American Enterprise Institute leads coordinated think tank support for Iraq invasion, with over 20 AEI staff serving in Bush administration posts. Demonstrates systematic implementation of Powell Memo institutional capture strategy, using crisis to accelerate think tank influence over policy through …
American Enterprise InstituteHeritage FoundationDick CheneyPaul WolfowitzRichard Perlethink-tank-coordinationpowell-memo-implementationinstitutional-capturepersonnel-embeddingiraq-war+1 more
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card established the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) in August 2002, a strategic communications task force chaired by Karl Rove to coordinate a systematic propaganda campaign for the Iraq invasion. The group, including key officials like Condoleezza Rice and Lewis …
Andrew CardKarl RoveCondoleezza RiceLewis LibbyKaren Hughes+2 morewhigcrisis-accelerationpowell-memo-implementationpropaganda-coordinationiraq-war+1 more
By 1987, the Heritage Foundation’s annual budget had reached $14.3 million, representing a doubling from $7.1 million in 1981 and demonstrating the massive scale of corporate investment in conservative policy infrastructure. The foundation would reach $14.6 million by 1988, establishing …
In 1986, the Madison Group was established as an informal confederation of state-level think tanks and their supporters, named after the Madison Hotel in Washington, DC where they first met. This network, which would be formalized as the State Policy Network (SPN) in 1992, represented the extension …
Thomas A. RoeAmerican Legislative Exchange CouncilHeritage FoundationSouth Carolina Policy CouncilHeartland Institutethink-tank-infrastructurestate-capturealec-coordinationpowell-memo-implementationcoordinated-networks
In 1985, the Bradley Foundation underwent a dramatic transformation when Rockwell International Corporation acquired the Allen-Bradley Company, expanding the foundation’s assets from $14 million to over $290 million - a more than 20-fold increase. This windfall enabled systematic, coordinated …
Michael S. JoyceLynde and Harry Bradley FoundationHeritage FoundationFederalist SocietyAmerican Enterprise Institute+2 morefoundation-fundingthink-tank-infrastructureconservative-movementcoordinated-fundingpowell-memo-implementation
In May 1981, during the Reagan administration, Tim LaHaye (then head of the Moral Majority), Paul Weyrich, Nelson Bunker Hunt, T. Cullen Davis, Howard Phillips, and William Cies founded the Council for National Policy (CNP) as an umbrella organization and networking group for conservative and …
Tim LaHayePaul WeyrichNelson Bunker HuntHoward PhillipsT. Cullen Davis+1 moreconservative-coordinationsecretive-networksreligious-rightpowell-memo-implementationelite-networks
Justice Lewis Powell delivers 8-1 majority opinion in Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York (447 U.S. 557), striking down New York ban on utility promotional advertising and establishing four-part “Central Hudson test” for commercial speech …
Lewis F. Powell Jr.Supreme Court of the United StatesCentral Hudson Gas & Electric CorporationNew York Public Service Commissioncommercial-speech-rightscentral-hudson-testcorporate-advertising-rightspowell-memo-implementationutility-regulation+1 more
Justice Lewis Powell delivers majority opinion in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (435 U.S. 765), establishing for first time that corporations have First Amendment speech rights to influence ballot initiatives and political campaigns. Powell’s 5-4 decision strikes down Massachusetts …
Lewis F. Powell Jr.Supreme Court of the United StatesFirst National Bank of BostonFrancis X. Bellotti (Massachusetts Attorney General)Corporate Interestscorporate-speech-rightsfirst-amendmentbellotti-decisionpowell-memo-implementationcampaign-finance+1 more
In 1977, Charles Koch (chairman and CEO of Koch Industries), Ed Crane, and Murray Rothbard founded the Cato Institute, establishing a libertarian think tank that would become central to promoting deregulation, privatization, and reduced government oversight across all sectors of American society. …
Charles KochEd CraneMurray RothbardKoch Industriesthink-tank-infrastructurekoch-networklibertarian-movementderegulationprivatization+1 more
By 1977, the American Enterprise Institute’s budget had surged to approximately $10 million, representing more than a 12-fold increase from its 1970 budget of $800,000. This dramatic expansion transformed AEI from a modest research organization into a major policy influence machine, …
American Enterprise InstituteWilliam Baroody Sr.Gerald FordHoward Pew Freedom TrustJohn M. Olin Foundation+1 morethink-tank-infrastructurepowell-memo-implementationcorporate-fundingpolicy-launderingconservative-movement
The Heritage Foundation is officially founded by Paul Weyrich, Edwin Feulner, and Joseph Coors, implementing the strategic vision outlined in the Powell Memorandum. Coors provides the crucial seed funding of $250,000 to establish what becomes one of the most influential conservative think tanks in …
Paul WeyrichEdwin FeulnerJoseph CoorsRichard Mellon ScaifeHeritage Foundationthink-tank-foundingconservative-movementcorporate-influencepolitical-infrastructurenarrative-control+1 more
President Nixon nominates corporate lawyer Lewis Powell to Supreme Court as Associate Justice, just 59 days after Powell wrote confidential memo to Chamber of Commerce calling for business to acquire “political power” and use courts as “most important instrument for social, …
Richard NixonLewis F. Powell Jr.U.S. SenateWilliam H. Rehnquistsupreme-court-nominationjudicial-capturepowell-memo-implementationcorporate-judicial-strategy