The founders of the modern American conservative movement
were a very accomplished group of people. They made
conservatism viable, respectable, and attainable, shaking up
stodgy establishment types in the halls of academia and
government and giving people in all walks of American life
a good look at what our government, our economy, and our
society could be. Among these stalwarts of the Right was
Lee Edwards.
Born in 1932, Edwards devoted his time, energy, and intellect
to advancing the conservative movement in so many, many ways.
He was a signatory of the Sharon Statement, so called because of
its origins on the estate of the Buckley family (William F. Buckley!)
in 1960 when WFB and some conservative college students drafted
a manifesto declaring what those gathered stood for and what they
advocated and worked for, which included (but wasn't limited to!)
a free market economy; political freedom, which they acknowledged
could not be possible without economic freedom; individual freedom
and the right of governing, both of which originate with God.
Edwards helped found Young Americans for Freedom (Your faithful
Peasant was a member in my own college days!). He worked on
the Barry Goldwater presidential campaign in 1964. He authored
and co-authored more than two dozen books about conservatism and
conservatives. He was the founding chairman of the Victims of
Communism Memorial Foundation. He wrote many articles for
National Review, and served on the Advisory Committee of National
Review Institute's Buckley Legacy Project. Edwards likely served
the cause of conservatism in other ways as well. And now, at age 92,
his work finished, Lee Edwards is enjoying his Final Reward.
A well-earned reward indeed, I'm sure!
Requiescat in pace.
MEM
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