OPINION:
Paul Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation, died Thursday at age 66. Mr. Weyrich, one of the giants of the modern conservative movement, co-founded the Heritage Foundation in 1973 and founded the Free Congress Foundation the following year. He spent the past three and a half decades working to build political coalitions in support of limited government, a strong national defense and traditional values.
Mr. Weyrich was a journalist before coming to Washington as an aide to Sen. Gordon Allott, Colorado Republican, in 1967. Shortly after starting work on Capitol Hill, Mr. Weyrich received by mistake an invitation to a luncheon held by liberal congressional staffers. Mr. Weyrich decided to attend, and as he told John Gizzi of Human Events, he was impressed by the way Hill staffers and members of liberal interest groups interacted, giving assignments to one another and agreeing to meet again to advance their political agenda. He realized that without similar “networking” efforts of their own, conservatives would lag behind. So, Paul Weyrich dedicated his professional life to making sure that conservatives formed lobbying networks and coalitions of their own.
The conservative movement is better off thanks to his work, and the political left does not have the overwhelming dominance it had when Mr. Weyrich came to Washington more than 40 years ago. Even with a liberal Democrat in the White House and Democrats controlling both houses of Congress starting next month, conservatives today have a political infrastructure of people and organizations that did not exist during LBJ’s presidency. Without Mr. Weyrich’s tireless efforts, its clear that this loyal opposition would be much weaker than it currently is - or perhaps nonexistent.
Even in the final years of his life, with his body worn down by diabetes and the amputation of his legs, Mr. Weyrich continued to fight for conservative principles. His final column, which appeared yesterday on the Free Congress Foundation Web site, was titled: “The Next Conservativism: A Serious Agenda for the Future.” In it, he wrote that “It is the best of times because we still live in the greatest nation on earth. It is the best of years because we have the freedom to speak our minds. It is the best of years because we can organize as we see fit to support the candidates of our choice.”
Paul Weyrich was a great leader and a man of principle who will be sorely missed.
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