Feulner, Edwin J., Jr. 1941- (Edwin John Feulner, Jr.)

views updated

Feulner, Edwin J., Jr. 1941- (Edwin John Feulner, Jr.)

PERSONAL:

Surname is pronounced Full-ner; born August 12, 1941, in Chicago, IL; son of Edwin John and Helen J. Feulner; married Linda C. Leventhal, March 8, 1969; children: Edwin John III, Emily V. Education: Regis College, B.S., 1963; attended London School of Economics and Political Science, 1965; University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, M.B.A., 1974; University of Edinburgh, Ph.D., 1981; attended Georgetown University. Politics: Republican. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Alexandria, VA. Office—Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, journalist, columnist, administrator, lecturer, educator, political scientist, consultant, and government official. London School of Economics, Richard Weaver Fellow, 1965; Center for Strategic and International Studies, fellow, 1965-66; Hoover Institution, public affairs fellow, 1966-68; U.S. House of Representatives, research analyst, 1968-69; U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, DC, confidential assistant to U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, 1969-70; U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, administrative assistant to U.S. Representative Philip M. Crane, 1970-74, executive director of Republican Study Committee, 1974-77; Institute for European Defense and Strategic Studies, chair, 1977-96; Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC, president, 1977—. Public affairs fellow at Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, 1965-67; guest lecturer at colleges and universities.

Manhattan Institute, member of board of trustees and vice chairman, 1977-86; Institute for European Defense and Strategic Studies, London, England, chair, 1979—; Intercollegiate Studies Institute, vice chair of the board, 1979, chairman of the board, 1989-93; Francisco Marroquin Institute of Research in Economics and Taxation, founder, 1980-87, and member of board of trustees; President's Commission on White House Fellows, member, 1981-83; American Council for Germany, trustee, 1982-92; Roe Foundation, vice chairman of the board of directors, 1983; Commission on Security and Economic Assistance, member, 1983; Citizens for American Education Foundation, chair, 1985-89; Aequus Institute, vice chair of the board, 1989; Council on National Policy, member of executive committee, 1993-2001; George Mason University, member of board of visitors, 1996-2004; National Chamber Foundation, trustee, 1998; America's Future Foundation, member of executive Council, 1998; Multimedia Supercorridor International Advisory Council, Malaysia, member, 2001—; Centre for Applied Economic Research, member of scientific committee, Rome, Italy; Center for Research and Education in Free Enterprise at Texas A&M University, chair of national advisory board; U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, chair; Institut Economique de Paris, member of advisory council; Bryce Harlow Foundation, member of council of advisors; Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, secretary; member of board of trustees of Rockford Institute, Lehrman Institute, Roe Foundation, Sarah Scaife Foundation, St. James School, Sequoia National Bank, Regis University, International Republican Institute, Acton Institute, and Intercollegiate Studies Institute. Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea, distinguished visiting professor, 2001. Guest on television shows, including Fox and Friends, Situation Room with Tucker Carlson, and Hannity and Colmes.

MEMBER:

International Institute for Strategic Studies, American Economics Association, American Political Science Association, U.S. Strategic Institute, Transportation Research Forum, Institute d'Etudes Politiques, Mont Pelerin Society (treasurer, 1979-96, 2000; president, 1996-98; senior vice president, 1998-2000), Union League Club, University Club (Washington, DC), Reform Club (London, England), Philadelphia Society (treasurer, 1964-69; president, 1982-83); Belle Haven Country Club, Metropolitan Club, Reform Club, Bohemian Club, Old Dominion Boat Club, Knights of Malta, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, Alpha Kappa Psi.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Washington Award, Freedom Foundation, 1979, 1980; American Eagle Award, Invest-in-America National Council, 1983; Distinguished Alumni Award, Regis University, 1985; named Free Enterprise Man of the Year, Texas A&M University, 1985; Superior Publication Service Award, Department of the Navy, 1987; Presidential Citizens Medal, 1989; Director's Service Award, USIA, 1992; Decorated Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon, Republic of China, 1992; Named Man of the Year, Wharton School, 1993; Thomas Jefferson Servant Leadership Award, Council on National Policy, 1996; Gwanghwa Medal, Republic of Korea, 2003; Walter Judd Freedom Award, Fund for American studies, 2004; Lawrence Summers Memorial Award, 2004; Order of Diplomatic Service Merit; Joseph Wharton Award. Recipient of honorary degrees from Nichols College, Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Thomas More College, Bellevue College, Pepperdine University, St. Norbert College, Gonzaga University, Grove City College, Hillsdale College, Thomas More University, and Hanyang University.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

(With Samuel F. Clabaugh) Trading with the Communists, Center for Strategic Studies (Washington, DC), 1968.

Congress and the New International Economic Order, Heritage Foundation (Washington, DC), 1976.

(Editor) China: The Turning Point, Council on American Affairs (Washington, DC), 1976.

Looking Back, Heritage Foundation (Washington, DC), 1981.

(Editor) U.S.-Japan Mutual Security, Heritage Foundation and Japan Center for the Study of Security Issues (Washington, DC), 1981.

Conservatives Stalk the House: The Republican Study Committee, Green Hill (Ottawa, IL), 1982.

U.S. Foreign Policy in Asia and the Pacific, Heritage Foundation (Washington, DC), 1984.

A Foreign Policy in Service of Freedom, Center for Education and Research in Free Enterprise, Texas A&M University (College Station, TX), 1989.

(Editor and author of introduction) The March of Freedom: Modern Classics in Conservative Thought, 1998.

(Editor and author of introduction) Leadership for America: The Principles of Conservatism, Spence Publishing Co. (Dallas, TX), 2000.

(With Doug Wilson) Getting America Right: The True Conservative Values Our Nation Needs Today, Crown Forum (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to professional journals and periodicals, including Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Policy Review, publisher, 1977-2001.

Author of syndicated biweekly column.

SIDELIGHTS:

A prolific writer and journalist, active government official and political consultant, multiple award-winning intellectual and political scientist, and educator at universities throughout the world, Edwin J. Feulner, Jr., is a leading proponent of political conservatism who frequently writes and lectures on conservative issues, American foreign policy, and associated subjects. He is president of the Heritage Foundation, a leading Washington public policy think tank. In his long career, he has served on numerous government commissions and panels, as assistant to government officials and candidates for office, and, for a brief time, as the U.S. representative to the United Nations. When President Ronald Reagan awarded Feulner the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989, he declared Feulner to be "a leader of the conservative movement" in American politics.

In Conservatives Stalk the House: The Republican Study Committee, Feulner recounts the history and mission of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) from its founding in 1970 to 1982. Once the executive director of the RSC, Feulner draws on his inside knowledge to trace the origins and accomplishments of the conservative Republican group. The RSC originated "when a group of conservative congressmen, taking their cue from the highly successful DSG, forswore their highly individualistic, even maverick, habits and organized in the interests of more effective legislative action," reported Chilton Williamson, Jr., in the National Review. The Democrat Study Group (DSG), founded in the fifties, championed causes more aligned with the Democratic party, and the Republicans found it prudent to form their own similar group. By the early 1980s, the RSC had 150 dues-paying members, and had earned a "reputation for being the conservative conscience of the House of Representatives, where it opposes Democratic legislation and, very often, offers programs of its own," Williamson noted.

With Getting America Right: The True Conservative Values Our Nation Needs Today, Feulner and coauthor Doug Wilson look carefully at the behemoth the Republican-controlled federal government has become and call for a "renewed assault against the waste, corruption, and soul-sapping inefficiency of the federal bureaucracy," commented Anthony Dick in the National Review. Feulner and Wilson support a variety of reforms that they believe will restore vitality to the federal level of government. They suggest application of measures such as mandatory expiration dates for appropriations bills; line-item veto powers; earmark disclosures; establishing a flat-tax structure; privatizing Social Security; and a variety of revisions of accounting practices that will streamline funding and accountability. The authors, however, recognize that imposing these reforms would be a difficult task that would meet with tremendous resistance, and that a dramatic change in the attitude of Washington would be required before any of their suggestions could be applied with success. Conflicts between Republicans and Democrats would be a prime source of friction. "Regardless of the reader's ideology, however, this book makes for a clear articulation of core conservative ideas," noted a Publishers Weekly contributor. Mary Rose Ryback, writing in the Weekly Standard, called Feulner and Wilson's work a "model of argumentation and commentary; the authors do not simply identify a program's failings, they supply a detailed plan to correct them."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Multinational Monitor, April, 2004, "The Lawrence Summers Memorial Award," p. 8.

National Review, September 30, 1983, Chilton Williamson, Jr., review of Conservatives Stalk the House: The Republican Study Committee, p. 1227; April 10, 2006, Anthony Dick, review of Getting America Right: The True Conservative Values Our Nation Needs Today, p. 54.

Publishers Weekly, February 13, 2006, review of Getting America Right, p. 80.

Weekly Standard, May 15, 2006, Mary Rose Rybak, "The Standard Reader," review of Getting America Right.