From his days as a university student, think tank fellow, and congressional staffer, Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. engaged with the ideas, individuals, and institutions that shaped the nation. After founding The Heritage Foundation in 1973, he led it for decades as president, trustee, and board member, building a small policy shop into one of the most influential institutions in American public life. Through Heritage and his service on numerous boards and commissions, Feulner gave conservatism the infrastructure, confidence, and strategic discipline to endure.
Milestones in the Life He Led and Institutions He Helped Build
From his days as a university student, think tank fellow, and congressional staffer, Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. engaged with the ideas, individuals, and institutions that shaped the nation. After founding The Heritage Foundation in 1973, he led it for decades as president, trustee, and board member, building a small policy shop into a leading force in American public policy. Through Heritage and his service on numerous boards and commissions, Feulner gave conservatism the infrastructure, confidence, and strategic discipline to endure.
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Feulner
The Heritage Foundation
Birth
1941
Edwin John Feulner, Jr. is born on August 12 in Chicago, Illinois, to Helen Joan Feulner and Edwin J. Feulner, Sr.
Education
1963
Feulner earns a B.A. in Business Administration and English from Regis University in Denver, Colorado. During his college years, he is deeply influenced by the works of Barry Goldwater and Russell Kirk and forms a campus group affiliated with Intercollegiate Society of Individualists (later known as Intercollegiate Studies Institute, or ISI). He joined the board of ISI in 1980 and served as its chairman, 2003–2006.
Education & Founding
1964
Feulner receives his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.
Co-founds, along with William F. Buckley, Milton Friedman and Donald J. Lipsett, The Philadelphia Society, an intellectual community for conservative scholars. He later serves as president (1982–1983 and 2013–2014).Education & Honor
1965
Feulner pursues graduate studies in economics at Georgetown University.
He is awarded the Richard M. Weaver Fellowship by ISI to attend the London School of Economics and Political Science.Career
1966
Feulner begins his career in Washington, D.C. as a Public Affairs Fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies, researching trade policy with the Soviet Union.
Career
1967
As a Public Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Feulner works on the staff of U.S. Representative Melvin R. Laird (R-WI), then joins the staff of the Republican Task Force on East-West Trade.
Career & Book
1968
Feulner serves as Research Analyst for the House Republican Conference, headed by Melvin R. Laird (R-WI).
He also publishes Trading with the Communists, co-authored with Samuel F. Clabaugh.Marriage & Career
1969
Feulner marries Linda Claire Leventhal and serves as Confidential Assistant to the Special Assistant of Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird.
Career
1970
Feulner joins the staff of U.S. Representative Philip M. Crane (R-IL), serving as Chief of Staff (1970–1973), Campaign Manager (1972), and Special Assistant (1973–1974).
Feulner with Rep. Philip M. Crane (R-IL). Career
1972
Feulner becomes a member of The Mont Pelerin Society, an international group of economists, philosophers, and intellectuals, founded in 1947, dedicated to promoting free markets, limited government, and individual liberty. He later serves as treasurer 1978–1996; president 1996–1998; senior vice president 1998–2000.
- Founding Milestone
1973
The Founding of The Heritage FoundationFeulner co-founds The Heritage Foundation with Paul M. Weyrich, funded by a visionary group of conservative donors including Joseph Coors, Edward E. Noble, and Richard M. Scaife. Heritage opens its doors on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Ed serves as founding trustee (1973), Corporate Secretary (1975–1977), Executive Vice President (1977), President (1977–2013), and Interim President (2017) — a 37-year tenure that transforms Heritage into the most influential think tank in the world.
Heritage founders in front of the original Heritage building. Career
1974
Feulner becomes Executive Director of the Republican Study Committee, building it into the intellectual engine of House conservatives.
- Book
1976
Congress and the New International Economic OrderFeulner publishes Congress and the New International Economic Order through The Heritage Foundation.
- Milestone
1977
President of The Heritage FoundationFeulner becomes president of The Heritage Foundation at age 35, where he remains for 37 years as supporters grow to more than 200,000. He also creates the Resource Bank to take on the liberal establishment and forge a national network of conservative policy groups and experts.
Feulner as president of the Heritage Foundation. - Service Policy Win
1980
Reagan Presidential Transition Team & Mandate for LeadershipFeulner serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Presidential Transition of President-elect Ronald Reagan. Heritage gives Reagan and his transition team the first Mandate for Leadership, a public policy blueprint which outlines over 2,000 specific recommendations for federal agencies. United Press International described it as “a blueprint for grabbing the government by its frayed New Deal lapels and shaking out 48 years of liberal policy.” Congress passes and President Reagan signs into law the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (ERTA), the largest federal tax cut in U.S. history at the time.
Cover of the Mandate for Leadership. Education
1981
Feulner earns a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Edinburgh.
- Policy Win & Service Milestone
1982
Mandate for Leadership & Tax Cuts and Missile Defense SystemOne year into office, nearly two-thirds of Mandate’s more than 2,000 recommendations were adopted or attempted by the Reagan administration. The Reagan administration not only followed Mandate’s lead on economic policy, but it appointed the Mandate author who penned the chapter on tax policy, as treasury secretary for tax and economic affairs, a new position suggested by Mandate. And the tax cut that eventually passed—a marginal rate reduction of 25 percent over three years—wiped out America’s economic “malaise,” producing the biggest economic boom in U.S. history.
Meanwhile, Heritage publishes High Frontier, the first detailed study outlining a “layered” missile defense system, and six months later, President Reagan announces the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Feulner is also appointed by President Reagan to the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, where he serves as chairman (1982–1991).
- 1983
Heritage celebrates its 10th anniversary, with an event headlined by President Reagan, and formally dedicates its new eight-story headquarters on Capitol Hill.
President Reagan at Heritage’s 10th anniversary celebration. “There is no better evidence that the time of the conservative idea has come than the growth of The Heritage Foundation.”
— President Ronald Reagan Milestone
1983
Heritage opens new headquarters building on Capitol Hill.
News
1984
Ronald Reagan is elected president for a second term. He mentions 22 specific proposals from “Mandate for Leadership II” in his second inaugural address in 1985, prompting The New York Times to say, “While the wording of the president’s speech and the foundation’s document were different, many of the proposals were strikingly similar.”
The United States withdraws from the scandal-ridden UNESCO. Heritage’s many papers on UNESCO were credited with prompting the U.S. action.Policy Win
1985
Within the first 10 minutes of the Reagan-Gorbachev Geneva summit, Gorbachev criticizes a briefing book prepared by Heritage. President Reagan responds, “I read it and liked it.”
Later, Gorbachev complained to the Supreme Soviet that Reagan stood fast on SDI because of the “mandate” from America’s extreme right wing, “represented by their ideological headquarters, the Heritage Foundation.”Service
1987
Feulner serves as domestic policy consultant to President Ronald Reagan.
Milestone
1987
Heritage’s public policy plan, Out of the Poverty Trap: A Conservative Strategy for Welfare Reform, provides a detailed outline for welfare reform.
This helped set the stage for the 1996 reforms that changed the entitlement mentality in America, moving thousands off the dole and toward personal responsibility.Milestone
1988
Heritage releases the first edition of Issues: The Candidate’s Briefing Book. This comprehensive guide to domestic, foreign, and defense policy issues helps conservative candidates frame the debate.
In 2000, House Majority Leader Dick Armey said, “If candidates read nothing else, they should read Issues... No candidate should run without it.”Honor
1989
Feulner is awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Reagan who said, "By building an organization dedicated to ideas and their consequences, he has helped to shape the policy of our government. His has been a voice of reason and values in service to his country and the cause of freedom around the world."
Feulner shaking President Reagan's hand. Milestone
1992
The State Policy Network is founded and today boasts a network of more than 60 state-based market-oriented think tanks across the country. Heritage Foundation board member Tom Roe served as the long-time chairman of SPN until his death in 2000.
Publication
1993
Heritage Distinguished Fellow Bill Bennett authors the Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, drawing widespread attention—Rush Limbaugh calls it “some of the most chilling statistics I have ever read.”
This same year, Heritage releases The Ruling Class: Inside the Imperial Congress, with over one million copies of the abridged edition circulated.Policy Win
1994
Heritage gives the intellectual ammunition for the Contract with America on issues such as welfare reform, tax cuts, and congressional reform. This leads to historic election victories for conservatives.
54seats gained in the House9seats gained in the SenateAppointment
1995
Feulner is named Vice Chairman of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform (the Kemp Commission).
Milestone
1995
Republicans take control of Congress with Newt Gingrich elected speaker of the House.
Heritage hosts a New Member Conference to educate the freshman class. Fifty-six Members of Congress attend while Harvard University’s competing conference is canceled due to lack of interest. On the first day of the new session, the House reforms 15 rules: 13 of these rule reforms had been recommended by Heritage. Over the 100 days of the new Congress, Heritage analysts testify over 100 times.
Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks at The Heritage Foundation. Publication
1995
Heritage publishes the inaugural Index of Economic Freedom—making clear that more freedom leads to increased economic prosperity. The Index becomes a global standard.
- Service Policy Win Milestone
1996
Presidential Campaign, Welfare Reform, and Think Tank Power ShiftEd Feulner serves as Staff Director and Counselor to vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp while Congress passes welfare reform, which Heritage experts play a major role in crafting, showing that think tank power in the nation’s capital has shifted right.
More than five million individuals leave welfare and find work; child poverty drops; and black child poverty falls for the first time in 25 years, plunging to historic lows.
Publication
1996
Heritage publicizes its most popular paper ever, Why Religion Matters: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability, summarizing scientific data that religious practice reduces teenage pregnancy, drug use, suicide rates, illegitimacy, and other social pathologies.
Reported in hundreds of newspapers and magazines, the paper ignites a call for restoring respect for religion in America. Seven years later, Heritage establishes the Center for Religion and Civil Society.- 1997
“In the 1960s it looked as if universities would establish a monopoly over the life of the mind....The 1980s changed all that. Governments in search of advice looked to think tanks such as the Institute of Economic Affairs in Britain and The Heritage Foundation in the United States, rather than to Oxford or Harvard.”
— The Economist Milestone
1998
Heritage celebrates its 25th anniversary, with membership surpassing 200,000 for the sixth consecutive year—making it the most broadly supported research organization in America. As one observer notes, “One cannot begin to understand the modern conservative movement in American politics without knowing the 25-year history of The Heritage Foundation, the most influential public policy think tank in Washington for almost two decades.”
Margaret Thatcher and Ed Feulner at The Heritage Foundation 25th anniversary celebration. Book & Service
1999
Feulner publishes Intellectual Pilgrims: The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Mont Pelerin Society and is appointed Member of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, known as the Meltzer Commission.
Milestone
2000
Heritage establishes the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, chaired by Edwin Meese.
Policy Win
2002
After a 20-year effort by Heritage in laying the legal, technical, and policy groundwork, President Bush repeals the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, thereby clearing the way for deployment of missile defenses. The Bush administration implements two-thirds of the recommendations made by Heritage’s Homeland Security Task Force.
Milestone
2003
Heritage nearly doubles in size, thanks to a gift of an eight-story building adjacent to its headquarters.
In addition to providing much-needed office space and a new 230-seat auditorium, the new building houses college interns who spend a semester at Heritage being introduced to the world of public policy.Service
2005
Feulner serves as Member of the Gingrich-Mitchell Congressional United Nations Reform Task Force.
Milestone
2005
The Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom is established at Heritage.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher touring The Heritage Foundation with Ed Feulner. Honor & Book
2006
Feulner receives the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in recognition of his lifetime commitment to defending freedom and opposing communism. He also publishes Getting America Right: The True Conservative Values Our Nation Needs Today with Doug Wilson (Crown Forum, New York).
Policy Win
2007
Heritage leads the charge against a comprehensive immigration reform bill championed by President Bush.
Honor
2009
Feulner receives the Charles Hoeflich Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
Milestone
2010
Heritage Trustees create Heritage Action for America.
Milestone
2011
Heritage co-hosts its first-ever Republican presidential debate with American Enterprise Institute and CNN. More than 42 million tune in.
Heritage co-hosts the 2011 GOP presidential debate. Honor & Book
2012
Feulner receives the Bradley Prize from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Bradley Chairman Michael Grebe noted: “Under his guidance, The Heritage Foundation has become a bastion of ideas that are an integral part of the national conversation and that have shaped public policy.”
Feulner also publishes The American Spirit: Celebrating the Virtues and Values that Make Us Great with Brian Tracy (Thomas Nelson, Nashville).Transition
2013
After 37 years as president, Feulner steps down as president of The Heritage Foundation, and U.S. Senator Jim DeMint is named successor. He remains active in the organization, serving on the board of trustees and becoming Chairman of the Advisory Board and Chung Ju-yung Fellow in Heritage’s Asian Studies Center.
Milestone
2014
The Daily Signal, Heritage’s online multimedia platform, is established.
Publication
2015
The Index of U.S. Military Strength is launched.
- Policy Win & Service Milestone
2016
Donald Trump Elected President, Presidential Transition Team, and BlueprintRepublican Donald Trump and Governor Mike Pence win the presidential election. Feulner serves on the transition team of President-elect Trump, as Heritage releases its Blueprint for a New Administration—with 64% of its recommendations adopted within a year—and helps shape the future of the Supreme Court with recommendations including then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
- Service Policy Win
2017
Interim President of The Heritage FoundationEd Feulner returns as interim president of The Heritage Foundation.
Throughout the tax reform process, Heritage plays a central role in policy conversations, offering ideas that became reality in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Heritage hosts key players to discuss what tax reform means for Americans, including President Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady.
“For nearly a half a century, you have been titans in the fight to defend, promote, and preserve our great American heritage.”
— President Donald J. Trump, October 17, 2017 Milestone
2018
Kay Coles James assumes the presidency of The Heritage Foundation on January 1, 2018.
- Honor Milestone
2019
Clare Boothe Luce AwardFeulner receives The Heritage Foundation’s highest honor, the Clare Boothe Luce Award, in recognition of his outstanding vision and leadership.
- 2020
Heritage scholars recommend then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett to President Trump for the Supreme Court.
“As long as there has been conservatism, there has been The Heritage Foundation. They have been a bulwark, and they have stood strong, and not wavered...”
— Rush Limbaugh Milestone, Publication, and News
2021
Dr. Kevin Roberts is announced as the seventh president of The Heritage Foundation.
Dr. Kevin Roberts speaks at a Heritage event.
The inaugural Election Integrity Scorecard is published.
Heritage files its first-ever lawsuit against the federal government—halting the Biden COVID-19 vaccine mandate.News & Publication
2022
The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade with the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson ruling.
Heritage publishes the first Education Freedom Report Card.
Heritage launches the Education Freedom Report Card with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Oversight Project is launched, and the 2025 Presidential Transition Project (Project 2025) is established with 50+ conservative groups.Milestone
2023
On February 16, The Heritage Foundation celebrates 50 years of fighting for conservative values on Capitol Hill.
Passing
2025
Feulner passes away on July 18 at age 83 in Alexandria, Virginia. His legacy endures in the institution he built, the movement he shaped, and the countless lives he touched.
