Frank Meyer
Encyclopedia
Frank Straus Meyer was a libertarian
political philosopher and co-founding editor of the National Review
magazine.
. He attended Princeton University
for one year but was displeased by the antisemitism and snobbery he found there . He then transferred to Balliol College at Oxford University. He later studied at the London School of Economics
and became the student union's president before being expelled and deported in 1933.
Meyer was an active communist early in life before his conversion to conservatism and his joining of National Review
. As a conservative, Meyer—like many of the magazine's founding senior editors an ex-Communist—was a close adviser to and confidant of founder/editor William F. Buckley, Jr.
Meyer married the former Elsie Bown. They had two sons, John and Eugene. The latter is president of the Federalist Society
.
Frank Meyer converted to Catholicism
before he died of lung cancer in 1972.
with conservative Harry V. Jaffa
. Meyer argued that Lincoln's abuses of civil liberties
and expansion of government power should make him anathema to conservatives, while Jaffa defended Lincoln as a continuation of the Founding Fathers
.
Meyer is best known for his theory of "fusionism
"—a political philosophy that unites elements of libertarianism
and conservatism. (Murray Rothbard
argued, however, that Meyer's fusionism was actually the natural law-natural rights branch of libertarian thought that Rothbard and others followed. Meyer's philosophy was presented in two books, In Defense of Freedom and a collection of his essays, The Conservative Affirmation. It was reviewed affirmatively by journalist Ryan Sager in 2007's The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party, in which Sager called for a principled revival of Meyer's fusionism to save the embattled party following its 2006 electoral defeats.
Meyer was known in conservative and libertarian circles for his nocturnal lifestyle—Buckley among others has recalled (in Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography) that Meyer would sleep by day and be on the phone by night on behalf of his journalism and activism.
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
political philosopher and co-founding editor of the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
magazine.
Personal life
Frank S. Meyer was born to a prominent business family in Newark, New JerseyNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
. He attended Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
for one year but was displeased by the antisemitism and snobbery he found there . He then transferred to Balliol College at Oxford University. He later studied at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
and became the student union's president before being expelled and deported in 1933.
Meyer was an active communist early in life before his conversion to conservatism and his joining of National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
. As a conservative, Meyer—like many of the magazine's founding senior editors an ex-Communist—was a close adviser to and confidant of founder/editor William F. Buckley, Jr.
Meyer married the former Elsie Bown. They had two sons, John and Eugene. The latter is president of the Federalist Society
Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called simply the Federalist Society, is an organization of conservatives seeking reform of the current American legal system in accordance with a textualist and/or originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution...
.
Frank Meyer converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
before he died of lung cancer in 1972.
Philosophy
In the late 1960s, Meyer engaged in a debate over the role of Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
with conservative Harry V. Jaffa
Harry V. Jaffa
Harry V. Jaffa is Professor Emeritus at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate University and a distinguished fellow of the Claremont Institute. He has written on Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill, Leo Strauss, American constitutionalism...
. Meyer argued that Lincoln's abuses of civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
and expansion of government power should make him anathema to conservatives, while Jaffa defended Lincoln as a continuation of the Founding Fathers
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
.
Meyer is best known for his theory of "fusionism
Fusionism (politics)
Fusionism is an American political term for the combination or "fusion" of traditional conservatives with some libertarians and some social conservatives, forming the American conservative movement.-History and positions:...
"—a political philosophy that unites elements of libertarianism
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
and conservatism. (Murray Rothbard
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard was an American author and economist of the Austrian School who helped define capitalist libertarianism and popularized a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism." Rothbard wrote over twenty books and is considered a centrally important figure in the...
argued, however, that Meyer's fusionism was actually the natural law-natural rights branch of libertarian thought that Rothbard and others followed. Meyer's philosophy was presented in two books, In Defense of Freedom and a collection of his essays, The Conservative Affirmation. It was reviewed affirmatively by journalist Ryan Sager in 2007's The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party, in which Sager called for a principled revival of Meyer's fusionism to save the embattled party following its 2006 electoral defeats.
Meyer was known in conservative and libertarian circles for his nocturnal lifestyle—Buckley among others has recalled (in Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography) that Meyer would sleep by day and be on the phone by night on behalf of his journalism and activism.
Works
- The Moulding of Communists: the training of the Communist cadre (1961)
- In Defense of Freedom (1962)
- Left, Right and Center: Essays on Liberalism and Conservatism in the United States (1965)
External links
- http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article2751.html
- http://www.nrbookservice.com/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=C6010
- Book Review on 'Principles and Heresies: Frank S. Meyer and the Shaping of the American Conservative Movement'