Customer Reviews

Funding Fathers: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book provides numerous inspiring stories about individuals who give of their resources to help improve our country. Some of the stories are truly spine-tingling. Consider the man who emigrated to this country, made a lot of money, and then met Ronald Reagan in the White House. He died at the White House with Reagan standing over him. A tragedy....but the man left millions to an organization that years later...purchased the Reagan Ranch to preserve it and make it available for young people to enjoy and learn about Ronald Reagan. And the organization in question, Young America's Foundation, where the authors work, didn't even know the story until after the ranch had been purchased. I highly recommend this book.

This book allowed me to connect with the roots of the Conservative Movement, giving me a one-of-a-kind look at how some of my heroes--Ronald Reagan, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Barry Goldwater, to name a few--got their starts, at the great personal sacrifices of the aptly-named "unsung heroes" of the Movement.

This is the only book of its kind.

For those who follow the Conservative Movement, this book documents those who made prominent conservative success stories possible. We may know about The Conscience of a Conservative, National Review, etc., but who made those possible? It took funds to get those projects started. This book finally gives credit to those individuals.

It is amazing the influence individuals can have when they choose to sacrifice their own personal wealth to advance the Conservative Movement. William Volker and Harold Luhnow created the Volker Fund which sparked a revival of free market ideas. They made possible for someone like Milton Friedman to attend the first meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society which sparked his further interest in free market ideas. They also subsidized the translation of Bastiat's The Law into English among many other projects and initiatives.

This is just one of the amazing stories contained in the book.

For anyone who wants to know who made many of the Conservative Movement's most well-known success stories possible, definitely purchase this book!

Ron Robinson and Nicole Hoplin have written a fascinating book about the unknown donors that made the conservative movement what it is today. I also enjoyed the introduction which puts today's campaign finance laws in perspective and highlights how the media treat conservative and liberal philanthropists very differently. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of Goldwater, Reagan (it discusses the funding of both), and anyone interested in the history of the Conservative Movement.

This is the only book of its kind.

For those who follow the Conservative Movement, this book documents those who made prominent conservative success stories possible. We may know about The Conscience of a Conservative, National Review, etc., but who made those possible? It took funds to get those projects started. This book finally gives credit to those individuals.

It is amazing the influence individuals can have when they choose to sacrifice their own personal wealth to advance the Conservative Movement. William Volker and Harold Luhnow created the Volker Fund which sparked a revival of free market ideas. They made possible for someone like Milton Friedman to attend the first meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society which sparked his further interest in free market ideas. They also subsidized the translation of Bastiat's The Law into English among many other projects and initiatives.

This is just one of the amazing stories contained in the book.

For anyone who wants to know who made many of the Conservative Movement's most well-known success stories possible, definitely purchase this book!

"And before there was Ronald Reagan there was Barry Goldwater, and before there was Barry Goldwater there was National Review, and before there was National Review, there was Bill Buckley with a spark in his mind..." - George Will

So starts Chapter 3 of this interesting book. It's a quick read but chock full of information that makes you think "Gee, I didn't know that!"

I learned that William F. Buckley penned God and Man at Yale based on his experience there during the 1940s. I thought, as do many, that the Liberalism of the Ivy League started in the '60s.

Buckley was also key in the founding of the YAF - Young Americans for Freedom. YAF, in 1974, created the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) dedicated to to the growth of conservative ideas.

I recommend this book to Conservatives and Independents who want to know more about the roots of the Conservatism. I'd also recommend it to Liberals who want to know how the opposition thinks!

A great message in the book is that every gift makes a difference, regardless of its size. Even gifts that seem at the time they are made to be small or relatively meaningless, in the grand scheme of things can still have a profound affect on the conservative movement and our world as a whole. I find those stories in the book particularly motivating and fun to read about.

I am about half way through with the book and it is pretty interesting to learn about the people who really helped start a movement that has such a profound effect on the world.

Funding Fathers is political clap-trap designed encourage people to donate to conservative causes. This book about history is really propaganda for the American Right-wing. Its a paper back fund-raiser, first they sell you the book, cha-ching, then when you read it they sell you on the idea of donating to the cause of stopping liberals. This would be more effective if the book didn't read as a 250 page love letter to affluent financiers of regressive policies.
The best story was of the self made man who died at the Reagan White House only to leave millions to an organization that purchased and maintains the Reagan Ranch to inculcate people with ideas and facts about Reagan. This story is interesting because it makes it sound like Reagan may have killed the man and then looted his corpse.

All in all this book is not worth the time it takes to order, much less read. If you decide to purchase it, make sure to buy it used. Don't waste your money on this snooze-fest.

I think the other reviews were written by the publisher.