Libertas (Issue 41.2 - Fall 2020) by Young America's Foundation

FALL 2020

H Inside: Young America’s Foundation Alumni and Speakers Confront the Threat of Communist China

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September 8, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

oung America’s Foundation is in the closing days before Governor Scott Walker becomes the organization’s chief executive officer.

I assumed, when our transition began, that my

closing weeks as the Foundation’s president would be similar to our recent years of operation.

We would run the nation’s largest campus lecture

program featuring Ben Shapiro, Dr. Arthur Laffer, Michael Knowles, and Dinesh D’Souza, among others.

We would charter more YAF chapters on the 2,000-

plus campuses where we have activists.

And we would conduct a series of conferences at

locations across the country, including at the ever-popular and most impactful, the Reagan Ranch—Rancho del Cielo.

Man can plan, but God must laugh at our assumptions!

Thus, Young America’s Foundation retooled our outreach efforts after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented most

traditional in-person gatherings. Fortunately, we were already successful in reaching young audiences on YouTube— the online video platform most popular among today’s students.

On our YouTube channel, YouTube.com/YAFTV, interested parties and our 300,000-plus subscribers

find an unmatched treasure trove of video content featuring conservative leaders at YAF campus lectures and conferences.

Indeed, YAF leads the field in offering more than a half century’s worth of free video resources featuring timeless

commentary from some of our nation’s leading conservatives.

Ironically, the unwillingness of schools to hold traditional classes gives Young America’s Foundation an

opportunity to impact audiences more easily, since students do not have to cater to their leftist professors and teachers at the moment.

This issue of Libertas highlights how your YAF leadership did not miss a minute in finding new ways to

accomplish our mission of introducing conservative ideas to young audiences.

It is also appropriate, in a year dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, that we take a closer look at our nation’s

relationship with Communist China. We hope you enjoy our take on this pressing topic.

Gratefully,

Ron Robinson President

LIB E RTAS Fall 2020

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Volume 41

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Young America’s Foundation Board Of Directors

Number 2

Special Feature: Confronting the Threat of Communist China

Fighting Communism Since 1960

By Dr. Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought, The Heritage Foundation

Facing America’s Biggest Threat

By Speaker Newt Gingrich at the University of Southern California

Defending America An Interview with U.S. Senator Tom Cotton

By Karalee Geis, Capitol Hill Outreach Director

YAF Alumna Ying Ma Exposes the Atrocities of Communism

Time to End China’s Creeping Influence on America’s College Campuses

By Yuichi Kakutani, Reporter, Washington Free Beacon

By Taylor Hathorn, Director of Alumni Relations

New Hope: Latest Generation More Open to Conservative Ideas Than Older Millennials

By Governor Scott Walker, Chief Executive Officer

“Men Are Not Women, and Other Uncomfortable Truths” An Interview with Michael Knowles

By Patrick X. Coyle, Vice President

Telling the Story of America An Interview with David & Marlyce Logan

By Haley Limo, Development Officer

On the Cover: FALL 2020

VOL. 41

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NO. 2

Also in This Issue: 4 National Journalism Center Interns Pursue Responsible, Balanced,

and Accurate Reporting 5 Students Nationwide Participate in Virtual Reagan Ranch Tours 6 YAF’s 28th Annual Commencement Speaker Survey Highlights H Inside: Young America’s Foundation Alumni and Speakers Confront the Threat of Communist China

This issue of Libertas highlights the important work of Young America’s Foundation’s alumni and speakers in exposing and confronting the threat of Communist China.

Leftist Bias 7 Shapiro, Campos-Duffy, and Walker Headline YAF’s Virtual June

High School Conference 8 YAF Educates Student Activists Through Unique Online Initiatives 43 Start Your Young Americans for Freedom Chapter Today

Libertas, the Latin word for liberty, is a publication of Young America’s Foundation which 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, 11480 Commerce Park Drive, Sixth Floor, Reston, Virginia 20191; calling 800-USA-1776; or visiting yaf.org. Editor: Raj Kannappan; Publisher: Ron Robinson; Publication Design: Jonathan Briggs; Assistant Editors: Jolie Ballantyne, Kathryn Beale, Victor Bernson, Spencer Brown, Cheri Cerame, Patrick X. Coyle, Kyle Ferrebee, Karalee Geis, Jaime Hahn, Rachel Harper, Taylor Hathorn, Clare Hinshaw, Jessica Jensen, Haley Limo, Breana Marsh, Kevin McMahon, Chris Miranda, Emma Morris, Karl Stahlfeld, Kara Zupkus; Washington, D.C., event photographers: David Keith and Bob Updegrove; California event photographer: Jacqueline Pilar. This document and all herein contents, images, stories, graphics, and design, fall unto copyright © 2005 to 2020 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.

Ron Robinson President of the Board Ronald Pearson Vice President of the Board Frank Donatelli Secretary and Treasurer of the Board Kimberly Begg T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Wynton C. Hall Nicole Hoplin Emily Jashinsky Kate Obenshain Keeler Peter Schweizer Thomas L. Phillips Director Emeritus

Reagan Ranch Board Of Governors Frank Donatelli Chairman Edwin Meese Co-Chairman Robert F. Agostinelli Governor George Allen Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar Dr. Suzanne Becker Lisa M. Buestrin Robert Cummins George & Becky Norton Dunlop Bruce & Kathi Eberle Richard Gaby & Barbara Van Andel-Gaby Robert Giuffra, Jr. Timothy S. Goeglein Michael W. Grebe Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold Eric & Nicole Hoplin Ann Knapheide Mark Larson Rebekah Mercer Al Moore Dennis & Nancy Moore Doug & Pat Perry Thomas L. Phillips Rear Admiral JJ Quinn Ruppert & Cheryl Reinstadler Richard & Jane Schwartz Craig Shirley Owen & Bernadette Casey Smith Barbara S. Waddell Tonette Walker Jay Webber

National Journalism Center Board Of Governors T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Chairman Chris Bedford John Gizzi Emily Jashinsky Rich Lowry Alex Marlow The Honorable Alex Mooney Gabby Orr Katie Pavlich Ronald Pearson Kirby Wilbur Tom Winter Thomas L. Phillips Chairman Emeritus

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National Journalism Center Interns Pursue Responsible, Balanced, and Accurate Reporting Under the leadership of Director Elizabeth Donatelli, Young America’s Foundation’s National Journalism Center (NJC) interns produced hundreds of quality articles, podcasts, videos, and Intern Emma Hagedoorn from Loyola Marymount University participates in her National newscasts during the spring 2020 session. Journalism Center placement at the Washington Examiner. During NJC’s spring internship program, the aspiring young journalists were placed at leading media alumnus Bill McMorris; Hill TV Host Saagar Enjeti; Wall outlets such as the Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Street Journal Assistant Editorial Page Writer and NJC Washington Times, Fox News, C-SPAN, and Voice of America. alumna Nicole Ault; Marine Corps Times Editor Andrea Working at these newsrooms four days each week, interns Scott; Washington Business Journal Managing Editor Michael strengthened their knowledge of a wide range of public policy Neibauer; and Daily Caller Editor Eric Lieberman, among issues and developed strong technical skills. others. Additionally, the interns gathered weekly at YAF’s To become well-rounded journalists, interns participated headquarters to hear from accomplished professional in weekly classroom sessions and special workshops to gain journalists and public policy officials. Speakers during hands-on training in investigative journalism and video and the spring session included Federalist Culture Editor, YAF podcast production. Director, and NJC Board of Governors member Emily NJC interns also expanded their learning through Jashinsky; Washington Free Beacon Reporter and NJC trips to the nation’s capital. They toured the U.S. House of Representatives Press Gallery and attended lectures featuring congressional staff and reporters at YAF’s William & Berniece Grewcock Capitol Hill Townhouse. The spring interns’ work frequently gained prominent coverage. Lindsay Wigo from The George Washington University produced and edited five dozen videos on government corruption, impeachment proceedings, and other topics for the Daily Caller, with her first video drawing 1.2 million views on Facebook. Loyola Marymount University student Emma Hagedoorn, whose articles at the Washington Examiner drew more than 30,000 views, remarked at the conclusion of her internship, “With NJC, I was able to hear about what’s happening now in the news from real journalists who don’t sugarcoat anything.” The National Journalism Center’s spring interns gather at YAF’s national headquarters following a classroom training session.

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Students Nationwide Participate in Virtual Reagan Ranch Tours While many schools remain closed, Young America’s Foundation continues to inspire young people

nationwide with the freedom philosophy through virtual tours of the Reagan Ranch, a project of YAF. These online experiences provide an inside look at Ronald Reagan’s historic Presidential property, owned and operated by the Foundation since 1998. Numerous student groups from across the country have participated in these tours, not only learning about the Young America’s Foundation staff offer guided virtual tours of the Reagan Ranch to students nationwide. place Ronald Reagan called home for 25 years, but also gaining an appreciation tour as “magical” and shared that it “helped our eighthfor his character, values, and lasting accomplishments. graders get a glimpse of why our school carries [Reagan’s] Eighth-grade students from the Reagan Academy, a public name.” charter school in Utah, have visited the Reagan Ranch in High school students from Wisconsin enjoyed a guest person each of the last nine years to learn about their school’s appearance by YAF’s CEO, 45th Governor of Wisconsin namesake. While this year’s class was forced to cancel the Scott Walker, on their tour. Walker noted Reagan’s profound annual tour, more than 100 students and family members influence on his own life, recalling, “I was 12 years old when joined an interactive virtual tour of Rancho del Cielo guided [Ronald Reagan] was running for President. He was a great by YAF staff, which included a walk through the adobe ranch optimist and had an incredible belief in the American people.” home, an ATV ride, and a visit to the tack barn. Throughout virtual tours of this unique property, Reagan Academy teacher Justin Riggs described the virtual participants are able to ask questions in real time and learn how Reagan used the Ranch to solidify his conservative values, sign historic pieces of legislation, host world leaders, and chart America’s prosperous future. As one virtual tour participant noted, I loved getting a close-up view of how [Ronald Reagan] lived his personal life. It was simple, yet wonderful! He never lost sight of what really matters and what things are most important in life. He is a very inspiring example for me!

Virtual Reagan Ranch tour participants get an inside look at President Reagan’s simple adobe ranch home.

Rancho del Cielo is an ideal place to inspire future generations of leaders with conservative values. Young America’s Foundation is eager to share the Reagan Ranch with wider audiences in person. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

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YAF’s 28th Annual Commencement Speaker Survey Highlights Leftist Bias Young America’s Foundation released our 28th annual study of commencement speakers

at the nation’s top 100 universities as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. While none of these institutions hosted traditional, inperson commencement ceremonies this spring—due to COVID-19 restrictions— roughly one quarter of the schools invited guest speakers to address graduates virtually. Despite these atypical ceremonies, the schools remained consistent in their ideological bias, as leftist speakers dominated the virtual programs nationwide. Headlining these online commencement ceremonies were leftist public officials including New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver (New Jersey YAF speaker and Fox News Contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy cites the Foundation’s 2020 commencement survey in Institute of Technology), calling for greater intellectual diversity on college campuses. Colorado Governor Jared Correspondent Bill Whitaker (University of California, San Polis (Colorado School of Mines), U.S. House Majority Diego) and NBC Nightly News Anchor Lester Holt (Rutgers Leader Steny Hoyer (University of Maryland), U.S. Senate University). Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Rensselaer Polytechnic In comparison, no reporters, anchors, or executives Institute), and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (Northwestern from Fox News—America’s most-watched cable news University). network—headlined 2020 graduation programs at these Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (Miami University of schools. Ohio) was the only GOP governor to deliver a virtual Additionally, no leading conservative authors, entertainers, commencement address at a top-100 institution. or members of YAF’s premier campus lecture program Liberal business leaders and entertainers also shared final were invited to address graduates at the country’s highestmessages with the class of 2020. These speakers included ranked schools. Also notably excluded from commencement comedian Ken Jeong (Duke University), actor George Takei ceremonies this year were members of the Trump (University of California, Los Angeles), Apple CEO Tim Cook administration and conservative members of the United (The Ohio State University), and Reddit Co-founder Alexis States Congress. Ohanian (Johns Hopkins University). This lack of intellectual diversity at America’s educational This year’s graduation ceremonies also featured many leftist media figures, including Washington Post Executive institutions highlights the importance of YAF’s programs that Editor Marty Baron (Harvard University), CBS News educate and train bold conservative student activists. 6

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Shapiro, Campos-Duffy, and Walker Headline YAF’s Virtual June High School Conference Young America’s Foundation hosted its first-ever virtual High School Conference in June, featuring prominent

next generation, noting, “You conservative young people give me great, great hope for the future.” To cap off the program, conference attendees participated in a virtual tour of the Reagan Ranch hosted by YAF staff, learning about the character, values, and lasting accomplishments of President Ronald Reagan (see page five). While Young America’s Foundation is eager to return to inperson activities, young people are grateful for the opportunity to participate in innovative and engaging online programs. Student attendee Elizabeth Santana-Zavala said about this unique program, “It was a truly amazing experience. I loved being able to learn great content from the comfort of my home.”

conservative leaders and the most popular content from YAF’s high school conferences in recent years. Adapting to online learning, YAF continues to provide students with the resources they need to advance conservative values—in and out of the classroom. This inaugural virtual program reached thousands of viewers on YAFTV, the Foundation’s YouTube channel. The conference kicked off with YAF’s most popular lecturer, Daily Wire Co-Founder Ben Shapiro, who told the audience, “I think it’s deeply important what Young America’s Foundation does, not just on college campuses, but also for high school students.” He went on to share advice for becoming a successful activist. The next day featured speeches by YAF President Ron Robinson, senior finance executive George Harbison, and One America News Network Host Liz Wheeler. Congressman Chip Roy inspired the students with a timely message of hope and American exceptionalism, remarking, “Americans have always lived in a time for choosing.” He proclaimed, “As [public] officials, our job is to protect the liberty that citizens exercise and with which government has no right to interfere.” YAF motivates students to proactively inspire others with conservative values. To that end, Foundation CEO Governor Scott Walker issued a call to action, encouraging viewers to combat leftist bias. He urged the students to remain “focused on what you’re supposed to be doing.” He continued, “Keep talking about not just what you’re doing, but why you’re doing it. Keep positive. Share a message. Get the word out.” Fox News Contributor Rachel CamposDuffy empowered the students to stand up for their shared beliefs, noting, “The Left’s goal is to shame you into silence—to make you feel ashamed to be a conservative. We conservative adults...will defend your right to free speech and your right to be independent thinkers.” YAF’s inaugural Virtual High School Conference allows young people nationwide to access Bay Buchanan, 37th Treasurer of the conservative ideas and speakers, including Daily Wire Co-Founder Ben Shapiro and One America United States, shared her optimism for the News Network Host Liz Wheeler, from the comfort of their home. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

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YAF Educates Student Activists Through Unique Online Initiatives Student activists are increasingly turning to Young America’s Foundation’s virtual programs to connect with conservative leaders and learn how to effectively advance the cause of freedom. In recent months, the Foundation has launched a variety of online initiatives to ensure young people continue to have access to the Conservative Movement’s best educational resources. The Foundation hosted key Trump administration officials and members of Congress for a series of virtual briefings with top YAF student activists from across the country. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and YAF alumna and Department of Education senior official Candice Jackson discussed the recently-released final rule on Title IX. This policy strengthens protections for survivors of sexual misconduct and restores due process in campus proceedings to ensure all students can pursue an education free from sex discrimination. DeVos remarked after addressing the young leaders’ questions,

Young America’s Foundation’s podcast, Books with Burt, educates listeners about the key entrepreneurs and developments in America’s economic history.

Paul Teller, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and director of strategic initiatives for Vice President Mike Pence, provided a briefing on the Trump administration’s efforts to protect Americans and encourage the reopening of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Congressmen Dan Crenshaw, Mark Green, Jody Hice, and Chip Roy have also participated in Facebook Live and Instagram Live events hosted by YAF. These programs provided tens of thousands of students nationwide with the opportunity to discuss key issues—including free speech, religious freedom, and police reform—with conservative public officials. YAF also offered virtual training sessions to prepare student leaders for the new academic year. The Foundation Thank you to YAF for your advocacy and…the great staff has led programs on innovative activism techniques, work that you do to continue to advance conservative including: how to organize bold campus initiatives, use new principles. I’ve appreciated my opportunities to be with media to promote campus efforts, and host breakthrough you at a couple different events and look forward to more events featuring conservative speakers. [opportunities] in the future. Additionally, the Foundation has launched a compelling new podcast—Books with Burt— that teaches students about the important moments and individuals in America’s economic history that are often overlooked in the classroom. Since launching this spring, Books with Burt has landed on Apple’s list of top history podcasts in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Listeners can access YAF’s podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google. YAF will continue to expand its digital offerings to inform and equip the next generation of young Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (top left) participates in an exclusive online briefing with top YAF student conservative leaders. activists and staff. 8

Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

Learn the Truth About Our Nation’s Great Entrepreneurs Read how private enterprise beats out government subsidies time after time The Myth of the Robber Barons describes the role of key entrepreneurs in the incredible economic growth of the United States from 1850 to 1910. This breakthrough book contrasts “market” entrepreneurs and “political” entrepreneurs and clearly shows the superiority of those who do not depend on government subsidies. It concludes by highlighting common history textbook bias and exposing authors who misread business history. Get your copy now by calling Young America’s Foundation at 800-USA-1776!

“Revises in important ways many misperceptions that historians have imposed upon the record.” — Forrest McDonald

“Classic…” — Dan Henninger, Wall Street Journal

“Perhaps the best, most readable, entertaining and informative business history ever written.” — Lawrence Reed, President Emeritus Foundation for Economic Education

“Provocative and cogent…” — Journal of American History

“This book is the perfect supplement to most standard economic and business history textbooks…” — Dr. Larry Schweikart, Best-Selling Author

Dr. Burt Folsom is a popular speaker at Young America’s Foundation’s programs nationwide. He is available to speak at your event or on your campus as part of our Free Enterprise Lecture Series. Please call 800-USA-1776 or visit www.yaf.org for more information.

Get your copy today! Available through Amazon.com or by calling 800-USA-1776. Reagan Ranch, 217 State Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101, 888-USA-1776

11480 |Commerce Park Drive, 14National YoungHeadquarters, America’s Foundation Libertas | Summer 2014 Sixth Floor, Reston, Virginia 20191, 800-USA-1776

www.yaf.org

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New Hope: Latest Generation More Open to Conservative Ideas Than Older Millennials By Governor Scott Walker, Chief Executive Officer

BIG NEWS: Current high school and post-secondary

students are more likely to identify as conservative than as progressive, according to a new poll commissioned by Young Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Foundation and the Federalist. The poll gives us hope that the newest generation is more open to conservative ideas than are millennials. When asked about their ideological beliefs, 30 percent said they were very or somewhat conservative while just 20 percent said they were very or somewhat progressive. That is good news as a Gallup Poll this past year showed that nearly 60 percent of adults under the age of 30 were open to socialism. Many of us suggested that respondents may not understand what it truly means to be a socialist. This latest poll seems to bolster that theory. The largest number of students (39 percent) identified as moderates. In my mind, that is a bit of a victory. The latest poll shows that 80 percent do not identify themselves as progressives.

Young Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

Every college-age student who is not a Marxist is a tremendous opportunity for us if we can get their attention and share the facts about objective American and world history, economics and financial literacy. The facts are on our side. We just have to work harder to get them to the masses. Echelon Insights conducted the [YAF/Federalist] poll of 800 current high school students and 800 current postsecondary students who were sampled from the general population. The survey was conducted April 24-27, 2020. Overall, students are very concerned about the coronavirus and are paying very close attention to coverage of the issue. Some 69 percent are worried that they might get infected and 80 percent are worried a family member might get it. When it comes to who is to blame, there is a major fault line between the opinions of students still in high school and those who are past high school. A plurality of high school

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students at 48 percent blame China for the coronavirus while just 41 percent of the students that are post-high school say the same. Conversely, 48 percent of post-high school students believe that the coronavirus crisis is our own government’s fault for not responding properly versus 40 percent of the high school students. Overall, 52 percent of high school students believe China is a threat while just 39 percent of the students who are already past high school feel the same way. These results regarding feelings about China seem to be a reflection of the negative impact on students by the many left-wing professors at our colleges and universities. It is yet another reminder of why it is so important to help young people establish solid political beliefs at a younger age with exposure to solid conservative ideas. A majority (54 percent) of students selected “smaller government with fewer government programs and lower taxes” versus “larger government with more government programs and higher taxes (27 percent).” That is good news. At the same time, however, a plurality (43 percent) said that we need more government programs to maintain our way of life in the United States over the next 10 years versus just 35 percent who said fewer government programs. Like many Americans of all ages, it appears some students are open to government programs that preserve their way of life yet dislike higher taxes to pay for them. This is a false choice. During my time as governor, we showed that you don’t have to choose between cutting vital

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services or raising taxes. Instead, we chose reform. People in the private sector do it all the time. They don’t dramatically cut the quality or raise the cost. If they did, it would cost their business customers. Instead, they reform the process and offer quality products at a reasonable price. Our government needs to embrace that concept. In addition to politics, students in the poll were asked which form of social media or app they use. YouTube was the most with 79 percent followed closely by Instagram (73 percent) and Snapchat (66 percent), then Facebook (58 percent). Twitter was only identified by 44 percent of the respondents in the poll. I was reminded of a survey by Pew Research Center that showed that just 22 percent of adults of all ages are on Twitter. Even more interesting was the observation that 80 percent of the tweets are done by a mere 10 percent of the people on Twitter. Remember that the next time someone in the “mainstream media” reports on something trending on Twitter. It is still just a small sample of America. Finally, when asked if the federal government threatens your own personal rights and freedoms, 46 percent said yes with just 35 percent saying no. All the more reason to remember that the virtue of freedom is timeless. Scott Walker was the 45th governor of Wisconsin. —————————————————————————————————————————

*The Washington Times originally published this article on May 7, 2020.

Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

Fighting Communism Since 1960 By Dr. Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought, The Heritage Foundation

That the United States should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with, this menace. The Cold War was at its most intense in the fall of 1960. Fidel Castro had just seized power in Cuba; the Soviets were reinforcing their tyrannical control behind the Iron Curtain; and Mao Zedong had approved a series of radical Marxist experiments that resulted in the deaths of many

About Dr. Lee Edwards

Lee Edwards is a YAF alumnus and distinguished fellow in conservative thought at The Heritage Foundation, leading historian of American conservatism, and author or editor of 25 books. He is an adjunct professor of politics at the Catholic University of America and chairman of a foundation that dedicated the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 2007. Edwards’ books include biographies of Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Edwin Meese III as well as histories of The Heritage Foundation and the American Conservative Movement. His works have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, French, Hungarian, and Swedish. His awards and honors include the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy from the Republic of China (Taiwan), Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, Millennium Star of Lithuania, Cross of Terra Mariana of Estonia, John Ashbrook Award, Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award, “Legend of YAF” from Young America’s Foundation, and Walter Judd Freedom Award.

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

That the forces of international communism are, at present, the greatest single threat to [our] liberties;

millions of Chinese. Within a few months, the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba and a new concrete wall between East and West Berlin would dominate the headlines. At stake in this historic conflict was whether the world would be dominated by the forces of totalitarianism led by the Soviet Union or inspired by the principles of political and economic freedom embodied by the United States. If the expansionist ambitions of the communists, from Western Europe to Southeast Asia, were not repulsed, the United States would be isolated strategically and economically. In September 1960, conservative youths Douglas Caddy and David Franke invited 100 young conservatives to Sharon, Connecticut, to launch a national youth organization—YAF—with an explicit commitment to anti-communism. Throughout the 1960s, YAF was in the forefront of the anti-communist, pro-freedom crusade. At YAF’s first major rally in New York City in March 1961, the main speaker—

rom its birth six decades ago, Young Americans for Freedom (now a project of Young America’s Foundation) has insisted that communism is America’s greatest threat, led by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and today by Communist China. YAF laid down this essential truth in the Sharon Statement, its founding document, which concludes:

Dr. Lee Edwards speaks on a panel during YAF’s 37th annual National Conservative Student Conference in 2015.

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Confronting the Threat of Communist China

F i g h t i n g C o m m u n i s m S i n c e 19 6 0

The Washington Star credits YAF with pressuring the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company from building a facility in Communist Romania in 1965.

Senator Barry Goldwater, a champion of liberty— called young conservatives “the nation’s young leaders of tomorrow.” The lead editorial of the New Guard, YAF’s official voice, proclaimed that young Americans were “sick unto death of collectivism, socialism, statism, and the other utopianisms which have poisoned the minds, weakened the wills and smothered the spirits of Americans for three decades.” YAF backed up its tough talk with action. In January 1961, barely five months old, YAF dispatched some 500 members to Washington, D.C., to picket the White House in favor of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Congress’s premier committee on the threat of communism. Communists and their fellow travelers were dumbfounded, as they had never before been outnumbered at any demonstration. At YAF’s March 1962 rally in Madison Square Garden, a fiery-tongued L. Brent Bozell, Jr., brought the capacity crowd of 18,000 to their feet when he urged them to march to Berlin and bring down the Wall. The conservative story of 1965 was YAF versus the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, which had announced plans to build a synthetic rubber plant in Communist Romania. YAF initiated a nationwide protest against “trading with the enemy,” organizing picket lines, letterwriting campaigns, and boycotts against Firestone products. Undeterred, Firestone proceeded with construction plans. Until, that is, YAF announced it was planning to distribute leaflets at the Indianapolis 500 race on Memorial Day, informing the several hundred thousand spectators of Firestone’s plans. YAF also spoke to city officials about hiring an airplane to fly over the racetrack with a banner reading “The Viet Cong Ride on Firestone.” The “Viet 14

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Cong” reference mimicked a popular Firestone ad campaign of the day and struck home. Firestone abruptly cancelled the Romanian factory project, and YAF’s campaign was cited as the primary reason in news stories and editorials from coast to coast. YAF capped the decade by launching the Student Committee for Victory in Vietnam and cosponsoring a giant Veterans Day rally at the Washington Monument that drew a crowd of more than 20,000 patriots and featured remarks by ranking members of Congress from both political parties. From its first issue until the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the New Guard usually carried a prominent article about communism, addressing events such as the Cuban missile crisis, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Tiananmen Square massacre, and President Ronald Reagan’s Cold War victory strategy. Throughout the Cold War, YAF enjoyed a special relationship with Reagan, long Hollywood’s premier anticommunist. It provided the ground troops for Reagan when he won the governorship of California in 1966, tried to capture the GOP presidential nomination in 1968 and 1976, and won the Presidency in 1980. Reagan joined YAF’s national advisory board in 1962 and served as the organization’s honorary chairman for 42 years. (Continued on page 16)

A capacity crowd of 18,000 activists participate in YAF’s “Rally for World Liberation from Communism” in Madison Square Garden in 1962.

F i g h t i n g C o m m u n i s m S i n c e 19 6 0 A Missouri University of Science and Technology YAF chapter member tears down a mock Berlin Wall during YAF’s Freedom Week initiative in 2019.

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H As part of YAF’s Fred Allen Lecture Series, New York Times bestselling author Ben Shapiro makes the case for freedom over big government at the University of Michigan in 2019. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

F i g h t i n g C o m m u n i s m S i n c e 19 6 0 (Continued from page 14) It was logical, therefore, that when Rancho del Cielo— Reagan’s Presidential getaway near Santa Barbara, California—came on the market in 1998, that YAF would save and preserve it. Today, there is no Soviet Union. But China, with its $15 trillion GDP and 90 million Communist Party members, has political ambitions far beyond Asia. The one nation standing in its way is the United States. Happily, there is awareness among some American youth of China’s intentions. According to a recent YAF/Federalist national poll (see page ten), 46 percent of Generation Z students see China as a threat and mostly to blame for the current COVID-19 pandemic. YAF speakers and publications have exposed China’s campaign to influence U.S. students and professors through millions of dollars of grants (see page 32). For instance, North Carolina State University cancelled a talk by the Dalai Lama, a longtime critic of China’s suppression of Tibetan religion and culture. The University of California system has told its students and faculty not to say “Chinese virus” when discussing COVID-19.

YAF has fought back by sponsoring talks by anticommunists like 50th Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who declares “it is important to expose the deceptions of this totalitarian regime” (see page 17). Representative Chris Smith—another ally who has spoken at YAF’s Reagan Forum on Capitol Hill—responded after facing sanctions from China for his efforts to expose the spread of COVID-19, “Sanctions will not silence me or anyone who wants real answers about COVID-19’s transmission.” Nor will YAF be silenced in its determination to tell the truth about socialism. “Fighting socialism,” says recent YAF National High School Chairman Jack Duffy, “is our generation’s duty.” Every year, YAF sponsors Freedom Week to mark the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Included in the Freedom Week kits sent to students are resources and instructions to bring awareness of communist and socialist atrocities to campuses nationwide. YAF’s most popular campus speaker today is Ben Shapiro, who delights in decimating socialism with examples of its failure from the gulag-ridden Soviet Union to povertystricken Venezuela. In point of fact, most young Americans have only the vaguest idea of what socialism is and is not. In one poll, ten percent said socialism meant “being social.” A basic goal of socialism is the abolition of private property, including possessions like the iPhone. Because China believes that “the enemy of the people” can be found on the internet, it has built the most elaborate tracking system in the world and routinely shuts down traffic if the wrong words—such as “Tiananmen Square”—are used. YAF believes that young Americans are “movable” on the issue of socialism if they are given the right information, which the mainstream media so often fail to do. Educating the rising generation is a formidable task demanding extraordinary patience and persistence, but it is no more impossible than bringing down the Berlin Wall. In January 1989, Erich Honecker, East Germany’s communist boss, boasted that the Wall would stand for another 100 years. Before the year was out, the Wall was down, communism Author Michael Reagan meets with student Max Winn in front of the Berlin Wall exhibit during the was through, and Honecker was gone. Foundation’s August 2018 High School Conference at the Reagan Ranch. 16

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Facing America’s Biggest Threat Remarks by Speaker Newt Gingrich at the University of Southern California October 29, 2019

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Confronting the Threat of Communist China

“The Chinese Communist Party today is a Leninist totalitarian system.”

hank you all very So, it was an enormous much. I want to shock around 1800, when start by thanking Western military technologies Young America’s began to surpass those of Foundation and particularly the Chinese by a big margin. the University of Southern China found itself virtually California YAF chairman, helpless in trying to stop Maxwell Brandon, and the Europeans. Japan also treasurer, Grayson Adler. modernized with the Meiji I’m delighted to be here Restoration in 1868. and want to talk about what’s The result was that China happening in China and why went through a period which I think China is our greatest it refers to as the Century threat. of Humiliation. In China’s Let me start by saying that I worldview, this period would not have given this talk only ended in 1949 at the Speaker Newt Gingrich addresses students at the University of ten years ago. Ten years ago, conclusion of the Chinese Southern California during his Young America’s FoundationI was still part of the national Civil War, when the People’s sponsored campus lecture in 2019. consensus that China was going Republic of China was to become more Western, more founded by Mao Zedong in open, and more democratic. Beijing. Gradually, I began to realize This war had been going that the differences were on between the Communist dramatically greater than we Party and its major were crediting ourselves with, competitor, the Kuomintang, and the consequences were since the founding of the greater. I began to realize there was a tremendous Chinese Chinese Communist Party in the 1920s. The Kuomintang effort underway to once again become the Middle Kingdom. had very much the same model as the Chinese Communist China was, from its origins under the Yellow Emperor Party (CCP). They were both Leninist systems. about 5,000 years ago through about 1800, the most Over time, the Kuomintang failed. The result was a populous, wealthiest, and civilized system in the world. If natural underlying sense of legitimacy for the CCP. you look at Marco Polo’s visit [to China], for example, the I had been reading about and studying China since 1960. things he took back to Europe were literally generations My dad fought in the Korean War, so I had a very real interest ahead of anything Europeans had even dreamed of. (Continued on page 19)

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

About Speaker Newt Gingrich

Speaker Newt Gingrich addresses YAF’s 17 th annual National Conservative Student Conference in 1995.

oung America’s Foundation has worked closely with Speaker Newt Gingrich for more than three decades to inspire countless young people with the ideas of individual freedom, free enterprise, a strong national defense, and traditional values. Gingrich has addressed

Foundation audiences on college Party’s threat to the United States campuses and at student conferences and offers prescriptions for nationwide, educating America’s overcoming this challenge. future leaders on a broad range of Gingrich is a highly-regarded important topics, including national speaker and an essential partner security, foreign policy, healthcare in Young America’s Foundation’s policy, and welfare reform. campus lecture program. To invite He and his wife, U.S. Ambassador him to speak on your campus, to the Holy See Callista Gingrich, have please contact YAF Vice President visited the Reagan Ranch, a project of Patrick X. Coyle at 800-USA-1776 YAF, to film their popular documentary or pcoyle@yaf.org. on President Reagan—Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny. Gingrich is the author of 36 books, including 15 New York Times bestsellers. His recent book, Trump vs. China: Facing America’s Greatest Threat, exposes the Speaker Gingrich and Senator Trent Lott participate in a press conference at the Foundation’s 1997 National Conservative Student Conference. Chinese Communist

Speaker Gingrich and his wife, Callista Gingrich, film their popular documentary, Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny, at the Reagan Ranch in 2008.

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Hundreds of college students hear from Speaker Gingrich at the Foundation’s 38th annual National Conservative Student Conference.

(Continued from page 17) in China’s role in the war. For example, the extraordinary Thanksgiving Offensive of 1950 was one of the great military achievements of the 20th century. But there were two very simple things that got me to begin thinking differently about China. I was visiting China with my wife, Callista, in 2005 or 2006, and we went to a place in Beijing called the Pearl Palace. The Pearl Palace is really a tourist trap that’s about eight stories tall. The first couple of floors sell pearls, but when you’re up around the sixth floor, they sell pajamas. My two grandchildren were very young at the time, and I thought I’d like to buy them pajamas. It would be a neat thing for Grandpa to bring back Chinese pajamas. I happened to have with me two people who had served on the National Security Council staff, were fluent in Chinese, and had gone to university in Beijing. They were my coaches, and they said to me, “Tell the lady who runs the store what you want. She will give you a price. Whatever price she gives you, offer her 10 percent of that.” I’m an American. If I go to Walmart and the price of a product is listed as $19.95, I don’t take it up to the counter and

Speaker Gingrich writes a congratulatory letter in 2019 recognizing Young America’s Foundation’s 50th anniversary. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

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say, “I’m thinking $14.00. What do you think?” In our system, there is remarkably little bargaining, except maybe for houses and cars. So, I said, “I really would love these.” She responded, “200 yuan renminbi.” Following the advice I got, I said, “20.” She stared at me and then began talking very intensely. My advisors said to me, “She’s now telling you that you’re going to bankrupt her firm and leave her children starving. She doesn’t know how she can go home tonight at the price you’re talking about. But be patient because she’ll give you a lower number.” She came back with something like 180, and my advisors said, “Okay, go up five.” So, I said, “25.” This is the end of her family. She can’t believe that a rich American would do this to a poor Chinese person. We do this for 40 minutes, and she’s having a great time. She’s slamming right into me. Finally, I settle at 50. She started at 200, so you might think, “What a deal!” But my two advisors told me that she

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An audience member at the University of Southern California asks a question of Speaker Gingrich following his YAF-sponsored lecture on U.S.-China relations.

Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

made money at 30. I didn’t have to go above 30. She would have eventually been worn out. Here’s what I learned: She liked bargaining. She was totally fine with it. Compare this to a trade negotiation. The U.S. trade representative walks into the room—to get a deal. The Chinese trade representative also walks into the room—to talk. For the Chinese, if a deal occurs, that’s fine. But if a deal doesn’t occur, that’s okay, too. He or she walks out thinking, “That was fun. Let’s go have a drink.” Our man or woman, on the other hand, comes out nervous. We didn’t get it worked out, but maybe we will next week. The second example that began to get me to think differently [about China] is a very good friend of mine in Minneapolis who did a leveraged buyout of the second largest battery company in the United States. The company made huge batteries for nuclear submarines and regular batteries, and it was the chief supplier to Walmart. My friend had decided very early on during the opening up of China that he wanted to put a battery factory there. He met with [China’s] Minister of Industry, and they started negotiating the deal—ownership rights and so on. My friend would say something in English. The interpreter would translate that into Mandarin. The minister would think about his response and answer in Mandarin. Then the interpreter would translate that into English. This went on for three years. At the end of three years, they finally had a deal. They celebrated with a very fancy dinner. The minister, who’s sitting across the table, looks at my friend and says, “How about them Golden Gophers?” My friend says, “What?” The minister responds, “I went to the University of Minnesota. I was a ball boy for the football team.” He spoke totally fluent English! For three years, he pretended he didn’t speak English so he had extra time to think during the negotiation. That is so implausible for us. We can’t imagine an American doing this because it violates our concept of speed and efficiency. So, I began to think that there were patterns and habits I wasn’t getting.

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Speaker Gingrich delivers a lecture entitled “Facing America’s Biggest Threat” in Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California.

I had read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War around 1960 or 1961. I’d studied Mao [Zedong] during the 1960s to understand the Vietnam War, and I had a general sense of the Chinese system. But I thought, as did most of America’s leadership, that China was beginning to change. That thought, in part, came from a tour made in 1992 by Deng Xiaoping, who was then the leader of the Chinese system. He went on what’s called the Southern Tour. He said China had to fundamentally change its economy. It had to move towards a market-oriented economy. He coined a very

famous line: “I don’t care if it’s a black cat or a white cat. I care if it catches mice.” He meant, “Don’t tell me communist theory. Don’t tell me capitalist theory. Are you able to grow the economy? Are you able to build factories? Are you able to do things or not?” A lot of us thought this was terrific because it was the first step. We thought China was then going to open up politically. We were wrong, and we totally misunderstood what Deng Xiaoping was [saying]. What he really said was, “In order for the dictatorship to Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

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Confronting the Threat of Communist China

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Speaker Gingrich meets with leaders of the University of Southern California YAF chapter following his lecture.

survive, people have to be prosperous enough not to throw [the leaders] out.” The CCP today is a Leninist totalitarian system. There are more than one million Uighurs currently in concentration camps in Western China. I met with a senior Chinese leader while preparing my book and said, “I want to be fair. What’s your side of the story? Why are there over a million people in concentration camps?” With a totally straight face, he said to me, “You shouldn’t think of them as concentration camps. Think of them as boarding schools. We’re trying to educate Uighurs to be good Chinese. We’re doing them a favor.” These are boarding schools with machine guns! In Tibet, the [CCP] is trying to destroy the Tibetan Buddhist culture and the monks. There’s a breathing society in China referred to as Falun Gong. At one time, senior Chinese leaders belonged to Falun Gong, but Falun Gong was a mortal threat to the system because its number one characteristic is it teaches honesty. 22

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If you’re in a totalitarian state, what matters is what the state tells you, not what honesty tells you. So, the [CCP] has, for over a decade, been hunting down and killing [members of] Falun Gong, including for organs to be used for transplants. The highest paid actress in the world today is Chinese. Earlier this year, the [CCP] disappeared her for months. Everybody knew she was gone, and the police had her. The police wouldn’t say where she was or what the charges were. Finally, after a couple of months, the actress made a video stating that she had done some things wrong and that it was totally right for the state to correct her. The police released her, but this had a deeper meaning. They were saying to everyone in China, “If we can disappear the highest paid actress in the world, you can’t imagine what we can do to you.” By themselves, China’s internal matters don’t necessarily have to bother us. We live on a planet where there are a number of places that have miserable governments, such as Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

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If this was the Cold War, and this was the Soviet Union, we would be frantic. Instead, we’re sleepwalking. As recently as last week, a sophisticated person said to me, “You really can’t think of China as a world power. It may want to be a regional power.” I said, “[China’s] region now extends to a military position in Djibouti, Africa, and it extends into Italy and Greece. It extends into Venezuela. China also offered $3 billion to Turkey when America threatened Turkey with sanctions a month ago.” The Chinese have been methodically setting themselves up in a very calm way all over the planet. China today is, by any reasonable standard, the second most powerful country and economy in the world. They

These remarks have been condensed. You may access the full lecture on YAF’s YouTube channel, YAFTV, at Youtube.com/ YAFTV.

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

“I believe there will be no middle ground. Either [America] will be so formidable that the Chinese will realize there are great limits to what they can do, or the Chinese will define for us what we’re allowed to do in the future.”

are very rational, smart people. Their leadership tends to be engineers. They think in very practical ways, and they have a grand strategy. The grand strategy is very patient. America is just totally out of it. We don’t understand the game we’re playing. We are busy playing badminton, and [China is] playing hockey. Every time they encounter us, they run over us. We think that’s not very nice—that’s not how you play badminton. And they score and get ready to do it again. This is a very, very serious challenge for us. I believe there will be no middle ground. Either [America] will be so formidable that the Chinese will realize there are great limits to what they can do, or the Chinese will define for us what we’re allowed to do in the future. And we will revert to a world in which they are the Middle Kingdom and we are one of the Tributary States, which is the model they have in their head because that’s the model they had for several thousand years. It’s a very real crisis which is going to require a huge amount of effort by the next two generations. Or we’ll gradually decay and be replaced by a Chinese dictatorship.

What makes China different is that the economic strategy of Deng Xiaoping has worked. China now has an enormous level of wealth, which enables it to be competitive in ways that were not true 40 or 50 years ago. My wife is the ambassador to the Vatican, so we live in Rome now. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, recently came to Rome and signed an agreement. The Chinese are now going to manage Genoa, which is the largest port in Italy. They’re going to manage Trieste, which is the largest port in the Adriatic Sea and the entry point to Southern Germany and Austria. They are also running the Port of Piraeus in Greece.

YAF livestreams Speaker Gingrich’s lecture at the University of Southern California on YAFTV, the Foundation’s YouTube channel, reaching tens of thousands of online viewers. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

L E A D E R

I N T E R V I E W

Defending America:

By Karalee Geis, Capitol Hill Outreach Director

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

An Interview with U.S. Senator Tom Cotton

Senator Tom Cotton addresses hundreds of college students during Young America’s Foundation’s 41st annual National Conservative Student Conference in 2019.

YAF’s William & Berniece Grewcock Capitol Hill Townhouse

Since its founding more than 50 years ago, Young America’s Foundation has worked with hundreds of the most accomplished and articulate conservative leaders to inspire young people with the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values. In particular, YAF has partnered with the most talented White House and Congressional leaders. These include President Ronald Reagan; Vice Presidents Mike Pence and Dick Cheney; Attorneys General Edwin Meese III, John Ashcroft, and Jeff Sessions; Secretaries Jack Kemp, Donald Rumsfeld, Caspar Weinberger, Betsy DeVos, and Ben Carson; Ambassadors Jeane Kirkpatrick and John Bolton; White House officials Marc Short, Mark Meadows, Kellyanne Conway, and Tony Snow; and numerous members of the United States Congress. Today, YAF’s William & Berniece Grewcock Capitol Hill Townhouse is the home of the Foundation’s work to advance conservative ideas in Washington, D.C. The 3,600 squarefoot facility—located just steps from U.S. Capitol and congressional office buildings— provides an ideal meeting location for YAF students, alumni, supporters, and allies in Congress and the White House to gather for intimate dinners, receptions, and discussions. To learn more about Young America’s Foundation’s efforts in the nation’s capital, please contact Capitol Hill Outreach Director Karalee Geis at 800-USA-1776 or kgeis@yaf.org.

Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

U.S.

Senator Tom Cotton is one of today’s leading voices on advancing America’s foreign policy and national security interests. He serves on the Senate committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs as chair of the economic policy subcommittee; the intelligence committee; and the armed services committee as chair of the air land power subcommittee. Cotton joined forces with Young America’s Foundation in 2015 following his election as the youngest member of the United States Senate. Since then, he has educated and inspired thousands of young leaders through his participation in YAF’s annual National Conservative Student Conference in Washington, D.C. Before serving as a U.S. Senator from Arkansas, Cotton represented the state’s 4th Congressional District in the House of Representatives. He was born in Dardenelle, Arkansas, and grew up on his family’s cattle farm in Yell County. Cotton graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, after which he served for nearly five years on active duty in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer. He served in Iraq with the 101st Airborne and in Afghanistan with a provincial reconstruction team.

Between his combat tours, he served with The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, and Ranger Tab. Cotton was the first member of Congress to warn the Trump administration about the Chinese Communist Party’s cover-up of COVID-19. We are pleased to present this exclusive interview with Senator Tom Cotton.

not a choice. Whether we

Senator Cotton: My parents were civicminded, but we didn’t talk about politics at the dinner table. I did, however, have a conservative upbringing in the sense that I learned about hard work, personal responsibility, faith, community, and patriotic pride in our nation. By the time I was a teenager, I began to pay more attention to current affairs. I figured out that I was a conservative in the ideological sense as well. That feeling deepened over the years as I followed current events more and began studying the Federalist Papers, Democracy in America, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates in college.

win or lose is a choice.”

Libertas: How did your experience at Harvard University shape your philosophy?

— SENATOR TOM COTTON

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Senator Cotton serves in the U.S. Army in 2008 as a member of The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. Official White House Photo

Senator Cotton: I had some very good teachers, including legendary professor

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

competition from China is

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“Whether America faces

Libertas: How did you become a conservative?

H Senator Cotton joins President Donald Trump and Senator David Perdue at the White House to introduce the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act in 2017. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

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I N T E R V I E W

Harvey Mansfield and Peter Berkowitz, who is now the director of policy planning at the State Department. There were also many good graduate students who coached, taught, and mentored me. A lot of the lessons I had learned on the farm in rural Arkansas were reinforced as I studied American history and the history of Western thought, going back to Plato and Aristotle. That made me an outlier at Harvard, which, like most universities, is monolithically liberal. Being a contrarian helped me to think and defend my views more effectively. I also played basketball on the junior varsity team my freshman year, but I quickly went from high school hero to college zero. So in the subsequent years, I wrote for student publications—most notably as a columnist for the Harvard Crimson, the campus newspaper. I was probably the lone conservative columnist.

Senator Cotton advances America’s national interests through his leadership in the United States Senate.

words and actions. Its rhetoric in January projected an aura of control and calm. Its actions, though, were extreme. China shut down schools nationwide. The government literally welded doors shut on apartment buildings in Wuhan. It even allowed Hong Kong to close off air travel from mainland China, which it almost never

“Students, especially

Libertas: Why did you decide to join the military?

those who are engaged

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and active, are the future

Senator Cotton: I joined the Army because I wanted to defend our country after 9/11. Given my legal background, I was offered a commission as a JAG officer. I declined because I wanted to be on the front lines. I instead became an infantry officer and spent five wonderful years leading troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and also at Arlington National Cemetery as a member of The Old Guard. I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything in the world. I certainly recommend to YAF’s young leaders that they consider military service. Libertas: You were the first member of Congress to raise the alarm about COVID-19. How did you recognize this threat? ————————————————————

Senator Cotton: There was a contrast between the Chinese government’s

Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

of the Conservative Movement and the future of America.” — SENATOR TOM COTTON

permits. These actions demonstrated that senior Chinese communist leaders saw the virus as a serious threat. Over the last ten days or so in January, I spoke to President Trump, Vice President Pence, and members of the Cabinet and the President’s coronavirus task force about the need to immediately stop commercial air travel from China to America. Thankfully, the President did this and bought us some much-needed time before the virus arrived in America.

Libertas: You recently noted, “For years, the Chinese Communist Party has bribed some of [America’s] top researchers and stolen from our best labs and universities.” How do you propose addressing this problem? ————————————————————

Senator Cotton: We must prevent China from running what are, in essence, espionage programs at America’s universities and labs. Recently, the University of Arkansas was victimized by one of its own professors who was arrested and charged with wire fraud. He took payment from Chinese Communist Party (CCP)affiliated organizations in exchange for U.S. technology and trade secrets that were developed, in part, with federal grants. In the Harvard chemistry department, Dr. Charles Lieber is facing charges of fraud and misrepresentations on federal forms. But his conduct itself— accepting money from CCP-affiliated organizations in return for cutting-edge U.S. research—is problematic. I plan to propose legislation that simply says, “If you accept federal research dollars and you work for an institution that accepts federal research dollars, it is a crime to accept CCPaffiliated money.” Libertas: Why should young Americans care about the threat of China? ————————————————————

Senator Cotton: China has had a longstanding, deliberate strategy

Whether America faces competition from China is not a choice. Whether we win or lose is a choice.

Senator Cotton is the author of the New York Times bestseller Sacred Duty, which tells the inspiring story of the U.S. Army unit responsible for honoring fallen servicemembers at Arlington National Cemetery.

Libertas: You speak at Young America’s Foundation’s student conferences every year. Why do you partner with YAF?

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Senator Cotton: It wasn’t long ago that I was a student. I greatly appreciated it when leaders of the Conservative Movement or public officials spoke to organizations of which I was a part. Students, especially those who are engaged and active, are the future of the Conservative Movement and the future of America. We need to pass down the wisdom of our founders and remind the next generation about what makes, and will keep, this country great. Libertas: Who has most influenced your life and career? ————————————————————

At his YAF appearances, Senator Cotton enjoys participating in question-and-answer sessions with students.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

Senator Cotton: The most fundamental of my influences is the faith I have in God and Jesus Christ. That guides my life. My parents, coaches, and teachers have greatly influenced me. For several years, my biggest influence has been my wife. She is the check on my work on behalf of the people of Arkansas and our country. My two young children are also an inspiration to me as I try to make sure that my generation hands them a world that is as rich, rewarding, and full of boundless opportunity as the one we received from our forerunners.

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

The first front is the military. We need to pull missiles to the Western Pacific and increase the presence of submarines, stealth fighters, and stealth bombers there—not because we want to win a war with China, but because we want to deter China from ever thinking it can achieve its aims by force. The second front is economic affairs. China has been competing with us unfairly for decades, so we need better trade policies. We need to protect our intellectual property to ensure China is not able to steal our best technology, Libertas: What kind of foreign policy cutting-edge research, and trade secrets. should America conduct towards The third front is politics and China in the years ahead? diplomacy. We cannot allow China to ———————————————————— control international institutions such as Senator Cotton: We need to check the World Health Organization or World China’s ambition on a number of fronts. Intellectual Property Organization.

to replace America as the world’s preeminent economic and military power. If this comes to pass, America would be a less prosperous, free, and secure place. That may not happen in my lifetime, and it almost certainly won’t happen in my parents’ lifetime. But it could happen in our young people’s lifetimes. I want to ensure that no American has to live in a world in which China calls the shots.

A L U M N I

P R O F I L E

YAF Alumna Ying Ma Exposes the Atrocities of Communism O

ne of the most debated issues among America’s youth today is the promise of communism and socialism. Ying Ma, a Young America’s Foundation alumna, has spent her career educating students about the parallels between, and perils of, these very ideologies. Today’s young Americans likely do not have grandfathers who were detained during China’s Cultural Revolution for the offense of warning a co-worker at a propaganda meeting, “Make sure you don’t ever say ‘Down with Chairman Mao.’” They also likely have not stumbled upon a letter from their aunt describing an abortion that was mandated by their government’s one-child policy. For Ying Ma’s family and millions of others, these injustices—and many more—were the reality bequeathed by China’s communist regime. Ma’s family was eager for a way out. That opportunity came in the 1980s, when they immigrated to Oakland,

California, from Guangzhou. Ma was ten years old at the time. Though accurate information about the United States was blocked by China’s media censors and obfuscated by state propaganda, many in Communist China knew of the prosperity that existed on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. “While the Chinese government bad-mouthed America— and many of its citizens could not conceptualize freedom and democracy—the prosperity that Chinese citizens’ family members and friends in America were experiencing stood in stark contrast to the empty store shelves and limited opportunities at home,” recalls Ma. Yet, upon her arrival in America, Ma was shocked to find an inner-city Oakland with decaying neighborhoods, unsafe schools, and residents dependent on government

About Ying Ma

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

By Taylor Hathorn, Director of Alumni Relations

Young America’s Foundation alumna Ying Ma is an author, policy expert, and communications professional who writes and speaks widely on public policy, China, international affairs, and conservatism. She is a member of the board of advisors of the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women, an organization that prepares young women for effective leadership. She is also the author of Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, a memoir about getting

Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

to know freedom from postMao China to inner-city Oakland, California. Ma received a B.A. in government, magna cum laude, from Cornell University, where she served as president of the Cornell Review, the campus conservative newspaper. As a student activist at Cornell, she hosted numerous YAF campus lectures. Ma also earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she was president of the campus chapter of the Federalist

Society, an organization dedicated to conservative and libertarian legal principles. Ma has since continued her involvement with YAF, speaking at the Foundation’s student conferences and participating in our campus lecture program. ————————————————— To learn more about Young America’s Foundation’s alumni programs, please contact Director of Alumni Relations Taylor Hathorn at 800-USA-1776 or thathorn@yaf.org.

welfare. While her neighbors in Oakland were not arrested for criticizing their government, their quality of life was not what Ma’s family had envisioned when they departed China. Ma states, “In Guangzhou, I could not avoid the randomness, ambiguity, or weight of authoritarianism, but I remained upbeat, cheerful, and happy in the loving embrace of my family and unflinching loyalty of my friends. In the Oakland ghetto, I forgot what it meant to be joyful.” She then remarks, “But even in the ghetto, people have an opportunity to find the virtues of a free society.” Ma and her family pulled themselves out of poverty through determination, hard work, and a commitment to educational achievement. Rejecting the lifestyle afforded by the welfare state, Ma graduated from Cornell University and Stanford Law School and has since built a successful career in public policy, law, and media. To tell her story of overcoming hardship, Ma wrote a powerful memoir, Chinese Girl in the Ghetto. Civil rights leader Ward Connerly describes the book as “direct and unvarnished” and commends Ma for exemplifying the “endless possibilities of a free society that allows its citizens to chart their own destiny.”

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

“YAF leads the way in dispelling indoctrination, particularly on the

Ying Ma offers her insights on U.S. foreign policy and economic affairs at YAF’s 2011 Road to Freedom Seminar at the Reagan Ranch.

promises of big government and identity politics.” — YING MA

Given her personal experience, Ma has much to say about the rise in popularity of socialism and communism among American youth. Ma states, “The Cold War is a distant memory for many of us, but it is not a memory at all for today’s students. They didn’t live through it. They don’t remember seeing what life was like under communism.” She adds, “When today’s leading public figures tell you how great free things are and how their policies will solve all of your problems, many people find the idea of socialism compelling.” Ma fears that a cultural amnesia exists among Americans about the dangers of collectivism. She believes America needs to do a better job of educating young people about the destruction that inevitably results from communist and socialist ideas. In addition to her personal experiences, Ma’s focus on exposing the Chinese government’s horrors grew through her professional pursuits. In 1998, Ma visited China with a delegation of clerics appointed by President Bill Clinton to advocate for religious

Ma spends the early years of her life in Guangzhou, China. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

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freedom. At the time, Washington was engaged in a heated debate over trade with China. U.S. policymakers were appalled by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Catholics, Protestants, and other religious believers deemed threats to the Party’s rule. In particular, the plight of Tibetans— long threatened by China—captured many Americans’ imagination, as evidenced by movies such as Seven Years in Tibet, starring Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt. Ma remarks, “Today, the repression of the Uighur people, a million of whom are held in China’s internment camps, is truly egregious. The repression is not just religious. It is also political. In authoritarian regimes, these go hand in hand.” Rather than leading to prosperity for all citizens, China’s authoritarian policies have led to countless tragedies. Most recently, hundreds of thousands of people around the world have died from COVID-19 following the CCP’s cover-up of the origins and spread of this disease. With the CCP’s behavior directly impacting the lives of millions of Americans, there is now greater attention on America’s relationship with China. “Washington normalized trading relations with China in 2000,” Ma notes. “Today, numerous prominent lawmakers and experts believe that decision was a mistake.” For Ma, the bilateral relationship is complicated. For instance, she states, “As a proponent of free trade, I do not advocate for abdicating trade with China across the board.” She adds, “However, it is clear that America’s dependency on China for pharmaceutical supplies has become dangerous. We should not be dependent on China to the extent that we

risk America’s national security interests.” While Chinese pro-freedom activists have long courageously spoken out against their authoritarian government, many more have emerged following their government’s lack of transparency during the COVID-19 crisis. “Throughout this pandemic, we have seen brave Chinese activists express dissent through citizen journalism, investigating the pandemic in ways that the state has explicitly forbidden,” says Ma. “The damage this pandemic has caused because of disinformation and suppression of information has spurred many Chinese citizens to question their government.” The result of this opposition has often been harsh punishment in the form of imprisonment or even disappearance. Ma views this state of affairs as an opportunity to educate students about the virtues of individual freedom. She argues that the indoctrination of young people in America begins in the classroom and ends with access to information and new ideas. She notes, “There isn’t much intellectual diversity in our educational system. Professors, as a whole, are very leftwing. But young people need to be exposed to all ideas and have the opportunity to form their own opinion.” Ma first became involved with YAF as an undergraduate student at Cornell, where she was a staff member and then president of the Cornell Review, the campus conservative newspaper. She helped bring to campus YAF speakers, including Phyllis Schlafly, Linda Chavez, Christina Hoff Sommers, Lt. Col. Oliver North, and many others.

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

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Students attending the High School Conference at the Reagan Ranch in 2016 receive copies of Ying Ma’s memoir, Chinese Girl in the Ghetto.

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H Confronting the Threat of Communist China

Ying Ma educates participants at YAF’s 2014 National High School Leadership Conference outside of Washington, D.C.

When asked about her most memorable event, Ma states that it was unquestionably Phyllis Schlafly’s visit. “During Phyllis’s speech, protestors interrupted her remarks with shouts and profanity. Phyllis smiled, kept her cool, articulated her points civilly but forcefully, and tore her opponents’ arguments to shreds. She was the definition of grace under fire,” Ma recalls. As a Young America’s Foundation alumna who fought for conservative representation on campus, Ma believes YAF has an important role to play in educating the next generation of America’s leaders. “YAF leads the way in dispelling indoctrination, particularly on the promises of big government and identity politics,” she states. “The work that YAF does is so important because we reach young people at an age when they are more willing to listen and less dogmatic.” Ma’s advice to students who might be apprehensive about activism is to just get started. “It was important for me to have been involved with YAF when I was in college. That experience was formative,” she says. “I realized I wasn’t alone in advocating for conservative principles and that there were others who wanted to speak out about the abhorrent atrocities I was working to prevent from happening in my new home.” Ma closes by stating, “But YAF activists shouldn’t be afraid to have some fun just because they’re talking about tough subjects.”

Ma defends Donald Trump’s policy proposals during a 2016 interview.

Appearing on Fox News in 2019, Ma criticizes the National Basketball Association for making concessions to the Chinese government. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

Time to End China’s Creeping Influence on America’s College Campuses

s China’s economy has grown, Beijing has used its newfound wealth to co-opt American political elites and corporate leaders, exerting its influence across American society. America’s university system is no exception. A Chinese government entity has paid more than $150 million to numerous U.S. colleges to establish campus branches of the Confucius Institute, a Chinese state-backed program that critics argue is undermining academic freedom and U.S. national security. The Confucius Institute is a program embedded within host universities for the stated purpose of teaching the Mandarin language and promoting the Chinese culture. More than 100 U.S. universities currently host or

About Yuichi Kakutani An alumnus of the summer 2019 class of Young America’s Foundation’s National Journalism Center (NJC) program, Yuichi Kakutani achieved great success during his internship placement at the Washington Free Beacon. Using public documents from the Clinton Presidential Library, Kakutani published a widely-covered exposé on the Clinton White House and Democratic National Committee’s misinformation campaign to manipulate talk radio listeners. Kakutani was soon hired as a full-time reporter at the Washington Free Beacon, where he continues his influential reporting by exposing the Chinese government’s infiltration of American society. Kakutani’s reporting featured on these pages

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

By Yuichi Kakutani, Reporter, Washington Free Beacon

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once hosted a Confucius Institute, including prestigious institutions such as Columbia University, Stanford University, and Emory University. The program is almost always funded or subsidized by the Chinese government, which typically pays the host college $150,000 up front as well as an additional $100,000 to $200,000 per year in operating funds. Some universities, however, receive more than $1 million per year. The Chinese government is quick to claim that Confucius Institutes constitute a benign form of cultural diplomacy that seeks to foster greater appreciation of Chinese culture abroad. But U.S. education experts and policymakers have become increasingly alarmed by the perverse impact of Confucius

is based on his extensive research of China’s growing influence on America’s college campuses.

About the National Journalism Center NJC, a project of YAF, is the premier journalism training program combining hands-on media internships with educational sessions to promote truth-seeking journalism. Founded by conservative journalist M. Stanton Evans in 1977, NJC teaches aspiring journalists the principles and practices of responsible reporting. NJC’s 12-week internship program matches interns with media outlets that reflect their interests and experiences, including the Washington Times, Fox News, C-SPAN, WMAL, Santa Barbara News-Press, Federalist, and others.

Yuichi Kakutani participates in a National Journalism Center classroom session at YAF’s national headquarters during the 12-week internship program in 2019.

———————————————— To learn more about the National Journalism Center, please contact Director Elizabeth Donatelli at 800USA-1776 or edonatelli@yaf.org.

Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

Institutes on American universities in recent years. Critics note that the institutes frequently operate as semi-autonomous divisions within universities, with its educators vetted and hired by the Chinese government. Others worry that the institutes serve as conduits for Chinese espionage on campus. While host universities claim that the institutes do not curtail academic freedom, educators within these programs are contractually forbidden from discussing prohibited topics, particularly the “three Ts”—the Tiananmen Square massacre, Taiwan, and Tibet. For instance, the Chinese government promised $4 million to Stanford University to establish a Confucius Institute and endow a professorship, but only if the hired faculty member would avoid discussing the issue of Tibetan independence and human rights. Stanford ultimately refused the demand, and a Confucius Institute was eventually established on campus without this gag order. Nonetheless, the episode highlights China’s persistent effort to restrict academic freedom in the United National Journalism Center Director Elizabeth Donatelli presents Kakutani with his diploma following his successful internship placement at the Washington Free Beacon, where he was later hired as a full-time reporter. States.

During his undergraduate career at Cornell University, Kakutani investigates the Chinese government’s influence on the university’s affairs.

The institutes’ work on behalf of the Chinese government has provoked fiery condemnation from some faculty members. The American Association of University Professors noted that universities hosting Confucius Institutes grant “unacceptable concessions to the political aims and practices of the government of China.” Some faculty members have successfully petitioned their universities to cut ties with the program, leading to its expulsion from institutions including the University of Chicago. Conservative U.S. lawmakers have also taken notice, spearheading key legislation targeting Confucius Institutes. In 2019, Senator Ted Cruz pushed Congress to prohibit the U.S. Department of Defense from funding Mandarin language programs at universities that also accepted funds from the Chinese government. The legislation pressured several colleges to shutter their Confucius Institutes. More recently, Senator Chuck Grassley drafted a bill that banned all federal funding for universities hosting Confucius Institutes unless the institutions explicitly protected academic freedom on campus, prohibited the exercise of Chinese law within their walls, and wrested “full control” of the program from the Chinese government. The Senate unanimously approved the legislation on June 11, demonstrating the congressional consensus about the dangers of Chinese interference in higher education. However, we still do not know the full extent of Confucius Institute activity in the United States because universities continue to hide or obscure their financial ties to the Chinese government. Roughly 70 percent of U.S. universities hosting a Confucius Institute have failed to disclose their financial relationship with Beijing to the U.S. Department of Education, sometimes in direct violation of federal law. When my publication, the Washington Free Beacon, contacted the 75 universities not reporting Chinese funding to the federal government, merely 22 responded—with

Confronting the Threat of Communist China

many noting that they did not disclose these donations because their annual receipts did not meet the $250,000-peryear reporting threshold instituted by federal law. A spokesman for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, for example, responded that the university declined to disclose its Confucius Institute funding because it received only $246,711 in 2019. Many universities also use legal loopholes to wriggle

As a reporter for the Washington Free Beacon, Kakutani investigates the Chinese Community Party’s increasing infiltration of American society.

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out of disclosure requirements. For instance, institutions sometimes did not report their Confucius Institute funding if the funds were sent to the university’s foundation rather than directly to the institution. Other universities blatantly ignored the reporting requirement. A 2019 U.S. Senate report found that roughly 70 percent of universities that received more than $250,000 in a year from the Chinese government failed to properly report those donations to the Department of Education. The Department of Education has taken action to remedy some of these concerns, launching a probe in 2019 to investigate the widespread non-reporting of major foreign gifts. It recently revealed that Harvard University and Yale University alone have failed to disclose $375 million in foreign gifts, some of them from China. The probe has compelled at least six universities to retroactively report their Confucius Institute funding in recent months. Despite the encouraging actions taken by the Trump administration and leaders in Congress, more effort is required to confront this challenge. This is why the work of Young America’s Foundation and its students is so important. At student conferences and on digital programs, YAF consistently hosts prominent conservative leaders—including Senators Tom Cotton (see page 24), Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley—to educate students from across the country about the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Student activists nationwide have recently participated in YAF’s #CCPNotForMe campaign on social media, which exposed young Americans to the atrocities of the CCP. Participants held up displays and signs highlighting such facts as: “In 1989, the Chinese Communist Party slaughtered thousands of pro-democracy activists in what would become known as the Tiananmen Square massacre” and “China forcefully harvests organs from detainees in prison camps.” Indeed, after posting troubling facts about China’s government on Instagram, Western Washington University YAF Chairman Jessica Warner found her profile hacked and vandalized with pro-CCP propaganda. The current COVID-19 pandemic has forced Americans, including young people, to reexamine our relationship with China. Our universities’ relationship with the communist government should not be an exception. There is no better time than now for U.S. universities to terminate their dangerous relationship with the Chinese government.

Connect with Young America’s Foundation online!

Young America’s Foundation offers a wealth of online resources that you can use to sharpen your conservative principles Youtube.com/YAFTV Through exclusive content— including full-length lectures and bite-sized videos featuring your favorite conservative speakers—YAF’s YouTube channel provides you with live and ondemand access to conservative ideas and leaders.

Facebook.com/YoungAmericasFoundation YAF’s Facebook page offers campus content, videos, and other timely information. Don’t miss the chance to interact with the nation’s leading conservatives, activists, and thought leaders through Facebook Live events!

@YAF_ YAF’s official Instagram platform offers memes, IGTV videos, and the opportunity to engage with thousands of like-minded peers. Keep up to date with what students nationwide are doing to advance freedom.

Podcasts By subscribing to YAF’s free podcasts, Books with Burt and The Top Leaders of the Conservative Movement, listeners can learn from YAF’s speakers on a wide range of topics overlooked by educators, including economic history, the right to life, the U.S. Constitution, and more.

@YAF Twitter is the #1 platform for breaking news,

YAF.org/polling As the authority on young

and YAF’s Twitter page is the #1 place to hear about young conservatives’ efforts to combat leftist bias on campus.

Americans, YAF regularly conducts surveys and polls of students nationwide. Visit our polling platform to view our exclusive findings now.

@YAFGaming YAF’s Twitch Channel is the newest

The New Guard The largest network of on-the-

platform for young conservatives to engage in online culture. Join YAF staff as they livestream today’s most popular video games, discuss the news of the day, and host question-and-answer sessions.

ground student activists makes YAF the best source for breaking campus news. Visit the New Guard, YAF’s historic magazine-turned online news platform, at YAF.org for timely information about campus issues.

VISIT YAF.ORG, the hub of information for young conservatives. Learn about the many opportunities available for you to advance freedom at your school. Reagan Ranch, 217 State Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101, 888-USA-1776 National Headquarters, 11480 Commerce Park Drive, Sixth Floor, Reston, Virginia 20191, 800-USA-1776

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“Men Are Not Women, and Other Uncomfortable Truths” An Interview with Michael Knowles By Patrick X. Coyle, Vice President

viewers tune in to watch his speeches on YAFTV, YAF’s YouTube channel. Young America’s Foundation’s team and our dedicated student activists work tirelessly to ensure students hear conservative principles from one of today’s most compelling commentators—despite campus leftists’ attempts to disrupt Knowles’s appearances. Knowles is the host of the Michael Knowles Show at the Daily Wire and co-host of the popular podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz. Michael Knowles takes a photo with a Franciscan University student following his YAF-sponsored campus lecture titled “The Simple Joys of Being Right” in 2018. His writing has appeared in the Daily Wire, Fox News, American Mind, oung America’s Foundation excels Knowles. Knowles has quickly built Daily Caller, and Point, among other in bringing the biggest names in the a strong following among young outlets. He appears regularly as a Conservative Movement to campuses conservatives. political analyst on TV news programs nationwide. We have done so for decades, In recent years, YAF has brought and is a graduate of Yale University. partnering with hundreds of speakers, Knowles’s fact-based, intellectually We hope you enjoy this conversation including some of the Movement’s key minded brand of conservatism to with YAF ally Michael Knowles. leaders: William F. Buckley, Jr., Prime dozens of campuses across the country Minister Margaret Thatcher, President and numerous YAF student conferences Libertas: You have quickly grown Ronald Reagan, Phyllis Schlafly, Attorney and seminars. Most recently, Knowles in popularity among young people General Ed Meese III, Speaker Newt spoke on six college campuses Gingrich, Dr. Walter Williams, and Lt. exclusively through YAF’s Logan Family and are one of Young America’s Foundation’s most in-demand campus Col. Oliver North, among many others. Lecture Series titled “Men Are Not speakers. To what do you attribute your The Foundation also has a track Women, and Other Uncomfortable popularity? record of identifying, developing, and Truths” (see page 41). ———————————————————— promoting emerging talent—including Knowles’s reach extends beyond the Knowles: My adonic physique, no one of our most highly-requested lecture halls and conference venues in doubt. If there is a more substantial speakers today, Daily Wire host Michael which he speaks, as tens of thousands of

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explanation, I think it’s my disdain for ideology, which I share with William F. Buckley, Jr., in whose living room YAF began. Ideology pretends to explain the whole world in slogans; conservatives understand that no manifesto could ever comprehend the boundless beauty and complexity of human life. Unfortunately, in recent decades too many self-described conservatives have traded the rich conservative tradition of figures such as Edmund Burke—an aesthetic philosopher—for hackneyed talking points and vacuous bumper stickers. Young conservatives, like all meaningful conservatives in history, want to explore the eternal questions and what our forebears had to say about them. More than effecting any particular public policy, particularly as vandals topple statues all around us, it seems to me young conservatives want to conserve things.

The University of Florida YAF chapter hosts Knowles for a sold-out Logan Family Lecture Series appearance titled “Babies Are People.”

Libertas: You have spoken on campus exclusively through YAF’s lecture series. Why do you partner with YAF? ————————————————————

Knowles: YAF is the “OG” (the original) organization for campus conservatives—the first and most influential of its kind—and it has continued its extraordinary work for over 50 years. It has been a great honor to play even a small role in that remarkable legacy.

Students eagerly meet with Knowles following his remarks at YAF’s 2019 Raleigh Freedom Conference.

Knowles: The most challenging question during a campus speech concerned the scientific evidence for “climate change.” Libertas: What is the most challenging I don’t recall the specifics, and question you have gotten while the point the student raised wasn’t addressing student audiences? particularly difficult to refute, but the ———————————————————— question illustrated a central problem in our political discourse: category error. The Left will yammer on about their scientific studies, and we will recite our own—“lies, damned lies, and On Twitter, Knowles commends YAF’s campus activism efforts.

statistics”—and all the while we pretend that political questions about how we want to live together in society are somehow scientific matters to be decided for us by experts wearing lab coats. A question of that sort is challenging because it shows we aren’t even having the same conversation. Libertas: You gave a sold-out YAF lecture titled “Christopher Columbus, Hero Not Heathen” at the University of Notre Dame in 2019 after the university covered up Columbus murals on campus. This seems particularly relevant in today’s context. Why did you decide to give this lecture? ————————————————————

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Michael Knowles appears on Tucker Carlson Tonight to discuss his YAFsponsored 2019 lecture at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where a protestor assaulted him.

Knowles: The Left’s present frenzy of statue-toppling and historical revision is an act of cultural self-mutilation and, if left unchecked, suicide. The topplers once pretended only to target Confederate generals, but their sanctimony has never admitted any limiting principle. So the memories of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Christopher Columbus, and others have always been slated for slander and destruction. Columbus, in particular, exemplifies Western Civilization: He was a selftaught explorer and devout Catholic whose intrepidity, sense of purpose, and skill led him to discover the New World we inhabit today. Of course they hate him. In their ignorant ingratitude, the topplers accuse Columbus of many evils he never committed. So, on one level, I hoped to correct the record, and on another, I hoped to inhibit the Left’s attacks, reminiscent of the Taliban, on our history and culture. Libertas: Also in 2019, you delivered a YAF lecture titled “Men Are Not Women” at the University of MissouriKansas City, where a protestor attacked you by spraying a chemical substance. What went through your mind at the time? ————————————————————

Knowles: “This punk owes me a new blazer.”

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YAF livestreams Knowles’s lecture defending George Washington at The George Washington University in 2019, drawing more than 100,000 views.

The police did quick and excellent work taking the leftist bandito down, and it takes more than a student revolutionary to cow a Sicilian. The attacker seemed wise enough when plotting his stunt to avoid

Libertas: Which campus lecture has been your most memorable? ————————————————————

Knowles: All of my lectures have been terrific in unique ways. I particularly enjoyed defending Columbus at Notre Dame and George Washington at The George Washington University (GWU). Who would have predicted even a few years ago that one would need to defend Washington at GWU? My visits to Franciscan University of Steubenville and Yeshiva University were also especially fun, perhaps because the conversations there strayed beyond politics to religion. Libertas: David and Marlyce Logan, loyal Young America’s Foundation supporters, have sponsored your campus lecture series. What would you say to them and others considering making a gift to YAF? ————————————————————

Knowles delivers a highly-publicized YAF lecture at Kennesaw State University in 2019 after numerous posters advertising his appearance are vandalized.

anything that might make him liable for a felony. The attack was not designed to harm me so much as it was to send a message to every conservative on every college campus: “Shut up, or maybe next time we won’t go so easy.”

Knowles: Thank you very much! Without the Logans’ support, my lectures would not have taken place. There has never been a more crucial time to bring a conservative perspective to campus than right now, as leftist professors and administrators punish even moderately conservative students for contradicting or questioning in any way the prevailing leftist orthodoxy.

Michael Knowles meets with YAF activists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2019 following his successful Logan Family Lecture Series appearance defending the American republic.

Libertas: What advice do you wish you had gotten during your time as a college student at Yale University?

Libertas: Which conservative leaders do you most admire?

Knowles: Read, debate, and work on a campaign. All three are essential for a proper political education.

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Knowles: Study the classics!

Libertas: How can young conservatives break into the media?

Libertas: Can you offer advice for conservative students who may be hesitant to challenge leftist professors, administrators, and students on campus?

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Knowles: It will never get any easier. Many students delude themselves into trading their integrity for social advantage by pretending that some day, after graduation, they’ll discover their courage and speak their mind. They won’t risk getting a bad grade or losing out on invites to some parties. Do they really think they’ll be more inclined to tell the truth when doing so could cost them their job? Integrity, like all virtues, is a habit; it will flourish with practice and wilt with neglect. One need not wear a MAGA hat to class. But likewise, one should not hide or deny one’s deeply held beliefs merely to fit in. Libertas: What are your top three tips for conservative student activists? ————————————————————

Knowles: Don’t write a book—or rather, write a book without any words in it. Beyond that, I’d recommend getting some experience in politics proper first, then reading many books, then beginning to write—likely without pay for any outlet that will publish you—and then making sure to write and say things that people want or need to read and hear. Libertas: Which key leaders have profoundly impacted your career thus far?

Knowles: Beyond the friends I just mentioned, I greatly admire Senator Ted Cruz, with whom I host the podcast Verdict, as well as President Donald Trump and his predecessors Ronald Reagan, Calvin Coolidge, Chester Arthur, John Adams, and George Washington. Some favorite political philosophers that come to mind are Cardinal John Henry Newman, Edmund Burke, Michael Oakeshott, and Dante Alighieri. Libertas: What is a book all young conservatives must read? ———————————————————

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Knowles: Andrew Klavan, Jeremy Boreing, and Ben Shapiro probably land at the top of my list—along with my friend, Nan Hayworth, who gave me my first campaign job, and my college pal Spencer Klavan, who introduced me to that bald, bearded fellow with the same last name and, through him, to the rest of the Daily Wire crew.

Knowles: Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke. Libertas: Where do you get your information? ———————————————————

Knowles: The Daily Wire, of course. And also Twitter, some of the legacy newspapers, and various new media outlets on the Left and Right.

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Telling the Story of America

An Interview with David & Marlyce Logan Southwest Initiative Foundation Photo

By Haley Limo, Development Officer

Loyal YAF supporters David and Marlyce Logan (center) make their philanthropic giving a family affair by involving their grandchildren in key decisions.

avid and Marlyce Logan are Minnesota natives who generously support Young America’s Foundation’s efforts—particularly our campus lecture program—to reach future generations with Ronald Reagan’s freedom philosophy. They raised their three daughters in Pipestone, Minnesota, where David became an original partner of New Horizon Farms, a successful agricultural production business. Now retired, the Logans enjoy spending time with their daughters and six grandchildren on their farm in Minnesota and at their home in Arizona. 40

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“We believe YAF embodies and promotes the vision for America that the greatest President in our lifetime, Ronald Reagan, had.” — DAVID & MARLYCE LOGAN

Libertas: Can you share a little bit about your upbringing? How did you become conservatives? ————————————————————

Logans: Both of us grew up relatively poor—one of us on the farm and the other in a suburb of the Twin Cities that had small tract homes. We both held jobs at a young age, from helping with domestic and livestock chores on the farm to delivering papers. We have worked throughout our lives and, since we still live on a farm, continue to do chores and stay involved with our agriculture production business. We learned the importance of individual effort, self-reliance, and free enterprise. Those values gave us a perspective on the need for individual responsibility, which we see as the bulwark of society. In great part, individual responsibility defines conservatism. Libertas: How did you first learn about Young America’s Foundation? ————————————————————

Logans: We became committed supporters of Young America’s Foundation six years ago, when we learned about the Reagan Ranch, which YAF preserves. We believe YAF embodies and promotes the vision for America that the greatest President in our lifetime, Ronald Reagan, had. Libertas: You have increased your support of YAF in recent years. Why? ————————————————————

Logans: We continue to support YAF because we have seen the effect it has on the young women and men who have been a part of the organization. Many have told us that their lives

have been changed by learning about President Reagan and what he believed in. Many have changed their own views, moving on from the liberal ideas they heard in college to “the other side,” which makes more sense to them. We also involve our family in our work with YAF, and they are equally supportive. Our hope is that some of our grandchildren will be able to visit the Reagan Ranch and become involved in a YAF chapter on campus. Libertas: Why did you decide to get involved with YAF’s campus lecture program? ————————————————————

Logans: We support YAF’s campus lecture program because we believe it is how we can fashion minds and hearts. The speakers whom YAF partners with for campus events are courageous and able to articulate conservative values in a way that appeals to college students. Libertas: Recently, you have exclusively sponsored YAF’s campus lecture series featuring the Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles. What about Knowles stands out to you? ————————————————————

Logans: We have specifically supported Michael Knowles (see page 36) because he is wellspoken, appeals to young people, and is “dangerously” smart. He prepares for his presentations thoroughly and uses facts to support his thesis. He is calm and cool in his approach and seems to be unruffled by Marlyce Logan (right) and her brother-in-law (left) meet with Governor Scott demonstrators Walker, YAF’s CEO, at the Foundation’s 2020 luncheon in Scottsdale, Arizona. and detractors, even when he is physically assaulted—like he was at the Libertas: What would you say to University of Missouri-Kansas City. Michael Knowles regarding his work We have watched the video of that with YAF? ———————————————————— incident many times, and I know we would have reacted very differently. We Logans: We would tell Michael to give Michael a lot of credit for how he stay the course with his topics and to handled that incident and continued to continue being unafraid in confronting the Left’s distortions of basic truths. give a great lecture.

The Logan Family Lecture Series Young America’s Foundation’s Logan Family Lecture Series inspires conservative students to bring objective truths to their peers and campuses. The 2019 Logan Family Lecture Series—titled “Men Are Not Women, and Other Uncomfortable Truths”—featured Daily Wire host and commentator Michael Knowles at six campuses in the fall, including the University of Florida, Kennesaw State University, The George Washington University, University of Kentucky, University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of Southern California. Through the Foundation’s campus lecture program, David and Marlyce Logan have educated young people across the country with the timeless ideas of individual responsibility, self-reliance, and traditional values. Noting the encouragement provided by the Logans’ support of his campus appearances, Michael Knowles pledged, “We are not going to let [the Left] bully Michael Knowles speaks at the University us. We are not going to let them intimidate us, even if the universities abandon of Florida in 2019 as part of YAF’s Logan every one of their conservative students.” Family Lecture Series. The impact of the Logan Family Lecture Series extends far beyond the lecture halls in which Knowles speaks. In addition to its influence on the student organizers and young people in attendance, the series reaches hundreds of thousands of young people online through the Foundation’s digital platforms. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————— To learn more about sponsoring YAF’s campus lectures and our many other student programs, please call 800-USA-1776. Young America’s Foundation | Libertas | Fall 2020

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what we see and hear on the “news” represents only a small fraction of society that is radically motivated. It is troubling that younger generations do not seem to hold sacred the lives, fortunes, and sacrifices that made America what it is today. So many seem so willing to give up their freedoms and rights to be “safe” from whatever they think threatens them. YAF has a big challenge as well as a tremendous opportunity to tell the story of America. YAF can help young people learn to appreciate the greatness of those many, many individuals who gave their all to establish a foundation for our core beliefs. ————————————————————

The Logans (center) support our nation’s military families by sponsoring a POW-MIA hot air balloon at a festival in Arizona.

Young people often know in their hearts what is right, but they get confused when they hear people, whom they should be able to believe and respect, twist the truth. Someone like Michael can confirm that what they thought was true is really true. Libertas: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business? ————————————————————

Logans: COVID-19 has made all of our lives more complicated. While our business, like many, faces challenges, we are reminded that “this too shall pass.” We have a dedicated team of more than 150 employees, and we feel a responsibility to provide meaningful jobs for them and their families. We must continue to maintain our vision and focus on what we can do for our country, trusting that God will open doors and allow us to continue supporting endeavors such as YAF. Libertas: You recently met with Governor Scott Walker, YAF’s new

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CEO. What are your thoughts on his leadership of YAF in the years ahead? ————————————————————

Young America’s Foundation is grateful to David and Marlyce Logan for their generosity and commitment to advancing the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values among young people. For information about supporting YAF, please call 800-USA1776 or visit YAF.org.

Logans: We had the pleasure and honor of meeting Governor Walker and discussing his vision for YAF. We are very impressed with his demeanor, forthrightness, homegrown values, and strong spiritual beliefs. We think Governor Walker is the right leader to fill the very big shoes of Ron Robinson, YAF’s outgoing president. Libertas: Are you optimistic about the future of the country? —————————

Logans: We are cautiously optimistic about America’s future. We are hopeful that

The success of David and Marlyce Logan’s agricultural business, New Horizon Farms, allows them to generously support charitable causes such as the Charity Golf Tournament in Sun Lakes, Arizona.

R ichard V iguerie , D avid K eene , F rank D onatelli , R on R obinson , M ichelle E aston , K ir by W i lbur , A la n G ottli eb , A rn i e S t e i n berg , J a me s V. L a c y , D a n a R oh ra ba c her , D a n M a n i o n , T o m C h a r l e s H u s t o n , R o g e r R e a m , D av i d B o a z , F r a n G r i ff i n , Ron Pearson, Chris Long,

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where leaders are forged For more information visit our website yaf.org or call 1-800-USA-1776

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Fall 2020 Volume 41 • Number 2

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niversity of Southern California YAF activists meet with Michael Knowles following his Young America’s Foundation-sponsored campus lecture in 2019. In recent years, YAF has brought the popular Daily Wire host and commentator to colleges from coast to coast. Knowles now speaks on campuses exclusively through YAF, a program made possible by the generosity of the Logan family.