“While others chased headlines, Ed Feulner built institutions.” So said former Vice President Mike Pence, keynoting last week’s William L. Armstrong Award dinner at Colorado Christian University (CCU), where we honored the life and legacy of Ed Feulner — the indispensable leader of the conservative movement for over 50 years.
The award is the highest honor given by CCU every year, and is named in honor of my father, the late U.S. Senator and CCU President Bill Armstrong. This year’s recipient, Feulner, was especially meaningful because he and my dad were close friends and allies for decades. Feulner was the co-founder and longtime president of the Heritage Foundation.
Feulner’s life reminds us that principles matter more than personalities, and that is especially important in today’s political climate, dominated by the cult of personalities on all sides. Under his leadership, the Heritage Foundation demonstrated the power of data, research, and scholarly publications to change political discourse. He showed that ideas are more powerful than parties, and that homework and facts win over rhetoric and bluster.
He and his allies, including Armstrong, were instrumental in rebuilding America’s founding principles during some of the country’s darkest hours, especially after Vietnam and Watergate. Feulner became a godfather to the conservative movement worldwide, an advisor to presidents from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump, and an inspiration to generations to lead this country to even greater heights.
And he traveled the world marketing the promise of freedom as the universal dream of humanity. As a student in 1961, the construction of the Berlin Wall prevented him from taking a planned trip to East Berlin; he was there in 1989 to help tear it down.
His life and work touched millions of people all over the world. He didn’t just lead the Heritage Foundation; he also helped found, lead, and encouraged scores of other groups. He wrote nine books and contributed to a dozen others. He served on boards and committees at the Hoover Institution, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Council on National Policy, Regis (right here in Denver) and George Mason Universities, America’s Future Foundation, and dozens of others. He encouraged creation of the National Taxpayers Union, State Policy Network, American Legislative Exchange Council, Cato Institute, Leadership Institute, National Right to Work Committee, Free Congress Foundation — there are simply too many to name.
The July 30th dinner was the 10th Anniversary of the Armstrong Award and the first time it was given posthumously. Ed son, E.J. Feulner, and his family were on hand to accept the award, and Pence’s keynote address highlighted his own friendship and history with Feulner.
Feulner and Pence co-authored Feulner’s last published essay, “Rediscovering Order in an Age of Populism,” in which they wrote that conservatism is “a promise, a calling, a duty to preserve what is good and cultivate what is enduring.” They were alarmed that, “the urgency of this moment demands a return to first principles, along with a reexamination of what conservatism means and what it seeks to achieve in an age marked by cultural upheaval and political polarization.”
He talked about the importance of “institution building” and saw himself as “a person who, at the right time, saw the need to fill certain niches in what we now broadly call the conservative movement,” and a vision to “build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.”
Feulner was an innovative leader who set a higher standard, from which we can all find hope and inspiration. He dedicated his life and talents to the great cause of faith, family, and freedom.
EDWIN J. FEULNER JR., 1941-2025
While his biography is fascinating history, his real contribution was his vision for the future, and the way he motivated so many others to become leaders in the conservative cause. “Onward,” he would often say. It was about the future for Feulner, as it must be for us.
There will never be another quite like him, and we are a better country because he was part of it.
Wil Armstrong is an entrepreneur and investor in Denver, chairman of the Board of Trustees at Colorado Christian University, and son of the late Sen. Bill Armstrong (R-Colo., 1979-1990).