the 1990s as they were focusing on revitalizing and rebuilding the organization, there remained very active pockets of YAF activity throughout the country, campus charters and statewide units that organized and operated on their own. California YAF continued as a strong conservative force on campuses and in that state's political arena. Many states like Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia and others still had very active individual campus chapters.By 1991, the national board of YAF contained a majority of Californians—the first time a single state had had a majority in the governing council. However, this new régime found itself unable to effectively run YAF as a financial and organizational entity. The strength of its activism was shattered by the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
that begin in January 1991. Most members considered President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
to be insufficiently conservative, and his rhetoric justifying the war -- "a new world order" -- to be dangerously utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n. While conservative-oriented students on campuses around the country were showing support for the American effort against Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, many YAF leaders of the time were expressing opposition to the war effort. Thus, an opportunity to expand the organization's membership was lost.
In August 1991, YAF held its 16th National Convention in Washington D.C. YAF members from around the country gathered to reaffirm its commitment to conservative principles and heard such speakers as William F. Buckley, Jr., Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, and G. Gordon Liddy. The following year, YAF National Chairman Jeff Wright met with Vice President Dan Quayle and delivered over 40,000 petitions in support of his renomination as Vice President. YAF launched an Anita Hill Truth Squad and YAFers confronted Anita Hill on college campuses across America. YAF pushed 1992 Republican National Convention to continue strong support for conservative issues.
At the1995 Conservative Political Action Conference, YAF held a "Colloquium on Revolution." Young Americans for Freedom members rallied around speakers such as YAF founding elder Howard Phillips, Congressman Robert Dornan, Joseph Sobran, and other speakers motivating the young crowds to continue YAF's conservative charge to preserve freedom and individual liberty. In 1996, National chairman Jon Pastore led a delegation of YAFers to bring national attention to a group called the North American Man/Boy Love Association
North American Man/Boy Love Association
The North American Man/Boy Love Association is a pedophile and pederasty advocacy organization in the United States that works to abolish age of consent laws criminalizing adult sexual involvement with minors, and for the release of all men who have been jailed for sexual contacts with minors that...
(NAMBLA). NAMBLA members got quite a surprise at one of their events in Washington DC in 1996 when YAFers held banners warning the effects of 'deviant and un-natural sexual practices.'
In 1997, Brian Park, National Director and state Chairman of California YAF, organized support for the rights of American Indians when their tribal sovereignty was being encroached upon by Governor Pete Wilson
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton "Pete" Wilson is an American politician from California. Wilson, a Republican, served as the 36th Governor of California , the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that included eight years as a United States Senator , eleven years as Mayor of San Diego and...
.
Full page newspaper ads centered on YAF’s resolution to support tribal sovereignty were place in every major newspaper across the state of California to pressure the Governor. The negotiations failed and the historic Proposition 5 was placed on the ballot in 1998. YAF made over 1 million voter contacts with direct-mail pieces to educate the public on American Indian Sovereignty issues and the measure passed overwhelming with bi-partisan support of 62.4% to 32.6%. Proposition 5 was eventually challenged in the courts and YAF filed a “Friends of the Court” brief (case number S074850) with the State Supreme court in 1999. Though YAF lost, its leg work assisted in a passage of Proposition 1A in year 2000 with no real opposition to fix the legal problems with Proposition 5.
In 1998 Cigar-Man was launched against President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. A YAFer dressed in a Cigar-Costume followed President Clinton to various fundraising functions to highlight Clinton’s presidential achievements.
At the 1999 Academy Awards in Los Angeles, YAFer's rallied in support of the Academy of Motion Pictures decision to award famous director Elian Kazan with the lifetime achievement award. Confronted by over 600 union activists and other leftists YAFers continued with their peaceful pro-Kazan rally. When the rally turned ugly YAFers defended themselves and assisted the police to apprehend the violent leftist perpetrators.
Later in the 1990s, YAF returned to national advocacy politics. The national office organized petition drives and staged a variety of events to promote the conservative viewpoint on a variety of public issues. Some of these events would have an attention-grabbing theme such as "Pardon Oliver North" and "Impeach Janet Reno".
Resurgence 2000-2010
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
, demonstrations against affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
and protesting liberal campus speakers. YAF has also organized protests against legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
enacting anti-discrimination protection for transsexuals.
In 2009, YAF, a coalition of Tea Party groups, retired police and fire fighter association, and Keep America Safe hosted the "9/11 Never Forget" Rally in New York City. The Coalition united to fight the decision of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to try the 9/11 co-conspirators in New York City’s federal court. The coalition claimed Holder's decision gave alleged war criminals the same rights as American citizens; it also said trying the defendants in New York City would endanger the citizenry. The rally brought nationwide attention to Holder's decision and eventually led the Department of Justice and the Obama administration to move the trial from New York City.
Unification with Young Americas Foundation
On March 16, 2011, Young Americans for Freedom passed National Board Resolution #001, unifying the Young America's FoundationYoung America's Foundation
Young America's Foundation is a conservative youth organization, founded in 1969, with a focus on sharing conservative ideas with students through conferences, campus lectures, seminars, posters, and activism initiatives.-History:...
with Young Americans for Freedom on April 1, 2011. Young America’s Foundation provides students with speakers, activism programs, conferences and opportunities to learn about Ronald Reagan’s accomplishments by visiting his beloved ranch, Rancho del Cielo, in Santa Barbara, California. Young America's Foundation has been known for bringing speakers like Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter
Ann Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...
, David Horowitz
David Horowitz
David Joel Horowitz is an American conservative writer and policy advocate. Horowitz was raised by parents who were both members of the American Communist Party. Between 1956 and 1975, Horowitz was an outspoken adherent of the New Left before rejecting Marxism completely...
, and Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin is an American conservative blogger, political commentator, and author. Her weekly syndicated column appears in a number of newspapers and websites. She is a Fox News Channel contributor and has been a guest on MSNBC, C-SPAN, and national radio programs...
to College Republican groups across the United States.
As of May 16, 2011 Young Americans for Freedom officially became a project of Young America's Foundation
Young America's Foundation
Young America's Foundation is a conservative youth organization, founded in 1969, with a focus on sharing conservative ideas with students through conferences, campus lectures, seminars, posters, and activism initiatives.-History:...
. The existing board members of Young Americans for Freedom, at the time of the unification, became part of a newly formed [board of governors]. Existing YAF chapters are being brought under the Foundation’s auspices. Both existing and new clubs will receive materials, training, support, and encouragement based on decades of activism experience from both organizations.
Further reading
- Andrew, John A., III. The Other Side of the Sixties: Young Americans for Freedom and the Rise of Conservative Politics. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press (1997), 286 pages, ISBN 0-8135-2400-8 (paper). Covers the history of YAF from 1960 to 1964.
- Crawford, Alan. Thunder on the Right: The "New Right" and the Politics of Resentment. New York: Pantheon Books (1980), 381 pages, ISBN 0-394-74862-X (paper). A negative portrayal of 1970s and 1980s conservatism, including much material on YAF.
- Klatch, Rebecca E "A Generation Divided" Berkeley, University of California Press (1999), 334 pages, ISBN 0-520-21713-6 (paper). A scholarly and academic work with many references to Young Americans for Freedom, SDS, and campus activism of the 1960s and early 1970s.
- Nash, George H. The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945. Wilmington, Delaware: Intercollegiate Studies Institute (1996), 467 pages, ISBN 1-882926-12-9 (hardcover). A history of the different strains of conservative ideology from 1945 until 1976, updated to 1996 in the second edition.
- Rusher, William A.William A. RusherWilliam Allen Rusher was an American lawyer, author, activist, speaker, debater, and conservative syndicated columnist. He was one of the founders of the conservative movement and was one of its most prominent spokesmen for thirty years.- Early life :Rusher was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1923...
The Rise of the Right. New York: National Review Books (1993), 261 pages, ISBN 0-9627841-2-5 (paper). A history of American political conservatism from 1953 until 1981, updated to 1993 in the second edition. Includes much material on YAF. - Schneider, Gregory L. Cadres for Conservatism: Young Americans for Freedom and the Rise of the Contemporary Right. New York: New York University Press (1999), 263 pages, ISBN 0-8147-8108-X (hardcover). Covers the history of YAF from 1960 to 1985.
- Thorburn, Wayne. A Generation Awakes: Young Americans for Freedom and the Creation of the Conservative Movement. Ottawa, IL: Jameson Books (2010), 564 pages, ISBN 978-0-89803-168-3 (hardcover). Covers the history of YAF from 1960 to the mid-1990s.