A small correction. The Conservative Movement started on August 23, 1971 with a 5,000 word memo written by Lewis F. Powell Jr, and circulated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Less than six months later, on January 6, 1972, Lewis F. Powell was sworn in as a Justice on the United States Supreme Court.
As Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper’s magazine wrote in 2004: “His [Lewis Powell’s] heavy word of warning fell upon the legions of reaction with the force of Holy Scripture: "Survival of what we call the free enterprise system," he said, "lies in organization, in careful long-range planning and implementation, in consistency of action over an indefinite period of years, in the scale of financing available only through joint effort, and in the political power available only through united action and national organizations."
The venture capital for the task at hand was provided by a small sewing circle of rich
philanthropists—Richard Mellon Scaife in Pittsburgh, Lynde and Harry Bradley in Milwaukee,
John Olin in New York City, the Smith Richardson family in North Carolina, Joseph Coors in
Denver, David and Charles Koch in Wichita—who entertained visions of an America restored
to the safety of its mythological past—small towns like those seen in prints by Currier and
Ives, cheerful factory workers whistling while they worked, politicians as wise as Abraham
Lincoln and as brave as Teddy Roosevelt, benevolent millionaires presenting Christmas
turkeys to deserving elevator operators…”
Simply put, the Conservative Movement was created by, led, funded and controlled by billionaires. It is NOT a people led, grassroots movement by any means or measure.
If you want to read more…
Tentacles of Rage, The Republican Propaganda Machine, by Lewis Lapham, Sept. 2004
https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/gned/laphamtentacles04.pdf
The Powell Memo
