Libertas 32.2

Fall 2011

Vol. 32 • No. 2

September 23, 2011 Dear Friends, Ronald Reagan’s book collection at his beloved Western White House, Rancho del Cielo, includes a biography of football legend Vince Lombardi for whom football’s ultimate trophy is named. Lombardi helped build great teams—at West Point and with the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, and Washington Redskins—by focusing on the basics. Conservatives can still learn from Lombardi’s fundamental approach.

One such basic is that conservatives must effectively compete for the hearts and minds of America’s students.

Ronald Reagan understood that and noted, “There is a spark in all of us which, if struck at just the right age, can light up the rest of our lives!”

Reagan sought to address students throughout his career. Many of President Reagan’s most important speeches were to college students at Notre Dame University, Moscow State University, Oxford University, and Fudan University. Why are students such an attractive audience?

Students are most impressionable. They are often hearing ideas for the first time. They are less likely to be set in their ways, which is often the case with older Americans—myself included.

Many college students are away from home—and family influences—for the first time in their lives. They leave their familiar environments to learn new and different ideas.

Young Americans also have a lot of time on their hands as students and in the years to come. Because their class schedules are so relaxed, most young people have time to think through issues, hear guest lectures, and engage in causes. In addition, a student won over to our cause in his or her teens or early twenties could have decades of activism ahead.

In the shadow of the Obama administration’s failed policies, students are open to hearing your conservative values and ideas. Young people aren’t just worried about their own dismal job prospects; they are also concerned by the hard times facing their parents and families. The Obama administration is telling them this is the best we can do.

We have an opportunity to tell them that there is a better way.

Schools have many forums—even on campuses threatened by politically-correct policies—to express conservative ideas. Classroom and seminar discussions, campus clubs, guest lectures, informal dorm room discussions, and ongoing social networking allow for the free flow of ideas.

So, if freedom’s cause is to advance, our ideas must be competitive in our high schools and colleges. Ronald Reagan’s public career reflected such an insight. It is also a basic for Young America’s Foundation.

Sincerely,

Ron Robinson President

C ontents A United YAF

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Young Americans for Freedom joins forces with Young America’s Foundation to advance freedom on more campuses nationwide.

By Patrick X. Coyle, Vice President

High School Students Walk in Reagan’s Footsteps Students visit Rancho del Cielo and learn from Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Dr. Burt Folsom, Nonie Darwish, and others at the fifth annual Reagan Ranch High School Conference.

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Modern-American artist Steve Penley shares the vision behind his patriotic artwork and his focus on Ronald Reagan.

By Danielle Fowler, Assistant Curator

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“Another Time for Choosing”

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Governor Palin offers her thoughts on freedom, Ronald Reagan, and the future of our nation.

By Governor Sarah Palin

A Journey Through Reagan Country

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Students nationwide bring Reagan 100 Scholars to their schools.

By Patrick X. Coyle, Vice President

Activist Prevails Over Campus Left Despite leftist detractors, James Madison University’s Emily Buck hosts a successful speaking event featuring Kate Obenshain.

By Jessica Jensen, Editor

By Katie Taran, Program Officer

Portraits of American Icons

Bringing Ronald Reagan’s Ideas to Campus

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NJC Alumni Profile: Amanda Carey A young reporter gets her start in print media through the National Journalism Center.

By Nikki Grey, National Journalism Center Alumnus

Congressman Allen West Headlines Reagan 100 Luncheon The freshman congressman urges Foundation supporters to “take Ronald Reagan’s mission forward for the next generation.”

By Kate Obenshain, Vice President

Santa Barbara business owners reflect on their relationships with Ronald Reagan.

By Matt Bloise, National Journalism Center Alumnus

On the Cover: Young America’s Foundation thanks artist Steve Penley for allowing us to reproduce his Reagan portrait for this issue of Libertas. As the inspiration for this painting, Penley said he used “a great photograph of Reagan which radiated his optimistic outlook for America.” Of the painting itself, Penley said, “The golden yellow colors reminded me of the West and the Ranch.”

Also in this issue: • Rumsfeld, McCotter, and Buchanan Headline Rawhide Circle Retreat – page 4 • Top Student Activists Visit Rancho del Cielo – page 5 • Congressman Wilson and Erick Erickson Inspire Students at CPAC – page 7 • How You Can Honor Ronald Reagan – page 18 • Explore Alaska with Foundation Leaders and VIP Speakers – page 35 Libertas, a publication of Young America’s Foundation, highlights the programs, events, students, staff, and supporters of the Foundation. You may contact Libertas and Young America’s Foundation by writing to: Young America’s Foundation, National Headquarters, 110 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170; calling 800-USA-1776; or visiting http://www.yaf.org.

Libertas Fall 2011

Ron Robinson President of the Board Ronald Pearson Vice President of the Board Frank Donatelli Secretary and Treasurer of the Board T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Wynton C. Hall Thomas L. Phillips Peter Schweizer James B. Taylor Kirby Wilbur

Publisher: Ron Robinson; Editor: Jessica Jensen; Publication Design: Jonathan Briggs; California event photographers Jacqueline Pilar, Kevin Steele, and Jensen Sutta; Washington, D.C event photographer Spencer Anderson. This document and all herein contents, images, stories, graphics, and design, fall unto Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Young America’s Foundation, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Any use of Libertas’ content without the written permission of Young America’s Foundation is prohibited.

Frank Donatelli Chairman Judge William Clark Co-Chairman Edwin Meese Co-Chairman Governor George Allen John Barletta Dr. Suzanne Becker Lisa M. Buestrin Robert Cummins Becky Norton Dunlop Robert Giuffra, Jr. Timothy S. Goeglein Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold Eric & Nicole Hoplin Marty Irving Harold Knapheide Mark Larson Al & Bette Moore Governor Bill Owens Doug & Pat Perry Thomas Phillips Dr. Robert Ruhe Fred & Ruth Sacher Richard and Jane Schwartz Lee Shannon Craig Shirley Owen & Bernadette Casey Smith Mrs. Gene Waddell

Thomas Phillips Chairman Alex X. Mooney Executive Director Peter Barnes Kellyanne Conway Terry Eastland David Gracey Rich Lowry Matt Robinson Tom Winter

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Rumsfeld, McCotter, and Buchanan Address Rawhide Circle Retreat Young America’s Foundation’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of President Reagan’s birth included the annual Rawhide Circle Retreat in Santa Barbara, California. More than 100 loyal friends and Foundation supporters enjoyed events at the Reagan Ranch, Reagan Ranch Center, and the historic Biltmore Four Seasons Resort.

The retreat opened at the Reagan Ranch Center with a reception and dinner featuring Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Secretary Rumsfeld entertained guests with his trademark humor and provided a candid assessment of current affairs, expressing concern over federal spending and the Obama administration’s defense policy.

The weekend continued with a breakfast briefing featuring Foundation President Ron Robinson, Vice President Andrew Coffin, student activist Caroline Rushing, and Foundation alumnus Nicholas Hahn. The group then headed up the mountain for a spectacular spring afternoon at Rancho del Cielo.

(From left) Attorney General Edwin Meese and his wife, Ursula, meet with Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the 2011 Rawhide Circle Retreat at the Reagan Ranch Center.

Young America’s Foundation President Ron Robinson addresses the Foundation’s Rawhide Circle supporters during the annual gathering in Santa Barbara, California.

While at the Ranch, the Foundation’s leadership and guests honored Reagan Ranch Board of Governors members Al and Bette Moore and their special gift to sponsor the Tack Barn Acre.

Congressman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan addressed the gathering during a barbecue lunch and drew many parallels between the country’s problems under President Obama’s watch and those under President Carter in the 1970s.

The Rawhide Circle Retreat closed with a reception and dinner banquet at the Biltmore featuring 37th Treasurer of the United States and current activist Bay Buchanan.

(From left) President Reagan’s close friend and Secret Service agent John Barletta honors Bette and Al Moore during the dedication of Rancho del Cielo’s Tack Barn Acre which was sponsored by the Moores.

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Top Student Activists Rewarded with Reagan Ranch Visit Young America’s Foundation welcomed some of the top conservative student activists in the country to our 2011 Club 100 Reagan Ranch Retreat. Club 100 is the Foundation’s activist rewards program which recognizes the hard work and tenacity of conservative students who host speakers, organize campus initiatives, and attend Foundation conferences.

At the end of each school year, the top activists are invited to the Reagan Ranch to hear from leading conservative speakers, participate in strategy sessions, and ride horseback on trails very similar to those President Reagan rode at Rancho del Cielo. Attendees also tour Ronald Reagan’s beloved ranch home and the Reagan Ranch Center.

This year, attendees heard from best-selling author and internet pioneer Andrew Breitbart, documentary filmmaker Ann McElhinney, activist and author David Horowitz, Foundation Director and Washington State GOP Chairman Kirby Wilbur, and retired Secret Service agent and Reagan Ranch Board of Governors member John Barletta.

As a group, these students hosted a number of high profile campus speakers including Ben Stein, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Karl Rove, Herman Cain, and others. The events these activists organized helped ensure thousands of additional students heard conservative ideas.

Members of the Foundation’s activist rewards program—Club 100—receive certificates recognizing their efforts to advance conservative ideas on campuses nationwide.

Foundation Vice President Andrew Coffin (right) interviews retired Secret Service agent John Barletta (left) who shares stories about his close friend and riding partner, President Reagan.

Congratulations to the students who qualified to attend Young America’s Foundation’s 2011 Club 100 Reagan Ranch Retreat: Janie Abel – Canisius College Mike Cunningham – Purdue University Anthony Dent – University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Tim Duffy – University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Kate Edwards – University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee John Eick – University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Mike Fincher – University of California – Merced John Gillespie – High Point University Ethan Hollenberger – Marquette University John Howting – Miami University – Ohio Emily Lofgren – Drake University John Mantia – Fordham University Laurel Recsetar – Scottsdale Christian Academy Caroline Rushing – University of Virginia Suzanne Santos – Sante Fe College Stephen Sebastian – Furman University Marc Seelinger – University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Justin Thompson – University of Massachusetts – Amherst Giovanni Tomasi – The George Washington University Ben Walters – University of West Florida Alice Wang – Yale University

Leading activist and author David Horowitz signs copies of his book, Reforming Our Universities, during the Club 100 Reagan Ranch Retreat.

Club 100 Reagan Ranch Retreat participants enjoy a campfire and camaraderie with like-minded friends.

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Actor Joseph Phillips Discusses Why “Race Matters” Actor, writer, and social commentator Joseph Phillips spoke to students, supporters, and community members on race and political correctness at the Reagan Ranch Center.

The address, entitled “Race Matters,” was part of the 2011 Wendy P. McCaw Reagan Ranch Roundtable series.

Phillips—a popular Foundation speaker who also starred on The Cosby Show, among other television programs— began his speech by discussing his relationship with Young America’s Foundation. “I love coming up to the Reagan Ranch Center. It’s not only a beautiful drive, but they Actor and author Joseph Phillips headlines the monthly Reagan Ranch Roundtable luncheon at the Reagan Ranch Center. treat me so well here,” Phillips said. “It gives me an opportunity to talk about some ideas that I’ve been chewing on lately.”

One of those ideas was “racially specific” graduation ceremonies being held at University of California campuses. “I found it wonderfully and comically ironic—this idea that a university is going to celebrate diversity by having a segregated and racially specific graduation ceremony,” Phillips noted. “It’s not only ironic; it makes me angry.”

Phillips also discussed how conservatives can better reach out to minorities, arguing that we will not bring more people into the Conservative Movement by simply ignoring race. “The more we put it off, the more we refuse to talk about it, the less opportunity we Joseph Phillips signed copies have to reach [the black community],” Phillips said. “And the less opportunity we have to of his book, He Talk Like a White really influence policy in this country...”

Boy, following his luncheon address.

Liberty Fund and Sagamore Institute Gather at the Reagan Ranch Center Young America’s Foundation welcomed members of the Liberty Fund and Sagamore Institute to the Reagan Ranch Center for their colloquium titled “President Ronald Reagan’s Developing Perspective on Liberty.” Through a series of sessions held in the Reagan Ranch Center classrooms, they examined President Reagan’s actions throughout his career in the context of individual liberty and responsibility.

Young America’s Foundation was honored to host the participants who also toured Rancho del Cielo to gain a better understanding of our country’s 40th President.

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Members of the Liberty Fund and Sagamore Institute enjoy an afternoon at Rancho del Cielo as part of their program titled “President Ronald Reagan’s Developing Perspective on Liberty.”

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Erick Erickson and Congressman Wilson Headline YAF Events at CPAC Thousands gathered in Washington, D.C., for the 38th annual Conservative Political Action Conference, sponsored by Young America’s Foundation. Attendees heard from the leaders of the Conservative Movement, including Speaker Newt Gingrich, Governors Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney, best-selling authors Ann Coulter and Dinesh D’Souza, and many others.

(Above) Fox News’ Red Eye Foundation Vice President Kate hosts, (from left) Greg Gutfeld, Obenshain moderated a panel entitled Bill Schulz, and Andy Levy, Reagan at 100: Role Model for the Next entertain a standing-room-only Generation that featured Foundation crowd of students attending the Foundation-sponsored program lecturer and Reagan 100 Scholar Dr. at CPAC. Paul Kengor, among others. A number of student activists represented the (Right) Young people from across Foundation’s programs during the “Twothe country enjoy an exclusive Minute Student Activist Panel.” Long-time student event at CPAC featuring best-selling author and National Foundation Director Wayne Thorburn Journalism Center alumna Ann also participated in CPAC and signed Coulter. copies of his book, A Generation Awakes.

Young America’s Foundation hosted exclusive events at the conference, including a Congressional briefing with Representative Joe Wilson which was made possible through the help of Vice President Ron Pearson.

Through the generosity of Foundation Director and National Journalism Center Board of Governors Chairman Thomas Phillips, the Foundation hosted the 15th annual Thomas Phillips Student Luncheon, featuring the editor of Redstate.com, author of Red State Uprising, and Foundation alumnus Erick Erickson. Erickson addressed more than 240 students and supporters in the packed ballroom and met with students following his speech.

The Foundation teamed up with the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute to co-host an exclusive student event featuring Greg Gutfeld, Bill Schulz, and Andy Levy—the hosts of Fox News’s Red Eye. Immediately following the program, eight-time New York Times bestselling author and Foundation lecturer Ann Coulter offered remarks to the same audience.

Also at CPAC, Young America’s Foundation and Citizens United Foundation sponsored the East Coast premiere of Young America’s Foundation’s film, Still Point in a Turning World: Ronald Reagan and His Ranch. The event, which drew an over-capacity crowd, featured a Reagan birthday cake created by Carlo’s Bake Shop of TLC’s popular television program, Cake Boss.

Foundation student activists (from left) Vinciane Ngomsi, Caroline Rushing, and Jiesi Zhao volunteer at Young America’s Foundation’s booth at CPAC.

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Young America’s Foundation and Young Americans for Freedom Unite

By Patrick X. Coyle, Vice President

presence to America’s high schools and college campuses.

Launching a Movement

Former Young Americans for Freedom board members and friends gather for the 50th anniversary of Young Americans for Freedom in 2010. Pictured from left: Randal Teague, Lee Edwards, Ron Robinson, Roger Ream, Kate Obenshain, Mary Kay Ream, Quin Hillyer, Jameson Campaigne, and Richard Viguerie.

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merica stands at the crossroads today. Will our nation continue to follow the path towards socialism or will we turn towards conservatism and freedom? The final answer to this question lies with America’s youth. Will our youth be more conservative or more liberal in future years? You can help determine the answer.”

With liberalism running amok, an ever-expanding federal government, and continuing foreign threats, this question is certainly as applicable today as when it was asked more than 50 years ago. In September 1960, 120 students and young adults gathered at the home of William F. Buckley to organize a permanent force to advance conservatism. The result of the meeting was the creation of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF).

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Today, the federal government and its ever-expanding programs are encroaching on our everyday lives— perhaps even more than when YAF was founded half a century ago. Young people in this country need to take action to ensure the freedoms they have enjoyed will continue.

As such, Young America’s Foundation and Young Americans for Freedom have joined forces in the face of an unprecedented assault on freedom in this country.

The goal of the united organization is to provide young conservatives with unmatched resources, training, and activism initiatives to advance freedom on campuses nationwide. The unification of Young America’s Foundation and Young Americans for Freedom will bring an even greater conservative

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Following the creation of Young Americans for Freedom, and guided by the Sharon Statement, YAF quickly established a network of chapters on college campuses across the country.

Dr. Lee Edwards, one of the young people at the founding of YAF, established The New Guard as YAF’s official magazine.

Early on, YAF was also fortunate to have the guidance of conservative luminaries including Bill Buckley, Barry Goldwater, and of course Ronald Reagan. Reagan joined the YAF National Advisory Board in 1962 and eventually became YAF’s honorary national chairman—a relationship that

Current Reagan Ranch Board of Governors Chairman and former Young Americans for Freedom leader Frank Donatelli speaks at the dinner celebrating YAF’s 50th anniversary.

Young Americans for Freedom, now a project of Young America’s Foundation, remains an exciting force for advancing conservative ideas among today’s young people.

cultivating and growing YAF. Current Young America’s Foundation President Ron Robinson and Chairman of the Reagan Ranch Board of Governors Frank Donatelli both served multiple terms on Young Americans for Freedom’s board of directors.

In addition to Young America’s Foundation’s

Since 1960, members of Young Americans for Freedom have actively promoted freedom on campuses and in communities nationwide.

would last for more than 40 years.

Young America’s Foundation was first founded by a group of YAF students at Vanderbilt University as University Information Services Inc. The goal of the organization was to provide conservative speakers and resources to students on campus. In 1973, University Information Services was renamed Young America’s Foundation, and its initial board consisted of YAF leaders at the time including current Foundation directors Ron Pearson and Frank Donatelli.

The top officials now leading Young America’s Foundation have spent years

leadership, YAF alumni are now in key positions running some of the most recognizable organizations in the Movement including the National Rifle Association, The Fund for American Studies, and the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, among others.

In 2010, Dr. Wayne Thorburn, executive director of YAF from 1971 to 1973 and founding board member of Young America’s Foundation, wrote the definitive history on Young Americans for Freedom in his book, A Generation Awakes: Young Americans

for Freedom and the Creation of the Conservative Movement.

Moving Forward The current YAF board, led by Chairman Michael Jones, strongly felt that the unification with Young America’s Foundation was necessary to protect Young Americans for Freedom’s name and ensure that it remains a strong, effective, and credible force for conservatism.

YAF will become a project of Young America’s Foundation, much like the Reagan Ranch and the National Journalism Center, and will operate with the guidance of the Foundation’s leadership team. The existing board members of Young Americans for Freedom will become part of a newly formed YAF Board of Governors.

Young America’s Foundation will continue to work with any student or existing conservative student organization that wants to host one of our more than 70 conservative speakers, attend a Foundation conference, or get involved with our campus activism initiatives. When conservative students want to start a conservative club, Young America’s Foundation will encourage them to start a YAF chapter.

Existing YAF chapters will be brought under the Foundation’s auspices, and both existing and new clubs will receive materials, training, support, and encouragement based on decades of activism experience.

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By Katie Taran, Program Officer

High School Students Energized by Freedom, Free Markets, and Reagan Folsom, Phillips, and Darwish Headline Fifth Annual Reagan Ranch High School Conference

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ore than 120 participants from across the

country converged at the Reagan Ranch Center to attend Young America’s Foundation’s fifth annual Reagan Ranch High School Conference. The attendees came to learn about, be inspired by, and walk in the footsteps of President Reagan—a man who was President before they were born and whose achievements they seldom study in their classrooms.

“The only way to make money in an honest and transparent

marketplace, which is the ideal and always has been the ideal in America… is to find a way to please other human beings,” remarked opening banquet speaker Rabbi Daniel Lapin, entertaining biblical scholar and author. Lapin continued by telling the audience that there is something spiritual in being High school student Kate Moseley feeds “Sugar” during her visit to Ronald Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo.

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successful—despite Obama’s instructions to “put off spending we don’t need” and return to a “spirit of service and sacrifice.”

Students Laura Hyde, Tenley Force, and Daniel Sheahan enjoy the Reagan Ranch Center’s Exhibit Galleries and meet likeminded friends from across the country.

Students spend an afternoon at Rancho del Cielo as part of the fifth annual Reagan Ranch High School Conference.

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Rabbi Daniel Lapin, author of Thou Shall Prosper: The Ten Commandments for Making Money, speaks on American free enterprise and how there are “no poor people in America”—the title of his conference speech.

Lt. Col. “Buzz” Patterson shares insights about national security and what needs to be done to keep America safe.

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Rabbi Lapin was followed by an array of leading conservatives who echoed his sentiments and discussed many topics including economics, national security, the threat of radical Islam, and combating the Obama administration’s leftist agenda.

Other conference speakers included Lt. Col. “Buzz” Patterson, USAF (Ret.), the author of Conduct Unbecoming: How Barack Obama is Destroying the Military and Endangering our National Security; Ann McElhinney, documentary filmmaker and producer of Not Evil Just Wrong; John Barletta, President Reagan’s friend and Secret Service agent; Nonie Darwish, founder of Arabs for Israel and author of Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Sharia Law; Dr. David Newton, professor of entrepreneurial finance at Westmont College; Dr. Burt Folsom, professor of history at Hillsdale College and author of The Myth of the Robber Barons and New Deal or Raw Deal?; Dr. Edwin Burton, professor of economics at the University of Virginia; Joseph Phillips, actor and author; and Young America’s Foundation Vice Presidents Kate Obenshain and Patrick Coyle. (continued on page 14)

Students (from left) Daniel Modic, Brian Traut, Shelby Traut, Taylor Traut, and Jake Traut gather in the Wesley C. & Barbara L. Cameron Entrance Colonnade outside of the Reagan Ranch Center.

Documentary filmmaker Ann McElhinney discusses the myths surrounding global warming.

Andrew Coffin, Foundation vice president and Reagan Ranch director, welcomes the high school students to the Reagan Ranch Center.

Author and activist Nonie Darwish shares her thoughts on the real threats posed by radical jihadists.

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Foundation Vice President Kate Obenshain teaches high school students how to effectively debate liberals and advance conservative ideas.

Students Ben LaBarge, Jennifer Sullivan, Tenley Force, and Micah Park walk in Ronald Reagan’s footsteps outside of his beloved ranch home, Rancho del Cielo.

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The annual conference, which was once again generously sponsored by the Richard and Barbara Gaby Foundation, served as an introduction to conservative thought for many students, and for some participants, it helped to make conservative ideas more relevant. The program was also part of Young America’s Foundation’s Reagan 100: Freedom’s Future initiative­—our year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth.

Students not only heard about the principles of Ronald Reagan, but they also saw how his ranch embodies his philosophy and values. Prior to their visit to the “Western White House,” participants viewed Young America’s Foundation’s film, Still Point in a Turning World: Ronald Reagan and His Ranch.

“It’s an extraordinary place to learn about [Ronald Reagan],” said student Brian Traut, from Tustin, California. “From the [artifacts] in his home to all the things he built with his bare hands, his life was just so full of examples of true American values.”

In addition to celebrating the life of our 40th President, the conference speakers inspired students to take action to counter left-wing ideas at their schools and in the media.

“The Left has control of the White House, the United States Senate, the mainstream media, and most high school and college campuses….

However, there remain leftists out there who feel threatened by the fact that there are students like you who simply want to talk about conservative ideas,” said Foundation Vice President Patrick Coyle.

Coyle highlighted activities students can undertake to advance conservatism at their schools, and he also stressed the importance of staying on the offensive regardless of who is in control.

Receiving this call to action and inspired by their Reagan Ranch weekend, the students returned home ready to share the pro-freedom ideas that have made this country great.

Reagan Ranch Development Director Rick Keith (right) shares stories about Ronald Reagan while the high school students tour the Tack Barn at the “Western White House.”

Foundation Vice President Patrick Coyle (left) and Program Officer Katie Taran (right) present Brittany Ashby with her certificate of completion at the conclusion of the annual Reagan Ranch High School Conference.

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Portraits of American Icons

Artist Steve Penley Shares the Vision Behind His Paintings B y Da n i e l l e F o w l e r , A s s i s ta n t C u r at o r

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hroughout 2011, the Reagan Ranch Center is hosting a series of Reagan 100 Special Gallery events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. One of the most popular programs featured modern American portraitist and author Steve Penley. At this event, Mr. Penley shared his journey in the art world and what led him to paint American icons, including President Ronald Reagan.

Steve Penley began painting as a young child before pursuing a formal art education at the University of Georgia. In his college art classes, he quickly realized that his style of realistic object painting was out of place next to the modern-American artwork being pursued by the other students—an artwork style that, to him, lacked substance and vision. Feeling defeated and seeing no

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future for himself as an artist, he began to pursue other career choices.

Several years later, a close college friend requested that Penley paint several works for his new restaurant.

Given a short deadline of only a few days, Penley decided to paint American heroes, stemming from his love of history—his favorite college subject. He completed paintings of Einstein, Washington, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt for the restaurant décor. Almost overnight, the works resonated with the restaurant’s guests, and Penley began selling his works all over Atlanta and in the South.

Even though his works were quite popular, Penley still did not have a vision or purpose for his art. A conversation with his younger brother, who had just returned from Europe, gave him that vision. He shared

Reagan was President when Penley attended college, and he provided a foundation for Penley’s conservative beliefs.

To Penley, Reagan was and is the true “American Ideal.”

In 2010, he published a compilation of his Reagan artwork in his book, Ronald Reagan: An American Ideal.

In February 2011, Penley donated five new paintings of President Reagan to the Reagan Ranch Center for the Reagan 100: Freedom’s Future celebration. His hope for his book and for his eight works that grace the walls of the Center—three works were gifted in 2010—is that they will provide inspiration to a younger generation.

“I hope that my paintings at the Reagan Ranch Center inspire some young person to live up to the ideals that Ronald Reagan represented,” stated Penley. “I hope that it rekindles a love for the President and, by doing that, rekindles a love for our country.”

Artist Steve Penley headlines a Reagan 100 Gallery Event and presents the Reagan Ranch Center with several of his portraits featuring Ronald Reagan.

with Penley that it was refreshing to leave America for a period of time, noting that he believed many of the world’s problems stemmed from the United States.

Shocked to hear this sentiment of his brother and realizing that this was a common feeling among his peers, Penley set out to share his positive perspective of America through his art. He saw his artwork as a way to “tell the story of America… the greatest nation in the history of civilization.”

The focus of his work became American icons—a theme from which he believed his audience “could draw inspiration.” As Penley noted, “Icons are symbols of ideals we all share. Icons are reflections of us and all of our hopes and dreams for America and what we know it is, and what it can be.”

In 1998, Penley authored his first book, Reconstruction of America, sharing the history of America through his vibrant paintings of American heroes including Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Reagan.

Painting President Reagan was a natural continuation of his paintings of great American leaders. Ronald

Steve Penley’s “Reagan Country” painting depicts scenes from Ronald Reagan’s life and career.

——————————————————————————— Steve Penley was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He attended the University of Georgia and the School of Visual Arts in New York. His art appears in galleries in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and New York and in private collections throughout the United States and Europe. His new book, Ronald Reagan: An American Ideal, was released December 2010. More information about Steve Penley and his art can be found on his website, www.stevepenley.com.

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Freedom Is the God-Given Right of All His Children: Make it Your Legacy Freedom is on the precipice in America. The Left is winning key battles to “fundamentally transform the United States of America.” They know—as President Reagan did—that young people are the key to the long-term success of their agenda.

That’s why the Left is launching the most expensive, most comprehensive, and most targeted effort in American history to win over young people.

You can join forces with Young America’s Foundation to counter the Left’s influence and pass on Ronald Reagan’s freedom philosophy.

Even though Ronald Reagan is no longer with us, there is still one place where young people can come face to face with all that Reagan stood for: hard work and its rewards, perseverance, humility, hope, love of family, and love of country.

Our students tell us they are not only better educated about Ronald Reagan after visiting the Ranch, but they are also more committed to protecting America’s freedom.

Ronald Reagan’s words inspire young leaders to embrace and strengthen the freedom movement. He said:

Freedom is not just the birthright of the few, it is the God-given right of all His children.

You can help protect future generations’ God-given right to freedom by remembering Young America’s Foundation in your estate plans.

Updating your plans to reflect your priorities enables you to control your legacy. If you die without a will, the government will decide how to distribute your estate for you—and take its share!

Currently, the death tax rate for 2013 and beyond is 55% or more for estates of more than $1 million. There is no tax on gifts to Young America’s Foundation.

Tell your attorney to make freedom your legacy by adding this language to your will: I give, devise, and bequeath to Young America’s Foundation, tax identification number 23-7042029, 110 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170 (insert percentage, amount or nature of gift, or remainder of estate) to be used for educational purposes.

You will be honored on Freedom Wall at the Reagan Ranch for your legacy gift.

Please call Kimberly Martin Begg, Esq., director of planned giving, at 800-USA-1776 to request a free information packet or if you have any questions.

National Headquarters, F. M. Kirby Freedom Center, 110 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170, 800-USA-1776, www.yaf.org The Reagan Ranch Center, 217 State Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101, 888-USA-1776

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Governor Sarah Palin’s Address at the Reagan 100 Weekend Celebration

By Governor Sarah Palin Young America’s Foundation thanks Governor Palin for allowing her inspiring speech to be printed in Libertas.

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hank cherished that you so land, those wide much, open spaces.

Reagan Ranch There we were, Center and riding horses Young America’s along the trails Foundation, for that he had allowing me this cleared, feeling honor to share the breeze in with you in this our faces, and celebration of being able to Ronald Reagan’s feel that warm centennial. I southern air can’t tell you overhead. I how really knew instantly humbling this why Ronald is for my family Reagan loved Governor Sarah Palin delivers an effective and inspiring address at the Reagan Ranch th Center during Reagan 100—Young America’s Foundation’s celebration of the 100 and for me to get that ranch. anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. to be here.

After riding Today, out at the Ranch, it was simply overwhelming horses, we got to drive a bit further, higher up, and looked and inspiring to be there riding horses on trails that out over the Pacific Ocean. I knew instantly why it was he Ronald Reagan had cleared. felt so inspired by that place. He loved that place. He loved And I have to admit, we’re a little more comfortable it not just in visiting and enjoying its beauty. He loved it in riding snow machines than horses. In fact, if you get a caring for it—in working it, and building the fences with chance, ask Bristol how her experience went riding horses. his own hands, and chopping wood, and clearing back the But if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger, Bristol. thick brush, and clearing the trails.

It was overwhelming to know the work that Ronald The Ranch is unmistakably the home of a western Reagan had put into that ranch—how he loved and conservative who celebrated our pioneering spirit, and he Young America’s Foundation • Libertas

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thrived there. He found inspiration. And he told people Constitutional limits. He saw our nation at a critical that he seemed to be able to see clearer out there in those turning point. We could choose one direction or the other: wide open spaces of America’s frontier. socialism or freedom and free markets. Collectivism or As an Alaskan, I proudly consider myself a western individualism. In his words, we could choose “the swamp conservative in the spirit of Ronald Reagan, in that same or the stars.” tradition, because I know Not a typical, jovial speech that he understood the of Reagan’s that he gave small town pioneering spirit that day. Remember, we and values of hard work got so used to before, and and rugged individualism certainly after, hearing more and “love thy neighbor.” of the chipper Gipper. We’d Those are the values that hear more of his jokes and we grew up with. Those are more of the humor he was the values Ronald Reagan so known for, but not that embodied. They are the day—because the vision values of his ranch. that he laid out for us was Today there are quite stark. It was based on hundreds of places that the fact that, unlike others, bear his name, but the Reagan seemed to be able Ranch is one of the few to look out over the horizon where truly, when you are and see where unsound there, you can distinctly feel policies—policies of big his spirit. This home was government expansionism his refuge—his still point in and a foreign policy of a turning world.

Soviet appeasement—would And what a turbulent ultimately end, and that was and turning world he faced in decline and defeat. in 1964 when he gave his He wanted to know, then, famous speech, “A Time if Americans still had the for Choosing,” on behalf of courage and the will to Goldwater’s campaign. That not only endure but to speech, which eventually arise and succeed and soar. came to be known simply So he asked us candidly as “The Speech,” gave birth and soberly that day to the Reagan Revolution whether we still believed because it was more than “in our capacity for selfPrior to her address at the Reagan Ranch Center, Governor Palin just a campaign address. It government or whether rides the trails of Rancho del Cielo and spends the morning exploring Ronald Reagan’s beloved ranch. was a call to action against we’d abandoned the a fundamental threat to American Revolution and freedom. It was given by a union leader who had left his confess that a little intellectual elite in a far distant Capitol party because his party had left him. can plan our lives for us better than we can for ourselves.”

Reagan saw the dangers in LBJ’s Great Society. He Those were strong words. And the country as a whole refused to sit down and be silent as our liberties were wasn’t quite ready to hear them. But his message did eroded by an out-of-control centralized government catch on slowly. He was mocked, and he was ridiculed that overtaxed and overreached in utter disregard of and criticized and put up with so much. He was able to

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Address at the Reagan 100 Weekend Celebration ––––––––––––––————––––——–—––––––––––––––––– Governor Sarah Palin –––––––––––––––––—————————––––––––––––––––

CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN broadcast Governor Palin’s address live nationwide, while more than 350 Foundation friends, students, and supporters gather to hear her speech at the Reagan Ranch Center.

handle that criticism though. I talked to some of his former us again. It was subtle at first, couched in the language colleagues, his friends, today about how he handled the of progress and compassion. But when the financial crisis criticism that came his way. You know, they said, “Oh, he’d erupted in 2008, there was no more subtlety there. No, big let that criticism just kind of roll off his back like a duck, government rose up and presumptuously declared itself the like water off his back. But not when it solution to our problems. Of course, came to Nancy, he said don’t touch my the Left is determined to never let a Today there are hundreds Nancy.” Great respect for that. good crisis go to waste. of places that bear his His message did catch on though.

And two years later, look around In 1964, the Conservative Movement and see the results. They’re staggering: name, but the Ranch is heard him. In 1966, California listened a devastating $14 trillion national one of the few where truly, debt, $1.5 trillion deficit, a mind to him. In 1976, the GOP rank-and-file listened to him. In 1980, the nation boggling 84% increase in federal when you are there, you listened to him, and in 1984, the whole spending, a dangerous 17% real can distinctly feel his spirit. world heard him. unemployment rate, and a heart So, by the time he left office, breaking 2.9 million home foreclosures Ronald Reagan had effectively this last year alone. That is staggering. defeated the expansionist ideology of the Great Society.

Over the past two years, Americans learned to And remember, Bill Clinton gave its eulogy some time appreciate, like never before, the meaning of one of later when he declared that the era of big government was Reagan’s famous lines. Remember, he said the nine most over. But if history teaches us anything, it’s that bad ideas frightening words in the English language are “I’m from are never gone for good. And for the last two decades, the government, and I’m here to help.” folks, we have seen big government slowly encroach on Big government’s “help” always seems capricious, Young America’s Foundation • Libertas

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While at the Reagan Ranch, Governor Palin meets with (from left) Foundation President Ron Robinson, Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute President Michelle Easton, Foundation Vice President and Reagan Ranch Director Andrew Coffin, and Ronald Reagan’s long-time friend, Dennis LeBlanc.

expensive, and destructive. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than right here in beautiful California, where some of the nation’s richest, most fertile farmland lays fallow, and the livelihoods of thousands of hard working family farmers are destroyed. And they’re destroyed all because some faceless government bureaucrat took away their lifeline—their water. And they claimed that it was in order to protect a two-inch fish. Now where I come from, we’d call that “bait.” And there is no need to destroy people’s lives over that bait. If President Reagan were alive today to see what’s happening to his beloved Golden State, the hills of the Central Valley would echo with his outrage.

Now nationally, for many of us today, that moment of outrage came with the passage of Obamacare. For liberals, of course, it was a crowning achievement. Government control of healthcare had been a goal of theirs for generations. They stopped at nothing to get it passed, not

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even the Constitution. And they sowed the seeds of their defeat in the process. Last November, the American people rose up and decisively rejected big government. We don’t want it. We can’t afford it. So we fired many who had forced it upon us. We the People said enough is enough.

But just days ago, in the State of the Union address, less than 90 days after that freedom message was sent at the ballot box, we were just told, no, the era of big government is here to stay, and you’re going to pay for it whether you want to or not.

But they can’t sell it to us with the old sales pitch anymore. So this new version isn’t just the tried and tired liberal nanny state of the Great Society. No, now it’s much worse. It’s couched in the language of “national greatness,” which I think, to the Left, is their version of American exceptionalism. It is an exceptionally big government where bureaucrats would declare that we

Address at the Reagan 100 Weekend Celebration ––––––––––––––————––––——–—––––––––––––––––– Governor Sarah Palin –––––––––––––––––—————————––––––––––––––––

shall be great and innovative and competitive, but not by unemployment—20% unemployment! For every one green individual initiative anymore; no, by government decree! job created, more than two traditional jobs were lost.

It’s the same old tax and spend policies; or rather, now, This is not an economic policy; it’s not an energy it’s borrow and spend, and then tax the job creators. But policy. This is a diversion, and this is social engineering. we’ll no longer call it government spending. For a while we My fellow Americans, this is not the road to “national called it “stimulus,” but that didn’t work because clearly it greatness,” it is the road to ruin. It’s crony capitalism on didn’t stimulate anything but a Tea Party. So now, they’ll steroids—the corporatist agenda, big government and big call it “investing.” But you have to ask yourself, well, if business collaboration, the powerful friends in DC who government overspending is “investing,” then bankruptcy can afford to hire the lobbyists to grease the wheels of would be a sign of economic strength. And it just isn’t so. government in their favor for these investments.

Sure they’ll try though. And they have all sorts of half In the interest of certain special interests, the baked ideas on what to spend (oops, I mean “invest”) government invests our money in technologies and our hard earned money on for their idea of “national industries that venture capitalists tell us are non-starters, greatness.” These investments include but they’ll provide lucrative returns for everything from solar shingles to fast favored corporate interests with major Though government trains. But as we struggle to merely stakes in these areas. created the problem, now service our unsustainable debt, the And in the interest of big only thing these investments will get us government, politicians aren’t reducing government presents itself is a bullet train to bankruptcy. the size of a bloated bureaucracy as the solution, trying To me it is so odd that their answer or cutting spending, although they to our problems is green energy. It say now that they’ll freeze it. Yes, to convince us that we plays a curiously big part in these they’ll freeze it—at historically high can “Win the Future” by investments. Now, green energy is a unsustainable levels. sound idea. I’m fine with it. We should This collusion isn’t competition; letting that little intellectual all be fine with it. I’m in favor of an it’s crony capitalism. And it stifles our elite in a far distant all-of-the-above approach to energy economy. It stifles the free markets. And independence. But all of the above also with their over-regulation and overreach Capitol win it for us. means conventional sources of energy, and over-taxation, government makes it the kind, you know, that we actually increasingly impossible for anyone but use today reliably to fuel our economy: cronies to get ahead. our own oil, for one, and our natural gas, our coal, and And now we’re told that our economy is so our nuclear. But in Washington, they’ve done everything in complicated that only government can plan it for us. their power to stymie responsible domestic drilling. And Though government created the problem, now government that means hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs presents itself as the solution, trying to convince us that we will not be created. It means Americans will pay more can “Win the Future” by letting that little intellectual elite at the pump. It means that we’re continuing to transfer in a far distant Capitol win it for us. hundreds of billions of your U.S. dollars to foreign regimes But as President Reagan said, “You can’t be for big to purchase energy from them—regimes that don’t have government, big taxes, and big bureaucracy, and still be America’s best interests at heart. for the little guy.” And that’s who’s left out in the cold This is dangerous. This is insane. We’re told, though, today. Big business, big labor, and big finance have seats that green jobs are the future, that green jobs will save us. at the table. The little guy doesn’t, but we’re the ones left And to prove this they point to Spain, or at least they used holding the tab. We’re paying the bill. to point to Spain. They can’t anymore because Spain’s This is not the way it’s supposed to be. This is not investment in green jobs brought nothing but massive debt the way it must be. American exceptionalism is not and “necessarily skyrocketing” energy costs and even more exceptionally big government with a command and Young America’s Foundation • Libertas

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control industrial children in our policy. Reagan homes and in reminded us that, our businesses yes, America is to live within a great nation our means. We with great must reform purpose in the entitlement world, but our programs in a greatness is not way that honors in government our current bureaucracy. commitments History has while we keep proven again faith with future and again, when generations. government

And we picks the winners desperately and losers, we’re need jobs. Not stuck with the from top-down Palin supporters gather amidst a few protestors during her keynote address at the Reagan losers, and we government Ranch Center in Santa Barbara, California. the taxpayers planning, subsidize failure. And at this point in time, at this crisis though. They’ll come from the free market ingenuity and point, we do not have the option anymore of subsidizing the work ethic of ordinary entrepreneurial Americans. failure.

We need a vibrant economy that actually produces and This is another time for choosing. And the vision we grows and builds things again: a strong, vibrant America outline here is just as stark as it was that is grounded not only in a service in 1964. But we must look over the sector but also in a manufacturing and Reagan reminded us horizon, as Reagan did. We must see agricultural base that provides our that, yes, America is a where these unsound policies will families with more than just jobs— ultimately end, and that’s in decline with livelihoods. These and responsible great nation with great and defeat. resource development are the keys to purpose in the world, We face the same choices now as starting our economic engine. we did then, only now we’re in even

America’s decline in but our greatness is worse shape. We’re no longer the manufacturing is not caused just not in government manufacturing powerhouse that we by high labor costs or by some once were. We’re no longer a creditor unwillingness of Americans to work bureaucracy. nation. We’re deeply, dangerously hard. It’s caused by over-regulation in debt. The federal government is and some of the highest corporate spending too much, borrowing too taxes in the world. No matter how much, and growing and controlling too much. And this hard you work, I can tell you if you enter a marathon with dangerous debt breaks the back of our economy, and it twenty pound weights on your ankles, you’re going to wipes out jobs. lose. We are shackled. We are shackled with tax rates and As Reagan would say, there are no easy answers, over-regulation. But get big government out of the way, but there are simple ones if we just have the courage to and there is no reason why we cannot win. confront our problems squarely. We need to stop spending So, yes, we are at a crossroads, and this is a time for and cut government back down to size, as we teach our choosing. And the choices before us are as clear now as

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they were in 1964. Do we still believe in the values that the sweat of their brows. We must get back to what it is this country was founded on: God-given individual liberty, that they believed in. They put their faith in God—not and limited government, and free market capitalism? Or government. They didn’t demand bailouts. They didn’t do we surrender to big government and a corporatist need stimulus. They didn’t expect anything from anyone. agenda? Do we believe we can compete and succeed by They just wanted, and they fought for, the freedom to individual initiative? Or do we need government to take work hard. And they just wanted to prosper by their own care of us and to plan for us? Do we still have the courage merits. And, if at first they didn’t succeed, they took their and the will to not only lumps, and they dusted endure but to soar and to themselves off, and they got succeed? right back up. They didn’t How we answer will retreat. They tried again be America’s glory or our until they succeeded. shame. And these aren’t America’s great recovery easy questions, because and renewal will happen today, for many, there again when we regain is fear in the air. The the steel spine and the little guy, the individual moral courage of our American, is made to feel grandparents’ generation. ill-equipped and helpless And, by the way, if you and afraid in the face of need to be reminded of our challenges. But let’s some of those virtues, these remember, if we do just ask, are the virtues that are lived God doesn’t give us that by the great Americans spirit of fear. He gives us whom you will find in a spirit of power and love uniform: our sons, our and a sound mind. Seek daughters, and our loved that spirit, and we can have ones who take the oath and courage and confidence to who pay the price for our make sound decisions. freedom. Yes, our United Friends, we are not States military is a fine helpless. Our future is in example of the steel spine Ronald Reagan’s close friend and Secret Service agent John Barletta shares stories about the Reagan Ranch and its longour own hands. Our success and the moral courage we time owner with Governor Palin and Foundation President Ron and our greatness lie in the need.

Robinson. courage and the hard work Recovery and renewal, of individual Americans. We are an exceptional nation it starts with all of us—the little guys—exceptional because we were built on—and we are to affirm—those Americans. President Reagan understood this. So, today values of freedom and hard work. there are a lot people looking around for the next Ronald It was those values that inspired Ronald Reagan to Reagan, but he was one of a kind, and you’re not going to build the sturdy wood fences on his beloved ranch. He find his kind again. And the Gipper wouldn’t want us to built them out of strong wood, so they would endure, just spend our time on that anyway. He once put it: “I’m not a like our pioneering spirit endures. And those values will great man; I just believe in great ideas.” lead us back to prosperity. We must reconnect with them.

And our hero understood that the transmission of We must be as motivated and optimistic as our parents these great ideas to the next generation would ensure and our grandparents were—many of whom started out the survival and the success of liberty. That’s why he with nothing and yet were able to build a fulfilled life by instructed us in his farewell address to educate the youth Young America’s Foundation • Libertas

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Governor Palin meets with student attendees following her address at the Reagan Ranch Center.

in what it means to be an American. So, it is only fitting that his beloved ranch is in the care of Young America’s Foundation, whose mission it is to train and teach the next generation of commonsense conservatives to keep the flame of the Reagan Revolution burning bright.

And today it is burning bright. I think President Reagan would be so proud of the Conservative Movement today because we have never been more engaged and more passionate and more willing to put up with what it takes in order to serve. So, no, there isn’t one replacement for Reagan, but there are millions who believe in the great ideas that he espoused. There’s a whole army of patriotic Davids out there across this great country ready to stand up and to speak out in defense of liberty. And these Davids aren’t afraid to tell Goliath, “Don’t tread on me!”

Here, at our time for choosing, let us courageously and confidently meet the challenges before us by sticking to the time tested truths that Reagan taught us:

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Knowing that America is that shining city on a hill; Knowing that God has shed His grace on thee; And knowing that truth and justice include the issue of life, that every innocent life deserves respect and protection, and it is that truth that determines our resolve to preserve for our children this America, this last best hope for man on Earth; And knowing that we can have peace through strength, even as our allies—like our beloved Israel and others— look to our Union for sense and for strength; And knowing that we are a force for good in this world, and that is nothing to apologize for; And knowing that we shall keep our rendezvous with destiny.

Young America’s Foundation and Reagan Ranch Center, I thank you so much for being a part of the solution!

God bless you and God bless America!

A Journey Through Reagan Country B y M at t B l o i s e , N at i o n a l J o u r n a l i s m C e n t e r A l u m n u s

R

onald Reagan’s spirit is alive in Southern California—in the movie lots where he worked and the buildings and streets that now bear his name—but nowhere is his memory more keenly felt than in Santa Barbara.

Reagan bought Rancho del Cielo—his “ranch in the sky,” as he called it—during the last year of his governorship of California, and he retired there in the early President Reagan meets with Si Jenkins, fellow riding partner and owner of Jedlicka’s Saddlery in Santa Barbara.

State Street in downtown Santa Barbara

1970s. The historic home, now preserved by Young America’s Foundation, was his personal anchor and an invaluable retreat away from the White House, where he spent nearly an entire year of his Presidency. He preferred to spend his time in the mountains above Santa Barbara, but any visitor to the city can still find the Presidential imprint in the places he went, the restaurants he frequented, and most of all, in the people he knew. (continued on page 21)

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McConnell’s Ice Cream

(Above) Michael Vierra, McConnell’s master ice cream maker and plant manager, displays a giant tub of the company’s famous ice cream.

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(Left) The Santa Barbara News-Press reports on President Reagan’s request for jellybean ice cream from the local company. The treat was dubbed “Ronnie’s Delight” by McConnell’s Ice Cream.

A Journey Through Reagan Country

No institution better invokes the memory and ideas of the 40th President than the Reagan Ranch Center, Young America’s Foundation’s West Coast hub located on lower State Street. In addition to the Foundation’s events at Rancho del Cielo, the facility—formerly the historic Neal Hotel which was renovated and reopened as the Reagan Ranch Center in 2006—hosts around 80 events for students, supporters, and guests every year with a staff dedicated to instilling students with the philosophy of freedom.

The 22,000 square-foot building houses a two-story Reagan Ranch Exhibit Gallery that includes, among the memorabilia, his famous blue Jeep with the “Gipper” license plate and the rustic table on which Ronald Reagan signed the largest tax cut in American history at his ranch in 1981. The state-of-the-art displays also feature selections of his speeches, radio addresses, and interviews from the Reagan Ranch, and even an interactive bookcase—replicated after the bookshelf in the ranch home—that gives insight into the writers that shaped his thoughts. The Reagan Ranch Center Exhibit Gallery is open to the public every Tuesday and Thursday or by appointment.

In addition to the institution dedicated to commemorating his lasting accomplishments, Reagan emerges in the shops and streets of Santa Barbara. A letter from the President adorns the wall of McConnell’s Ice Cream, thanking them for supplying the dessert for a barbecue at the Ranch, and his portrait can be found at Harry’s Plaza Café—where Secret Service agents would unwind.

The late Fess Parker, a fellow actor and friend from the Hollywood years, constructed the sprawling DoubleTree Hotel on Cabrillo Boulevard and named one of the conference rooms in Reagan’s honor.

Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort boasts a special meeting space called “The Reagan Room” in the well-known hotel just steps from the Pacific Ocean.

Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort

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The Nugget

(Above) A framed “Presidential Seal” hangs on the walls of The Nugget and describes the Summerland, California, restaurant as the “unofficial Western White House Retreat.”

(Above Right) President Reagan enjoys a meal in the “Presidential Booth” at The Nugget with the restaurant’s owners, Doug and Sally Taylor and Josiah Jenkins.

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(Left) The Nugget is rich in Reagan memorabilia, including this signed “Presidential check” accompanied by a photograph of President Reagan and his close friend and Secret Service agent John Barletta.

The Nugget’s “Presidential Booth” includes many photos of President Reagan at Rancho del Cielo and elsewhere.

In addition, a quaint barbecue restaurant in Summerland called The Nugget retains the “Presidential Booth” that Ronald Reagan would occupy during his frequent visits.

The President formed a great number of friendships during his time in Santa Barbara, and many of his friends have made their own impact on their city.

Jedlicka’s Saddlery first opened its doors in 1932 and was already a legendary outfitting store for everything Western when Ronald Reagan came to town. Owner Si Jenkins began working in the store in junior high as a sweeper, and after a few years of college and a tour in the military, he’s still there, managing the overflowing collection of belts, boots, jeans, and hats for every size and taste, including the tan Stetson models favored by Reagan. He first met the then-governor of California as a fellow member of the local riding group, the Rancheros Visitadores.

“He was a kind, easy person,” Jenkins remembers. “He wasn’t stuffy at all. He was kind of modest. He’d ride along with a lot of big shots— guys he thought were bigger than him.”

The Ranchero rides were defined by their easy-going nature, he said, when people from all stripes got together, hashed out the events of the day, and got into a respectable amount of trouble. “One time the guys were standing around, and one guy was playing around with a rope. He threw it around a port-a-potty and when the President went to the john, [he] pulled the slack. He came out of there and said, ‘I’ve been in tighter spots than this.’”

Mr. Jenkins served as Governor Reagan’s appointee in the California Department of Agriculture and kept in touch with the President over the years through mutual friends. John Barletta—the Secret Service agent who oversaw the President’s Ranch detail

A Journey Through Reagan Country

Jedlicka’s Saddlery (Left) Jedlicka’s Saddlery in Santa Barbara supplied riding clothes and equipment for President Reagan and his Secret Service detail at Rancho del Cielo.

(Left) Si Jenkins, owner of Jedlicka’s Saddlery, began working at the outfitters as a “sweeper” when he was a young boy.

(Above) President Reagan and Si Jenkins developed a life-long friendship, first meeting through the local riding group, Rancheros Visitadores.

(Below) Si Jenkin’s office at Jedlicka’s Saddlery includes an extraordinary array of photographs from his days riding with Ronald Reagan.

and who, today, serves on the Reagan Ranch Board of Governors—first came into Jedlicka’s before the 1981 inauguration to outfit fellow agents for their new cowboy commander-inchief. The store supplied the riding equipment for President Reagan’s entire horseback Secret Service detail, providing saddles, harnesses, and clothes for around 50 riders at the Ranch.

The President continued his involvement with the Rancheros and remained an avid participant in their music, picnics, and morning rides, right up until his health began to fail.

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Firestone Vineyards

Firestone Vineyards’ founders (from right), Kate and Brooks Firestone, visit the Reagan Ranch with friends.

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Firestone Vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley

A statue of him now stands by their camp at Janeway Ranch, near Lake Cachuma.

It was also in the Rancheros that the late President first became acquainted with Brooks Firestone, an entrepreneur who took a tremendous risk by quitting his family’s legendary tire company in Ohio and moving across the country to start a winery.

Mr. Firestone began his operations in Los Olivos in 1972, making him the first winemaker in the Santa Ynez Valley at a time when Napa and Sonoma had cornered the market.

“It took us about 15 years to make the thing start to work,” he remembered. “We were in a new area, and it’s tough to sell wine. We were the first winery in Santa Barbara County, and the winery didn’t really hit until the mid-1980s. Nobody in the Santa Ynez Valley made wines.”

A surprise win at a blind-tasting contest in San Francisco and another at an international spirits competition in England put Firestone Vineyards on the map and exploded the fledgling company to prominence. “It was a good wine at a good price,” he explained. The success of Firestone Vineyards started a new center of gravity for California wines, with more talented winemakers coming to the valley. “We had a very talented group of people come into town— some very good winemakers and very good vineyards.” Today, the Santa Ynez Valley boasts dozens of wineries that continue to grow to meet the demand.

One of the early supporters was, not surprisingly, Mr. Firestone’s fellow Ranchero. “When the President would come to town, there was an organization that helped facilitate the press and his staff,” he explained.

“They would put together a sort of gift basket for everybody, and the wineries always took their turn submitting wine to go into that basket.

A Journey Through Reagan Country

One time I was in Hawaii visiting a friend, it was Thanksgiving, and it had been my turn to submit the wine.

I picked up the phone and [a voice] said, ‘This is the White House calling for Mr. Firestone.’ I thought it was a joke, but they convinced me it wasn’t!

It was the most amazing conversation I ever had in my life.”

A short conversation with President Reagan followed, who thanked Mr. Firestone for the cabernet sauvignon and lamented that he was unable to ride because it was raining at Rancho del Cielo. The President left a definite impression with him and other riders. “He was a real person. Always was,” Firestone noted. “He was a very pleasant man, very considerate, a very talented individual, a good rider, and a good neighbor. He was the kind of person you would want to know.”

Kenneth Boxer, 52, didn’t share a deep love of riding with the President.

He was a 20-something reporter for two radio stations and began moonlighting as a waiter to help pay the bills. He began covering the President when he was in town and later became close friends with his press secretary, Larry Speakes. Mr. Boxer became a regular with the President’s entourage, attending the yearly barbecue for the press corps in Hope Ranch and later visiting the President after he left office.

“He was just like what you figured a grandfather would be,” Mr. Boxer said about Reagan. “Here he was, the most powerful man in the world, and he would talk to you like you were the most important person. A great storyteller, always had a joke; the kind of guy you would go and have a beer with. Some may not have agreed with his policies, but they knew where he stood.”

It was during these years that Boxer began to reconsider a career in journalism and thought more heavily

Palazzio (Right) Palazzio, a popular Italian restaurant on State Street in Santa Barbara, is well-known for its “Presidential Tiramisu” which was also enjoyed by Ronald Reagan.

(Below) Palazzio owner, Kenneth Boxer meets with Ronald Reagan in his Los Angeles office in 1994.

(Below Right) President Reagan’s letter to Boxer includes his thanks for Boxer’s recent visit and states, “It is always nice to be remembered by my friends in Santa Barbara.”

(Below) Kenneth Boxer (left) and members of the Palazzio team take pride in their connection to President Reagan.

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A Journey Through Reagan Country

about the restaurant the bathroom and jar of business. “The only place jellybeans in the den. eagan ountry our I was making money was The Foundation’s the restaurant, and I was private preservation McConnell’s Ice Cream good at it. I realized I had of the home allows a 201 West Mission Street a knack. You do it yourself tour unobstructed by Santa Barbara, California if you think you have a velvet ropes or throngs (805) 569-2323 shot at it, and that’s what of tourists, inviting a www.mcconnells.com happened.” He became sense that the man could a restaurant manager, walk in at any moment.

Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort and later opened the The surrounding land, 633 East Cabrillo Boulevard Santa Barbara, California Village Grill in Montecito, too—all 688 acres of (805) 564-4333 featuring a menu of his ranch—have been www.fessparkersantabarbarahotel.com Florida-style Caribbean meticulously preserved. food. It closed after three He called his ranch an The Nugget months. “open cathedral,” a 2318 Lillie Ave “People didn’t like it,” place from which he Summerland, California said Mr. Boxer. “People gathered his strength, (805) 969-6135 wanted simplicity and and it’s impossible to visit Jedlicka’s Saddlery value. I shut the doors without understanding 2605 De La Vina Street of Village Grill on a exactly what he meant.

Santa Barbara, California Wednesday, and two The President made (805) 687-0747 days later we reopened as a lasting impression www.jedlickas.com Palazzio.” on our nation and the Despite the havoc of world, including the Firestone Vineyards suddenly preparing Italian countless Californians 5000 Zaca Station Road cuisine almost overnight, he would meet during Los Olivos, California (805) 688-3940 the restaurant has become his time in and around www.firestonewine.com an institution in Santa Santa Barbara. His Barbara, known for ample vision, values, and lasting Palazzio portions and the selfaccomplishments live 1026 State Street serving wine station. The on in the Reagan Ranch Santa Barbara, California pride of the establishment Center on State Street, (805) 564-1985 remains the Presidential at the Ranch home he www.palazzio.com Tiramisu, served to Reagan loved, and in the stories and his staff at his Los told by the community Angeles office on February members and business 25, 1994, during one of owners he inspired. His Mr. Boxer’s visits with the own love of the Golden President. A congratulatory State is, however, best letter with a picture of summarized in his own Reagan hangs at the words: Rancho del Cielo entrance, and the owner

“During the eight is renowned for regaling years we lived in the White guests with stories of the President.

House…I never stopped missing Santa Ynez Valley. The surprisingly For those lucky enough to visit, California…California, I like to say, modest ranch has been meticulously perhaps no place in the world better isn’t a place, it’s a way of life.”1 preserved by Young America’s epitomizes the life and spirit of Ronald Foundation exactly the way Reagan 1 Reagan, Ronald. An American Life. (New Reagan than his majestic Rancho kept it, from the books lining the York: Simon and Shuster, 1990), 389. del Cielo, still waiting for its absent walls and the hat resting by the door owner on the sun-crowned hills of the to the “Liberty Bell” shower head in

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Reagan 100 Lecture Series

Bringing Ronald Reagan’s Ideas to Campus Stein, Coulter, Limbaugh, and Malkin Headline Reagan 100 Lecture Series

By Pat r i c k X . C oy l e , V i c e P r e s i d e n t

As part of the Reagan 100 Lecture Series, best-selling author Ann Coulter addresses 2,000 students at the University of Wyoming.

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n early 2011, Young America’s Foundation launched the Reagan 100 Lecture Series as part of our year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth.

This series, made possible through the generous support of the Wendy P. McCaw Foundation, features some of the Foundation’s most popular speakers including Ben Stein, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Michael Reagan, Dinesh D’Souza, Paul Kengor, Peter Schweizer, Bay Buchanan, Kate Obenshain, Jonah Goldberg, David Limbaugh, and Stephen Moore.

These speakers bring Reagan’s ideas to life for the next generation to ensure they understand the importance of

freedom. President Reagan recognized the great need for current leaders to inspire and reach young audiences with the ideas that make our nation great.

As he stated in 1974, “We are the showcase of the future. And it is within our power to mold that future, this year and for decades to come. It can be as grand or great as we make it. No crisis is beyond the capacity of our people to solve, no challenge too great.”

Each Reagan 100 lecture is planned by student activists and leaders who are eager to introduce their peers to Ronald Reagan’s ideas and lasting accomplishments. With the help of Young America’s Foundation, the students promote and organize their event, ensuring that new, Young America’s Foundation • Libertas

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Reagan 100 Lecture Series

young audiences learn the values and ideas which have shaped our country and the Conservative Movement.

We hope you enjoy the following reviews of several Reagan 100 lectures as well as perspectives from the campus leaders who organized each event. __________________________________________________________

Ann Coulter at the University of Wyoming In early 2011, best-selling author Ann Coulter addressed 2,000 students and community members at the University of Wyoming.

Student Caitlin Wallace invited Coulter to speak at the University of Wyoming to counter Bill Ayers’ 2010 campus speech. Anticipation for her appearance was tremendous, as students and community members lined up for the speech more than an hour before the doors opened.

Despite a few hecklers, the supportive crowd gave Coulter two standing ovations.

Caitlin Wallace reported to Young America’s Foundation: For years on campus, the conservative club has struggled with the public assumption that a university in such a conservative state would naturally be conservative. It was not until Ann Coulter stepped foot on UW’s campus that conservatism flourished, and [Coulter] brought out a crowd of nearly 2,000 people!

The promise of many protestors never materialized, and Ann received two standing ovations! In the days and weeks that followed, support poured in for our conservative club. I received messages from other conservative students saying, “Thank you!” Individuals who traveled from all over Wyoming were suddenly donating to our club to help us with future events.

Liberals on campus stamped their feet, called us names, and promised to bring in an even bigger speaker to “balance” the overwhelming conservative presence on campus.

Our response? Let them! There is nothing that could take away the smiles, the pride, and the overwhelming sense of achievement each and every one of us felt when Ann took the stage.

Pride in our ideas swelled as she countered many of the liberal arguments that were presented by attendees that evening and inspired us all to continue fighting the good fight and further conservatism on a local and national scale!

Young America’s Foundation truly made a dream come true for us, and for that we will forever be grateful.

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Author Jonah Goldberg greets students and signs copies of his book, Liberal Fascism, following his lecture at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

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Jonah Goldberg at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill During a speech at UNC – Chapel Hill, Jonah Goldberg energized the crowd with his humor and wit. Student organizer Anthony Dent offered an enthusiastic review of the event: What other commentator can open with “I’m happier to be here than a Duke Lacrosse player is to be outta jail,” and get away with it? Speaking before a crowd of UNC students, there might be a few, but none stand out like Jonah Goldberg. He’s young.

He’s witty. But he also loads his zingers with history, facts, and a good grasp of intellectual thought. He’s the perfect rebuttal to the liberal contention that conservatives are just a bunch of stodgy, boring, shallow white guys. He’s definitely seen too many episodes of The Simpsons to qualify as stodgy.

We invited him to come speak at UNC this past spring because he takes on every liberal sacred cow but keeps liberals laughing as they leave the lecture.

The advertisements for his lecture—posters stating “Liberal Fascism”—drew some attention, and we had a great turnout. We had a good attendance by campus leftists, and quite a few approached me after the lecture and said Jonah had made them think that night. What more can you ask for?

Reagan 100 Lecture Series

Michelle Malkin inspires Marquette University students during the 100th anniversary year of Ronald Reagan’s birth.

President Reagan’s son, Michael Reagan, shares insights about his father with students at Providence Academy in Minnesota.

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Michelle Malkin at Marquette University (Wisconsin)

Michael Reagan at Providence Academy (Minnesota)

Michelle Malkin spoke to more than 500 students and community members at Marquette University in Wisconsin. Attendance was strong despite leftists tearing down fliers to keep others from learning about the event.

Event organizer Ethan Hollenberger noted: Bringing Michelle Malkin in was a great experience for our conservative club. The biggest reward was attracting new members to the organization. Malkin brought excitement to campus, and her appearance also helped energize our leadership.

Young America’s Foundation has consistently helped our club along the way. We sent three members to the Reagan 100 celebration in February and were honored to bring Mrs. Malkin to continue the Reagan 100 Lecture Series. Even though the Left tried to sabotage our event posters by tearing them down, writing vulgar language on them, or moving them, the event was a success with more than 500 people in attendance. We hope to continue the energy from the Malkin event to host more Young America’s Foundation speakers and events to combat the Left encroaching on Marquette’s conservative Catholic tradition.

In April, President Reagan’s son, Michael Reagan, informed and inspired more than 300 high school students at Providence Academy in Minnesota. Todd Flanders, headmaster with Providence Academy, stated: Michael Reagan addressed the full high school, engaging kids for 45 minutes without notes. He showed a rare rapport with teenagers, as he used stories from his own youth to illustrate larger issues in [public policy] and economics. Many students stayed after, hoping to have private words with Reagan; they felt understood and appreciated.

Reagan had the ability to teach kids principles of conservatism and lessons in leadership in a nonpartisan way…. In doing this, he appealed to the sensibilities of everyone in the audience.

A reaction many kids had to Michael Reagan was “he’s so honest and funny. I get the feeling that I know both him and his dad pretty well after this.”

They came away with a new understanding of Ronald Reagan as a flesh-and-blood person who developed his ideas through experience and who advanced them with courage.

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Reagan 100 Lecture Series

Actor and author Ben Stein discusses the failures of the Obama administration’s economic policies during his speech at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

St. Louis University students meet with author David Limbaugh following his Reagan 100 Lecture.

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Ben Stein at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst

David Limbaugh at St. Louis University (Missouri)

Ben Stein addressed more than 450 at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. During his speech, Stein criticized Keynesian economics, noting that it had failed during the Great Depression and should not have been employed in the stimulus package endorsed by the Obama administration in 2009. Student organizer Justin Thompson commented: Students thoroughly enjoyed asking the pop culture icon questions on a variety of issues: from God and science to economics and bail-outs. The campus newspaper, The Daily Collegian, ran stories the day before the event, the day of the event, and for two consecutive days following… …Not only were the students interested in meeting and hearing him, but it was the same for Mr. Stein with regards to the students. When walking to and from dinner at the University Club, Mr. Stein would divert from our course to talk to as many students as possible. At dinner, Mr. Stein took pictures, stopped to meet everybody in attendance, and asked many questions. He was so personable!

Ben Stein’s visit to UMass Amherst was the biggest and most successful event in our club’s history. With close to 500 people in attendance, no disruptions by protesters, long-lasting positive media coverage, and fruitful discourse…our club looks forward to hosting more high-profile speakers in the future.

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Best-selling author David Limbaugh addressed students at St. Louis University in Missouri. Organizer Brenna Medlin reported: There were about four people who were heavily involved in the planning—and we all had an excellent time. However, we put a lot of effort into making sure the appearance was a success. There were many tiny details that had to be taken care of, but YAF’s checklists and documents made it a breeze.

We had a good and respectful audience, and it was great to see how our hard work paid off. I thought David Limbaugh did a great job…and it was very rewarding to be sitting at dinner with him prior to his talk knowing that I, and a few members, put the event together.

It was a great experience, and I think every conservative club should host a speaker at some point. __________________________________________________________ Young America’s Foundation congratulates these students and leaders for hosting successful Reagan 100 Lectures in 2011. For more information on bringing a Reagan 100 Scholar or any Foundation speaker to your campus, contact Young America’s Foundation Vice President Patrick X. Coyle at pcoyle@yaf.org or 800-USA-1776.

STUDENT PROFILE

Foundation Activist Battles Liberal Intolerance to Host Kate Obenshain on Campus –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––——

By Jessica Jensen, Editor many people unwilling Obenshain for the “Failures of to ‘coexist’ with people Feminism” speech, but she also brought who have different in private security as a precaution. views than they do Conservatives and liberal students on JMU’s campus,” gathered for the speech and engaged responded Emily. in a lively, but respectful, dialogue.

“I’ve experienced a lot Campus conservatives left energized, of intolerance from and young leftists kept Obenshain for the same people that more than an hour, asking questions preach tolerance.” and debating her commentary.

While she was Emily’s challenges did not end after disgusted by the the speech, as a leftist professor gave students’ tactics, Emily the young conservative a particularly was shocked when rough time. After the stress of events school employees leading up to the event, Emily arrived became involved. late for this professor’s final exam. She JMU’s Health and takes full responsibility for her error Wellness office officials but was stunned by what she says the Emily Buck visits the Reagan Ranch in early 2011 during the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute’s Western Women’s Summit. took down posters professor told her. While he might let promoting the event other students still take the exam, he senior at James Madison while posting signs supporting “gender would not let Emily because she was a University (JMU), Emily Buck neutral bathrooms” on campus. (The “troublemaker.” wanted to step up her activism health center also houses the Lesbian, Emily is not one to give in to the by bringing conservative speakers Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center at Left, and within a few weeks of that to campus to expose students to an JMU.) incident, she appeared alternative viewpoint. Her decision to Emily noted, on Fox News’s Glenn bring in Young America’s Foundation’s “This is an office Beck television vice president, Kate Obenshain, to talk that is funded by show, discussing about “The Failures of Feminism” the university and is the intolerance she would open her eyes to just how strong supposed to represent faced as a young she would have to be to take on the all students…and conservative and how campus Left. has since proven she fought back.

Emily posted fliers around campus that it is a fraud Kate Obenshain, to promote Obenshain’s speech which because it obviously who was in steady was sponsored by the Clare Boothe does not tolerate communication with Luce Policy Institute. She quickly came diversity when it Emily throughout face-to-face with the Left’s true bias comes to conservative Emily Buck hosts a successful her ordeal and helped speaking event with Foundation when a student proudly admitted to students…” prepare her for Beck’s Vice President Kate Obenshain, stealing the posters. That young leftist The young show, said, “Emily despite the campus Left’s wrote on a blog, “D@&# right I took conservative was also numerous attempts to derail the is an extraordinary program. their racist, sexist, classist, homophobic barraged with emails example of the courage posters down. And I’m not sorry and blog comments of today’s young about it either.” Event posters were from leftists opposed to Obenshain’s conservatives on college campuses— also defaced with Satanic imagery and speech. They wrote, “You ought to risking so much to expose her fellow covered up with fliers promoting an be ashamed of yourself,” and “This students to conservative ideas. She event—sponsored by the Women’s is the most offensive thing I have seen is going to leave JMU with a strong Faculty—denouncing motherhood. in quite some time. I cannot believe understanding of her conservative “Members of the Left proudly James Madison University would even values and a willingness to defend display these ‘Coexist’ bumper stickers, tolerate this event.” them, regardless of the cost. She is but I have never been bombarded by so Emily persevered and hosted battle tested, and she is ready.”

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A lu m ni S potli g h t

National Journalism Center Alumna Amanda Carey Launches Career at the Daily Caller –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––——

By Nikki Grey, National Journalism Center Intern

Amanda Carey, graduate of the National Journalism Center, now works as a reporter for Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller.

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manda Carey, 22, loved public policy from a young age. Growing up in Greenville, South Carolina, Carey recalls discussions with her father and grandfather and being known in high school as the policy “guru.”

She would have never guessed, just a few years later, she would be a successful journalist in the nation’s capital—something she credits partially to her summer internship with the National Journalism Center (NJC).

Carey applied for an internship with NJC during her freshman year of college after her school’s alternative conservative newspaper sparked her interest in journalism. During her NJC interview, she was asked who her favorite journalist was, and

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she replied, “Robert Novak.”

Next thing Carey knew, she was interning in Novak’s office.

“It was a great experience,” Carey said. “I learned a lot, and I think I grew up that summer. He was a very interesting person to work with…very intelligent and incredibly powerful.

The first week I was there I was just awestruck.”

Carey’s NJC internship provided close access to one of our nation’s most revered journalists.

“I [edited] his columns, proofread them, and did research for them. It was great because it was a really small office, so I worked really closely with him. I got to know him pretty well.”

Carey quickly realized that, today, there are few reporters like Novak. “He mastered shoe-leather journalism…. He was one-of-a-kind.”

Young America’s Foundation • Libertas

Carey would be Robert Novak’s last National Journalism Center intern before he passed away in August of 2009.

The summer after interning with NJC, Carey participated in the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program and was placed at Reason magazine. Following her graduation, she immediately moved back to Washington, D.C., where, she faced some initial challenges.

“I’ve gotten a lot better [at reporting], but in the beginning, it was a struggle to step outside my comfort zone and feel comfortable walking up to people and asking tough questions,” Carey admits.

“When you’re face-to-face with a member of the United States Senate, it can be a little daunting!”

Despite some hurdles, Carey quickly became successful. She began interning with the Daily Caller—a

Carey got her start in journalism through the National Journalism Center where she interned for legendary reporter Robert Novak.

A lu m ni S potli g h t

The late Robert Novak meets with Amanda Carey (front row, fourth from left) and her fellow National Journalism Center interns during the 2008 summer session.

publication founded by veteran journalist Tucker Carlson—in May 2010 and was hired in July.

Carey credits her succesful career trajectory to keeping in touch with the people she met during her internships.

“I wasn’t afraid to ask people for help,” Carey said. “I met a lot of people when I interned at NJC, and I was constantly keeping in touch with them, emailing them, and asking for help and advice.”

Carey said that building a network was essential in making the smooth transition from college to landing a job. Her advice to young journalists hoping to break into the industry is to do the same thing.

“It’s all about who you know, so start early, and [move] to D.C.,” Carey said. “It may seem like you have a lot of time to find a job, but you should start early and work hard, get to know a lot of people, and don’t

“For me, the best part of being a journalist is knowing that you have a role in driving the news of the day, you sort of have an influence, and [you] are making people react.”

be afraid to ask for help. Just prove yourself through your work. Also, you cannot be afraid of criticism.”

Today, Carey’s “unofficial beats” include certain policies, issues, and the 2012 Presidential race. She spends much of her time calling and emailing her sources on campaigns and Capitol

Hill to find out about the latest news on her topics of interest.

Even though becoming a journalist was not part of her initial plan, she says it is the greatest way to combine her love of policy with her love of writing.

“For me, the best part of being a journalist is knowing that you have a role in driving the news of the day, you sort of have an influence, and [you] are making people react,” Carey said.

Carey added, “It’s the whole idea of being a truth seeker. It’s knowing that there is corruption everywhere, and that your job is to communicate the truth no matter what the cost is.

The media gets a bad rap all the time, but for those who do it right and do it honestly, I think it’s a very noble profession. Plus you get some great stories out of it!”

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“We Need to Be Bold and Aggressive” Congressman Allen West Headlines Reagan 100 Luncheon

By Kate Obenshain, Vice President

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He continued, hroughout 2011, “That’s what we Young America’s must do: take Ronald Foundation is Reagan’s mission hosting events to celebrate forward for the next the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s generation. His message birth. One such Reagan of freedom and liberty— 100 program featured we need to carry his Congressman Allen West ideals on to the next as the keynote speaker at generation or we will Florida Congressman Allen West delivers a rousing address to local a briefing for Foundation lose them…. The other Foundation supporters during a special Reagan 100 luncheon in Palm supporters in Palm Beach, side thinks we’re afraid Beach.

Florida. to go in to the college The program included a screening of the Reagan 100 campuses and the schools; this is territory they control.

Student Film Project, Still Point in a Turning World: We need to be willing to jump in behind enemy lines.

Ronald Reagan and his Ranch, which uses current context Don’t do what is easy. Do the thing that is hard.” and President Reagan’s own words to bring him to life for Relying on wisdom from his 20 years in the military, the next generation.

Congressman West said conservatives need to be smarter Foundation President Ron Robinson welcomed guests, about their strategy. “When you make a frontal assault, saying that President Reagan, through his involvement you get mowed down. We need to change the way we with Young America’s Foundation, set the precedent for view leadership. Not this ‘who’s next’ theory of [who the the importance of reaching young people. Robinson next leader should be]. We need to be bold and aggressive. noted, “Reagan’s steady involvement in our programs was They know what we’re going to do. They see us coming. not because of his relationship with me, or with any of the We have to adjust our tactics.”

Foundation’s leaders, but because he knew the importance “We need to have a different image with young of reaching young people with his message and ideas.” people,” stated the Congressman. “We need to highlight Congressman West, who has quickly become a the diversity in our movement—telling [young people] leading champion of conservatism in Congress, gave an ‘Come and be a part of this.’ We need to be lifting up the inspirational speech about the importance of reaching governors of New Mexico, South Carolina, and Louisiana, young people with our ideas. He exhorted the audience and the Senator from Florida. We need to take the to support the Foundation and the Reagan Ranch, saying, dishonest, emotional, and tyrannical arguments of the Left “What you are doing here is the most important thing we and turn them against them. We need to show them that need to be doing.” their policies go against the individual and make victims of He doesn’t just believe in the Foundation’s mission. people.”

He lives it, especially when he is home in his district.

Congressman West concluded, saying, “The most Congressman West said, “I go talk to these 17- and 18important thing we need to do is develop the next year-olds in their history classes. They need to understand generation of leaders. If we don’t get the next generation that government has put so many people out of work. It to the mecca of conservative thought [the Reagan Ranch], is responsible for the foreclosures—that’s what happens … then we lose not just the young people, but the country. when government gets involved. Then, these young people No one wants to be part of a generation that left freedom begin to understand.” less intact.”

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tudents attending Young America’s Foundation’s fifth annual Reagan Ranch High School Conference gather in front of the Reagan Ranch Center’s Berlin Wall exhibit and proudly display their newly acquired books about President Reagan. (Pictured back row, from left to right: Laura Hyde, Scott Nicholes, Jennifer Rempe, and Molly Sheahan. Pictured front row, from left to right: Victoria Nieuwsma, Kate Moseley, and Maddie Durling.)