I am a former seven-year veteran of The Heritage Foundation and consider it to be the premier think tank of the conservative movement today. There has been a recent fracture in the movement, including some pretenders, and many up-and-coming conservative and center-right organizations have tried to take advantage by training their fire at Heritage in the wake of the Tucker Carlson controversy. I am part of the libertarian-ish wing of the movement and have my disputes with some of the policies of Heritage, yet I still look at that institution as the unchallenged leader of modern conservative thought.
I consider my time at Heritage to be formative years in my thinking. I was exposed to an amazing array of policy analysts who wrote educational papers targeting thought leaders in Washington, D.C. Paul Weyrich and Ed Feulner started the foundation in 1973 to be a conservative answer to the liberal Brookings Institution. The original focus of Heritage was on pro-business economic policy, anti-communism, and it weighed in on cultural issues of the day. That same core of economic, foreign policy, and ethical issues still prevail today at the think tank.
Clearly, the conservative movement has shifted from the policies promoted by President George W. Bush to President Donald Trump, and the institution has reflected that shift. As we enter the 250th anniversary of the founding of America, The Heritage Foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary two years ago. There are parallels. Our brilliant Founders established an independent nation with a constitution, containing a separation of powers between three branches of government, reserving powers not explicitly for the federal government to the states. Similarly, the Heritage Foundation was established by two patriots who wanted to advance those ideals in the modern age.
Heritage is the leading conservative think tank to reframe important conversations. The institution has been at the forefront of the America First movement while aggressively defending the core beliefs of constitutional conservatism and economic freedom. There are other great conservative organizations that also advocate those ideals, such as the Conservative Partnership Institute, The Center for Renewing America, and the America First Policy Institute, yet they exist because of the movement Heritage helped create.
Conservatism stresses the importance of the American family. Family values are championed by Heritage by promoting community stability and maintaining a uniquely American culture. Part of the battle is to push back on ideas that do not cherish the family, including policies that do not promote a family-centered society. Earlier this year, Heritage promoted ideas that could be adopted by Washington, D.C., to make families stronger and pointed out that “close to 80 percent of babies in Wards 7 and 8 are born to unmarried parents.” It is not a coincidence that crime is a problem in these areas of the district.
Free enterprise has always been a core principle at The Heritage Foundation. Working gives people dignity and provides economic independence from government. While politicians like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are promoting collectivism and socialist governance as a solution to America’s problems, conservatives promote economic freedom from government interference to allow human empowerment to promote civic participation voluntarily. As Americans For Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist champions, the “Leave Me Alone” coalition is one that Americans embrace, and Heritage pushes.
Heritage has always had a focus on national security issues. America First supporters believe that our national defense should make sure that foreign threats are met with force and deterrence. Our sovereignty is frequently denigrated by treaties and a perception that America is not prepared to defend its borders. As a person who supported Trump’s ideas of no new foreign wars, I was a strong supporter of his campaign pledge that promoted restraint and walked away from the more interventionist platforms that led to Bush’s prolonged nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan and President Barack Obama’s ill-fated support of regime change in Libya and Syria.
HERITAGE FOUNDATION REPORT CALLS ON US TO PRIORITIZE MARRIAGE
The conservative movement has been a strong promoter of American heritage, citizenship, and a look at our nation’s history as a great one. This is at a time when loud voices on the Left demonize our Founders. Progressives want to replace the ideas of a limited federal government with a collectivist socialist vision that has failed so many other nations.
While many opportunistic “conservatives” jumped on Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts for standing up for the idea of free speech during the Carlson controversy, a dispassionate view of his actions should have given him a clean bill of ideological health. The Heritage Foundation has hit many speed bumps over the years (see support of TARP and blame for being the inspiration for Obamacare), however the institution stands tall and survives as the unchallenged leader of conservative thought today.
Brian Darling is a former Director of Senate Relations and Sr. Fellow for Government Studies at The Heritage Foundation (2005-2012).