Council for National Policy

Last updated
Council for National Policy
AbbreviationCNP
Formation1981
TypePublic policy think tank
Website cfnp.org

The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group that advocates for conservative and Republican Party initiatives in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHaye and the Christian right, to "bring more focus and force to conservative advocacy". [1] [2] [3] The membership list for September 2020 was later leaked, showing that members included prominent Republicans and conservatives. Members are instructed not to reveal their membership or even name the group. [4]

Contents

The CNP has been described by The New York Times as "a little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country", who meet three times yearly behind closed doors at undisclosed locations for a confidential conference. [5] The Nation has called it a secretive organization that "networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy". [6]

Meetings and membership

About the CNP, Marc Ambinder of ABC News said: "The group wants to be the conservative version of the Council on Foreign Relations." The CNP was founded in 1981. Among its founding members were: Tim LaHaye, then the head of the Moral Majority, Nelson Bunker Hunt, T. Cullen Davis, William Cies, Howard Phillips, [7] and Paul Weyrich. [8]

Members of the CNP have included General John Singlaub, shipping magnate J. Peter Grace, Edwin Feulner of The Heritage Foundation, Rev. Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Jerry Falwell, U.S. Senator Trent Lott, Southern Baptist Convention activists and retired Texas Court of Appeals Judge Paul Pressler, lawyer and paleoconservative activist Michael Peroutka, [9] Reverend Paige Patterson, [10] Senator Don Nickles, former United States Attorneys General Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft, gun-rights activist Larry Pratt, Colonel Oliver North, Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, philanthropist Elsa Prince (mother of Blackwater founder and former CEO Erik Prince and Trump Administration Secretary of Education Betsy Devos), Leonard Leo, Virginia Thomas (wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas). [1] Former California State Assemblyman Steve Baldwin was CNP's executive director from 2000 to 2008. [11] Conservative attorney Cleta Mitchell sits on the board of governors for the organization. [12]

Membership is by invitation only. The organization's membership list is considered "strictly confidential". Guests may attend "only with the unanimous approval of the executive committee." Members are instructed not to refer to the organization by name to protect against leaks. [5] The New York Times political writer David D. Kirkpatrick suggested that the organization's secrecy since its founding was intended to insulate it "from what its members considered the liberal bias of the news media." [2] CNP's meetings are closed to the general public to allow for a free-flowing exchange of ideas. The group meets three times per year. [13] This policy is said to be similar to the long-held policy of the Council on Foreign Relations, to which the CNP has at times been compared. CNP's 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status was revoked by the IRS in 1992 on grounds that it was not an organization run for the public benefit. The group successfully challenged this ruling in federal court.[ citation needed ]

While those involved in the organization are almost entirely from the United States, their organizations and influence cover the globe, both religiously and politically. Members include corporate executives, [14] legislators, [14] former high ranking government officers, [14] leaders of 'think tanks' [14] dedicated to molding society and those whom many view as "Christian leadership". [14]

In May 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a leaked copy of the membership directory for 2014. [15] [16]

A membership list for September 2020, leaked a year later, included Jerome Corsi, Michael Farris, Brigitte Gabriel, Frank Gaffney, Charlie Kirk, Tony Perkins, and Mathew Staver. [4] [17]

Conferences and political plans

Leading members of the CNP voted in a meeting at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, on September 29, 2007, to consider launching a third party candidate if the 2008 Republican nominee were pro-choice. (The candidacy of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who held liberal opinions on social issues such as abortion, gay rights and gun ownership, had disturbed the Christian right.) The CNP's statement read, "If the Republican Party nominates a pro-abortion candidate, we will consider running a third-party candidate." Attending the meeting were notable social conservatives, including James Dobson, Richard Viguerie, Tony Perkins and Morton Blackwell. [18] [19]

CNP has membership links to the Committee for the Free World, whose many other members included, among others, some members of the Unification Church of the United States, some Republican Party leaders, and counter-revolutionaries in Latin America, particularly during the 1980s. [20] Midge Decter served as Executive Director of its committee. [21] [22] [23] Other members included Jeane Kirkpatrick, Leszek Kołakowski, Irving Kristol, Melvin J. Lasky, Seymour M. Lipset, Donald Rumsfeld, Tom Stoppard and George Will. Eugene V. Rostow, then serving as Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under President Ronald Reagan, was a speaker at a CFW event on Poland. [24]

CNP's membership also overlaps significantly with that of the Arlington Group, a coalition of conservative Christian organizations which spearheaded ballot initiatives banning gay marriage in thirty-two states in the 2000s; [25] [26] [27] and with the second, third and fourth iterations of the Committee on the Present Danger.[ citation needed ]

In his June 1997 speech at a CNP meeting in Montreal, Quebec, then president of the National Citizens' Coalition, Stephen Harper—who later served as the prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015—said that the American "conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people [of Canada] and across the world." [28]

In 1999, a speech given to the CNP by Republican candidate George W. Bush is credited with helping him gain the support of conservatives in his successful bid for the United States Presidency in 2000. The content of the speech has never been released by the CNP or by Bush. [29]

In February 2007, the organization planned to be involved in the 2008 presidential election campaign and actively sought candidate that would represent their views. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney [30] and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney [31] spoke at a four-day conference that the council held in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the last week of September 2007. The Council for National Policy scheduled a conference in late October 2007; other than Giuliani, most Republican presidential candidates pledged to appear. [32]

On August 21, 2020, President Trump attended a CNP meeting where he gave a speech. [33]

In an October 14, 2020, Washington Post article, which described the CNP as a "little-known group that has served for decades as a hub for a nationwide network of conservative activists and the donors who support them", one of the attendees of the August 2020 meeting in Arlington, warned of plans by Democrats to "steal this election". He said that, "if they get away with that, what happens? Democracy is finished because they usher in totalitarianism." [1]

Leadership

CNP was founded in 1981 by Southern Baptist pastor Tim LaHaye, author of The Battle for the Mind (1980) and the Left Behind series of books. Other early participants have included W. Cleon Skousen, a theologian within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and founder of the Freemen Institute; Paul Weyrich; Phyllis Schlafly; Robert Grant; Howard Phillips, a former Republican affiliated with the Constitution Party; Richard Viguerie, the direct-mail specialist; and Morton Blackwell, a Louisiana and Virginia activist who is considered a specialist on the rules of the Republican Party. [34] [35] [36]

The council's first executive director was Woody Jenkins; later, Morton Blackwell and Bob Reccord served in this role. Organization presidents have included Nelson Bunker Hunt of Dallas, Amway co-founder Richard DeVos of Michigan, Pat Robertson of Virginia Beach, retired Judge Paul Pressler of Houston, former Reagan Cabinet secretaries Edwin Meese and Donald Hodel, former Reagan advisor and President of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute Kenneth Cribb, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, and current President (as of 2014) Stuart Epperson, founder of the Salem Media Group. [36] [37] [38] [39]

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republican Party (United States)</span> American political party

The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. It emerged as the main political rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since then.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reagan Democrat</span> Democratic voters who supported Republican president Ronald Reagan

A Reagan Democrat is a traditionally Democratic voter in the United States, referring to working class residents who supported Republican presidential candidates Ronald Reagan in the 1980 and/or the 1984 presidential elections, and/or George H. W. Bush during the 1988 presidential election. The term Reagan Democrat remains part of the lexicon in American political jargon because of Reagan's continued widespread popularity among a large segment of the electorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeane Kirkpatrick</span> American diplomat and presidential advisor (1926–2006)

Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a longtime Democrat who became a neoconservative and switched to the Republican Party in 1985. After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy adviser in his 1980 presidential campaign, she became the first woman to serve as United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage Foundation studies, including its Mandate for Leadership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockefeller Republican</span> Political ideology within the US Republican Party

The Rockefeller Republicans were members of the United States Republican Party (GOP) in the 1930s–1970s who held moderate-to-liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1959–1973) and Vice President of the U.S. (1974–1977). Rockefeller Republicans were most common in the Northeast and the industrial Midwestern states, while they were rare in the South and the West.

The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization affiliated with the Republican Party which works to educate the LGBT+ community and Republicans about each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative Party of New York State</span> Conservative third party in the United States

The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U.S. Senate in 1970 and served for one term. Since 2010, the party has held "Row C" on New York ballots—the third-place ballot position, directly below the Democratic and Republican parties—because it received the third-highest number of votes of any political party in the 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 New York gubernatorial elections. The party is known for its strategy of attempting to influence the Republican Party in a more conservative direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Citizens Coalition</span>

The National Citizens Coalition (NCC) is a Canadian conservative lobby group that was incorporated in 1975 by Colin M. Brown, a successful insurance agent who strongly opposed public health insurance—medicare. In response to what he perceived to be excessive government spending in Canada, Brown had begun an advertisement campaign in 1967. Its slogan is “More freedom through less government.” campaigns against public sector unions and in favour of smaller government and lower taxes.

The Arlington Group was a coalition uniting the leaders of prominent Christian conservative organizations in the United States. Founded in 2002 principally through the efforts of American Family Association President Donald Wildmon and Free Congress Foundation Chairman Paul Weyrich, the group sought to establish consensus goals and strategy among its members and translate its combined constituency into an overwhelming force within the Republican Party, particularly at its highest levels. Its membership and purpose overlapped to a high degree with the Council for National Policy; but the group is much more narrowly focused, choosing to emphasize such issues as same-sex marriage, abortion, and confirmation of like-minded federal judges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political positions of Rudy Giuliani</span> Remarks and positions of politician Rudy Giuliani

Below are remarks and positions of Rudy Giuliani, former candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Mayor Giuliani has described himself as a moderate Republican.

John Terrence "Terry" Dolan was an American New Right political activist who was a co-founder and chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC). Dolan was also, during the mid to late 1970s, in the leadership of Christian Voice, "the nation's oldest conservative Christian lobby".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public image of Rudy Giuliani</span> Former mayor of New York

Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, and a candidate for President of the United States in 2008, Rudy Giuliani was both glorified and criticized in the public sphere for his past actions. Many credited him with reducing crime and improving the city's economy and lauded his leadership during the September 11, 2001 attacks and his coordination of the emergency response in the immediate aftermath. Others disapproved of his policies and political positions as Mayor and candidate and criticized the perceived glorification of his role in the aftermath of 9/11 during the 2008 campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reagan era</span> Period in the history of the United States, 1981–1991

The Reagan era or the Age of Reagan is a periodization of recent American history used by historians and political observers to emphasize that the conservative "Reagan Revolution" led by President Ronald Reagan in domestic and foreign policy had a lasting impact. It overlaps with what political scientists call the Sixth Party System. Definitions of the Reagan era universally include the 1980s, while more extensive definitions may also include the late 1970s, the 1990s, and even the 2000s. In his 2008 book, The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974–2008, historian and journalist Sean Wilentz argues that Reagan dominated this stretch of American history in the same way that Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal legacy dominated the four decades that preceded it.

Women in conservatism in the United States have advocated for social, political, economic, and cultural conservative policies since anti-suffragism. Leading conservative women such as Phyllis Schlafly have expressed that women should embrace their privileged essential nature. This thread of belief can be traced through the anti-suffrage movement, the Red Scare, and the Reagan Era, and is still present in the 21st century, especially in several conservative women's organizations such as Concerned Women for America and the Independent Women's Forum.

LGBTQ+ conservatism in the United States is a social and political ideology within the LGBTQ+ community that largely aligns with the American conservative movement. LGBTQ+ conservatism is generally more moderate on social issues than social conservatism, instead emphasizing values associated with fiscal conservatism, libertarian conservatism, and neoconservatism.

The platform of the Republican Party of the United States has historically been based on American conservatism, contrasting with the modern liberalism of the Democratic Party. The positions of the Republican Party have evolved over time. Currently, the party's fiscal conservatism includes support for lower taxes, gun rights, government conservatism, free market capitalism, free trade, deregulation of corporations, and restrictions on labor unions. The party's social conservatism includes support for gun rights outlined in the Second Amendment, the death penalty, and other traditional values, often with a Christian foundation, including restrictions on abortion. In foreign policy, Republicans usually favor increased military spending, strong national defense, and unilateral action. Other Republican positions include opposition to illegal immigration, drug legalization, pornography and affirmative action, as well as support for school choice, and school prayer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Kirk</span> American political activist (born 1993)

Charles James Kirk is an American conservative political activist, author and media personality. With Bill Montgomery, he co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012, for which Kirk serves as executive director. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Turning Point Action, Turning Point Academy, and Turning Point Faith; president of Turning Point Endowment; and a member of the Council for National Policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Boykin</span> American political candidate, podcaster, and author

Peter Boykin is an American activist, known for being the founder and president of Gays for Trump. A member of the Republican Party, Boykin was a candidate in the 2024 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Brownback 2008 presidential campaign</span> 2008 Presidential campaign of Sam Brownback

The 2008 presidential campaign of Sam Brownback, a U.S. Senator from Kansas, began on December 4, 2006, with the formation of an exploratory committee. Several weeks later on January 20, 2007, Brownback officially announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. Brownback had first been elected to the Senate in a special election in 1996, previously having been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was popular among social conservatives and positioned himself as a compassionate conservative, often using his Catholic faith to justify some of his policy positions. From the start of his announcement, media outlets noted that his candidacy was a long-shot and highly unlikely to succeed, and throughout the campaign, Brownback struggled with both fundraising and rising above single-digits in opinion polls.

References

  1. 1 2 3 O'Harrow Jr., Robert (October 14, 2020). "Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: 'Be not afraid of the accusations that you're a voter suppressor'". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Kirkpatrick, David D. (February 24, 2007). "Christian Right Labors to Find '08 Candidate". The New York Times. Washington, DC. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  3. ↑ Nelson, Anne (2019). "Shadow Network". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  4. 1 2 Wilson, Jason (30 September 2021). "Top Republicans rub shoulders with extremists in secretive rightwing group, leak reveals". The Guardian.
  5. 1 2 Kirkpatrick, David K. (August 28, 2004). "The 2004 Campaign: The Conservative; Club of the Most Powerful Gathers in Strictest Privacy". The New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  6. ↑ Max Blumenthal, Secretive Right-Wing Group Vetted Palin Archived 2014-05-29 at the Wayback Machine thenation.com 09/01/2008
  7. ↑ "A History of Accomplishment". The Conservative Caucus. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Inside the Council for National Policy ABC News May 8, 2008
  9. ↑ Kirkpatrick, David D. (August 28, 2004). "The 2004 Campaign: The Conservatives; Club of the Most Powerful Gathers in Strictest Privacy". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ The War for Thee University, page 191. November 1991. Retrieved February 16, 2011.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  11. ↑ "About Steve Baldwin". Archived from the original on 2016-03-06.
  12. ↑ Nelson, Anne (February 22, 2021). "How the CNP, a Republican Powerhouse, Helped Spawn Trumpism, Disrupted the Transfer of Power, and Stoked the Assault on the Capitol". The Washington Spectator. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  13. ↑ Gibbs, Nancy; Duffy, Michael (October 4, 2007). "Still Looking for Mr. Right". Time . Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Adam Clymer, "Conservatives Gather in Umbrella Council for a National Policy", The New York Times, May 20, 1981
  15. ↑ "The Council for National Policy: Behind the Curtain | Southern Poverty Law Center" . Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  16. ↑ Berlet, Chip (2018). Trumping democracy in the United States : from Ronald Reagan to alt-right. London: Routledge. ISBN   978-1-315-43839-9. OCLC   1129904664.
  17. ↑ Leonard, Kimberly; Relman, Eliza; Beckler, Hannah (24 September 2021). "One of the most secretive and powerful groups in GOP politics just had its cellphone numbers leaked. Here's what its members said about Trump 2024 when we started calling". Business Insider.
  18. ↑ Martin, Jonathan (2007-09-30). "Social conservatives may back 3rd party over Rudy". POLITICO.com. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  19. ↑ Scherer, Michael (2007-09-30). "Religious right may blackball Giuliani". Salon. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  20. ↑ "Committee for the Free World - Political Research Associates - Right Web". Rightweb.irc-online.org. 7 January 1989. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  21. ↑ "Board of Trustees".
  22. ↑ "Midge Decter". National Endowment for the Humanities.
  23. ↑ Decter, Midge (2001). An old wife's tale : my seven decades in love and war. New York: Regan Books. ISBN   978-0-06-039428-8. OCLC   46421841.
  24. ↑ Judith Miller, Arms control chief asserts Reagan is uncertain how to use power, The New York Times, January 23, 1982
  25. ↑ Ireland, Doug (Summer 2006). "Back to the Future: GOP Revives Anti-Gay Marriage Campaign for '06". The Public Eye Magazine . Retrieved 2020-01-19– via Political Research Associates.
  26. ↑ "Blackwell is darling of foes of gay marriage". Democratic Underground. 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  27. ↑ Sheryl Gay Stolberg (2005-01-25). "Backers of Gay Marriage Ban Use Social Security as Cudgel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  28. ↑ "National Citizens Coalition (NCC) – Harper's presidency was a critical period]". The Harper Index. May 11, 2007. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  29. ↑ ABC
  30. ↑ Gonzalez, Nathan C. (2007-09-28). "VP Cheney makes quick trip to Utah to address secretive conservative policy group". Salt Lake Tribune .
  31. ↑ Gibbs, Nancy (2007-10-05). "Still Looking For Mr. Right". Time . Archived from the original on February 3, 2008.
  32. ↑ "Christian Conservatives Vow To Back Third Party Candidate If Giuliani Wins GOP Nomination", Bismarck, SD CBS affiliate, http://www.kxmb.com/News/Nation/167321.asp Archived 2007-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ↑ Donald Trump (August 2020), Speech by Donald Trump, Arlington{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  34. ↑ "Home - Americans United". www.au.org.
  35. ↑ "Council for National Policy". www.nndb.com.
  36. 1 2 "Behind closed doors: who is the council for national policy and what are they up to? And why don't they want you to know? - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
  37. ↑ "Council for National Policy (CNP) - I - J - K - Member Biographies". www.seekgod.ca.
  38. ↑ "Council for National Policy Executives & Members". www.seekgod.ca. Archived from the original on 2007-06-20. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
  39. ↑ "Tony Perkins, President". Family Research Council. 2003-08-21. Retrieved 2020-01-19.

38°53′45.0″N77°0′35.2″W / 38.895833°N 77.009778°W / 38.895833; -77.009778

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.