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The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the
Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU). ...
. Founded on December 18, 1964, it calls itself the oldest ongoing conservative lobbying organization in the U.S. The ACU is concerned with issues such as
personal liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
or
freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
, foreign policy, and traditional values, which they define as foundations of conservatism.


Activities

The ACU comprises three entities: The American Conservative Union, a
501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...
organization which conducts lobbying; The American Conservative Union Foundation, a
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
organization best known for hosting the Conservative Political Action Conference; and The American Conservative Union Political Action Committee, a PAC that formally endorses and funds conservative candidates for federal and state level offices.


Congressional ratings

Dating back to 1971, ACU has implemented its own scoring system which annually rates politicians on their conservatism. While the scorecard was novel to conservatism, Americans for Democratic Action has utilized a liberal rubric for liberalism since 1947. Each publication of Congressional and State Ratings contains a statement from Chairman
Matt Schlapp Matthew Aaron Schlapp (born December 18, 1967) is an American political activist and lobbyist who is chairman of the American Conservative Union. He leads the lobbying firm Cove Strategies, which had strong ties to the Donald Trump administration ...
about the philosophy guiding the ratings as one of conservatism: "We begin with our philosophy (conservatism is the political philosophy that sovereignty resides in the person) and then apply our understanding of government (its essential role is to defend life, liberty, and property)." Unlike other congressional ratings that take positions on pending legislation, ACU Foundation rates votes already cast by lawmakers. Each rating provides a conservative interpretation of an official's view of governance. As one spokesperson for the ACU once noted, "clear-cut distinctions between liberals and conservatives ccurif you have Crane, Ashbrook, and Kemp go a certain way and Burton goes the other". The ACU annually rates politicians according to how they vote on key issues, providing a numerical indicator of how much the lawmakers agreed with conservative ideals. They use this rating system as a point of accountability for politicians, comparing their political rhetoric to their voting records to assess their conservativeness. Politicians are given a percentile rating, anyone with a rating of over 80% is considered to be an "ACU Conservative". These scores are often used in political science research, in news stories and in election campaigns.


Conservative Political Action Conference

ACU's most well-known event is the
Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU). ...
(CPAC), an annual event organized by the ACU foundation. CPAC has an annual attendance of thousands. Speakers regularly include sitting and former presidents and other famous conservatives. CPAC 2017 featured President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Senator
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas fro ...
(R-TX), Governors Matt Bevin (R-KY), Sam Brownback (R-KS),
Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey (, né Roscoe Jr.; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 23rd governor of Arizona since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Ducey was previously the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, a c ...
(R-AZ), and Scott Walker (R-WI) and executive branch officials (EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Education Secretary
Betsy DeVos Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. DeVos is known for her support for s ...
).


American Conservative Union Foundation

The ACU Foundation's purpose is to educate the public on conservative principles and currently has five "policy centers" which focus on different political areas. There is the Center for Arts and Culture, the Center for Human Dignity, the Center for Statesmanship & Diplomacy, the Center for 21st Century Property Rights, and the Center for Criminal Justice Reform (CCJR). These policy centers are mainly blogs which post articles regarding their topic area. The most extensive of these is the CCJR, who advocate for conservative criminal justice reform through advising governmental officials, media advocacy, and testifying as expert witnesses at governmental hearings. The CCJR focuses on two main policy areas: preventing civil
asset forfeiture Asset forfeiture or asset seizure is a form of confiscation of assets by the authorities. In the United States, it is a type of criminal-justice financial obligation. It typically applies to the alleged proceeds or instruments of crime. This ap ...
and increasing mental health facilities within the criminal justice system. The CCJR works with the
Texas Public Policy Foundation The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) is a conservative think tank based in Austin, Texas. The organization was founded in 1989 by James R. Leininger, who sought intellectual support for his education reform ideas, including public school v ...
and Prison Fellow Ministries in the
Right on Crime Right on Crime is a conservative U.S. criminal justice reform initiative that aims to gain support for criminal justice reform by sharing research and policy ideas, mobilizing leaders, and by raising public awareness. Right On Crime reforms are ...
campaign, and offers a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference each year.


History


Founding

The American Conservative Union was one of many conservative organizations formed in the 1960s as part of the resurgence of conservatism. As conservative activist
M. Stanton Evans Medford Stanton Evans (July 20, 1934 – March 3, 2015), better known as M. Stanton Evans, was an American journalist, author and educator. He was the author of eight books, including '' Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe M ...
predicted, "Historians may well record the decade of the 1960s as the era in which conservatism, as a viable political force, finally came into its own." During a time of increasing polarization between liberals and conservatives, activists began to build a well-organized conservative movement, forming organizations such as Young Americans for Freedom and the ACU. During this era, conservative groups focused less on direct action and more on long term planning and sought to gain positions in public office. The ACU was founded in December 1964 in response to the predominance of liberalism in America as evidenced by the defeat of
Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presid ...
's presidential campaign. Founders included Frank S. Meyer, William F Buckley Jr, and Robert E. Bauman, who organized the first meeting. In the initial meetings, a 50-member board of directors was appointed, whose members included Lammot Copeland, Peter O'Donnell, John A. Howard, Donald C. Bruce, and
John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...
. Membership grew to 7,000 within 9 months, and 45,000 by the end of 1972. As part of ACU's mission to unite conservatives, William F. Buckley and Robert Bauman led an initiative to declare ACU's views of the John Birch Society. ACU's founding documents state that, Conservatives' view of the Birchers became a national storyline when Buckley continued to criticize the Birchers in his ''National Review'' column.


Foreign policy influence

The ACU spent roughly $1.4 million opposing the ratification of the
Panama Canal treaties Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
in 1977. They used a mass mailing campaign, sending out around 2.4 million letters. This brought in roughly $15,000 a day in support of conservative candidates who opposed the treaties. They also produced a thirty-minute-long television ad which aired on 150 television station in eighteen states, and took out newspaper ads in thirty states, encouraging citizens to write to their senators to oppose the treaties. The ACU also helped to fund a "truth squad," formed by Senator Paul Laxalt, whose purpose was to "focus renewed public interest in the treaties" and pressure senators to vote against the treaties. Gary Jarmin, who was at the time Legislator of the ACU, stated that the Panama Canal Treaties were "a good issue for the conservative movement. It's not just the issue itself we're fighting for. This is an excellent opportunity to seize control of the Republican Party." In 1980, the ACU estimated that it would cost roughly $1.8 million to defeat SALT II; together with other conservative groups, SALT opponents outspent supporters 15:1. Having found the technique of mass mailing to be successful during other campaigns, the ACU used this same technique to oppose SALT II, reaching roughly 500,000 people with this strategy. Additionally, they produced a half-hour-long anti-SALT television program called ''Soviet Might/American Myth: The United States in Retreat'', which was aired on 200 television stations around the country. In 1985, the ACU sent out roughly 100,000 pieces of mail in support of Nicaraguan contra aid in 1985. They also escorted Nicaraguan refugees around Capitol Hill in order to persuade undecided politicians to support Reagan's contra aid request.


Leadership

Founding members include:
William F. Buckley, Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded '' National Review'', the magazine that sti ...
Rep. Donald Bruce (R.-Ind.), Rep.
John Ashbrook John Milan Ashbrook (September 21, 1928 – April 24, 1982) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives from Ohio from 1961 until his death.
(R.-Ohio), Rep. Katherine St. George (R.-N.Y.),
William A. Rusher William Allen Rusher (July 19, 1923 – April 16, 2011) was an American lawyer, author, activist, and conservative columnist. He was one of the founders of the conservative movement and was one of its most prominent spokesmen for thirty years as ...
, Frank Meyer, Thomas S. Winter, John A. Howard and L. Brent Bozell. Donald Bruce served as the first chairman from 1964 to 1966, succeeded by John Ashbrook from 1966 to 1971. M. Stanton Evans then served six years from 1971 to 1977, succeeded by a two-year term served by Philip Crane from 1977 to 1979. Mickey Edwards served as chairman from 1979 to 1983. David A. Keene was chairman from 1984 until 2011, succeeded by Al Cardenas, who served until 2014. He was succeeded by the ninth and current chairman,
Matt Schlapp Matthew Aaron Schlapp (born December 18, 1967) is an American political activist and lobbyist who is chairman of the American Conservative Union. He leads the lobbying firm Cove Strategies, which had strong ties to the Donald Trump administration ...
, who has previously served as George Bush's political director.


Lobbying in the 21st century

According to OpenSecrets, the American Conservative Union spent roughly $20,000 on lobbying in 2001, $400,000 in 2003, and $1,100,000 in 2005. They did not spend any money on lobbying in 2004. In the years since Schlapp was elected chairman ACU, has spent $120,000 on lobbying. Recurring lobbyists are Lorenz Hart and Amir Iljazi.


Controversies


FedEx

In 2009, the ACU offered
FedEx FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
requested and solicited payment of fees totaling $3.4 million for e-mail and other services for "an aggressive grass-roots campaign" to stop a legislative provision being considered by the U.S. Senate. The letter said the ACU's campaign could include "Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and/or other members of the ACU’s Board of Directors." Two weeks later, Keene and leaders of five other conservative organizations issued a letter saying that FedEx was mischaracterizing the legislative situation and was unfairly trying to tap into public resentment against federal bailouts to attack its competition. The letter included, at its top, logos from the ACU and the other organizations. Whitfield said that Keene had endorsed the second letter as an individual, even though the letter bore the logo of the ACU. The ACU then issued a press release saying that permission to use the logo had not been given by the ACU, and that the ACU continued to stand with the policy supported by FedEx.


Embezzlement

Diana Hubbard Carr, the ACU's former administrative director and ex-wife of David Keene, pleaded guilty in June 2011 to embezzling between $120,000 and $400,000 from 2006 to 2009, during her time as bookkeeper for the group."Former Manager at the American Conservative Union Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement"
June 7, 2011


References


External links


Official website

ACU Organizational Profile
National Center for Charitable Statistics The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops sta ...
( Urban Institute)
ACU Foundation Organizational Profile
National Center for Charitable Statistics The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops sta ...
( Urban Institute) {{Authority control 1964 establishments in the United States Conservative organizations in the United States Organizations based in Virginia Organizations established in 1964 Political organizations based in the United States