Edwin Feulner is not a household name in Washington, but he occupies a prominent place in the capital’s political pantheon. Thirty years ago, he founded a small think tank with nine employees. Today, The Heritage Foundation has 200 staffers and stands in the first rank of Washington think tanks, along with the Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute and the Cato Institute.
“The Heritage Foundation’s emergence on the think tank scene in 1974 changed the way all think tanks in Washington do business, and Ed Feulner deserves much credit for the change,” said Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow at AEI. “Think tanks were pretty sleepy places until this scrappy, energetic new organization arrived.”
With the Democrats winning control of Congress last year, Feulner is more determined than ever to spread Heritage’s influence as a powerhouse of conservative thought.
“We aren’t called as often to testify at hearings, but that gives us more time to talk with members of Congress individually,” Feulner said. “We have always considered Congress our target audience, but we have to work to make sure our ideas appeal to people outside the Beltway. It’s hard for people to grasp what billions of dollars mean. It’s very important we tell a family of four how much a new tax bill will save them or cost each year.”
On Capitol Hill, Heritage plays a leading role in working with lawmakers to draft proposals. Advice from the foundation’s analysts is valued for its accuracy and relied upon by many in Congress.
“Heritage has a lot of credibility up here,” said U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who received advice from Heritage on a bill he recently introduced that would increase scrutiny of federal spending. “They have great scholars who will be straight with you. Whether someone is liberal or conservative, they should value Heritage’s viewpoints.”
Feulner, 66, prides himself on making Heritage ideas resonate with ordinary citizens — not just D.C. policy wonks. At the same time, he has pushed Heritage to be on the cutting edge of technology. Computer-savvy staffers have posted two-minute “Heritage in Focus” segments on YouTube that outline policy positions on issues from farm subsidies to immigration. A segment posted three months ago about the “cost of low-skilled immigration” has been viewed 17,080 times.
Feulner’s first job in Washington was as an analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies (since renamed the Center for Strategic and International Studies). He later worked for Republican Congressmen Melvin Laird and Philip M. Crane before leading the Republican Study Committee, which he left to run Heritage.
Given his background in policy research, it should not be surprising that Feulner hires people who “sweat the details.” Heritage experts are required to go beyond talking point material with lawmakers and officials, jumping brain-first into the often mind-numbing minutia of policy issues to develop proposals that stand a realistic chance of becoming law. Of the 21 items in a recent White House immigration proposal, 18 were Heritage recommendations.
“They are going to be a big series of steps in the right direction,” Feulner said.
Heritage scholars are using Feulner’s detail obsession to highlight what the foundation’s president considers the most serious issue facing the country — the unfunded liabilities of Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, which Feulner says will “swamp everything else in the budget when you look at it in the out years.”
By 2026, according to a Government Accountability Office study, spending on the three enormous entitlement programs and interest on the national debt will consume all of the federal government’s revenue.
Heritage has teamed with liberal-leaning Brookings, U.S. Comptroller David Walker and the bipartisan Concord Coalition to launch a nationwide Fiscal Wake Up Tour, a series of forums in cities designed to dramatize the severity of the looming budget crunch.
“When Heritage and Brookings work together, people know the issue is import and pay attention,” Wolf said.
Just as Heritage has reached across the ideological spectrum on the entitlement issue, Feulner said the foundation always tries to pitch proposals to open-minded lawmakers regardless of party affiliation. Though largely known as a Republican group because of its conservative views, Heritage has to increase its bipartisan efforts now that Democrats control Congress, Feulner said.
“Whether your name is [Oklahoma GOP Sen.] Tom Coburn or Hillary Clinton, we are not afraid to say we think you’re making the wrong decision and here’s why,” Feulner said. “Of course, we tend to say that more to Hillary Clinton than to Tom Coburn. … You look for the person that is interested in an issue no matter what their political affiliation.”
Heritage occupies two buildings on Massachusetts Avenue, minutes from the Capitol. The foundation purchased one building from the Library of Congress in 1982 and recently expanded its headquarters to the adjoining apartment complex. The digs are less than 100 yards from the foundation’s original offices, which were above a print shop.
“We always have had our offices on Capitol Hill so members can come in for a briefing and then return without missing any votes,” Feulner said.
A Feulner-inspired focus on marketing first brought national attention to Heritage. He pioneered Heritage’s use of policy papers in the 1970s, a rarity among D.C. think tanks at the time.
“It doesn’t do us any good to have great ideas if we are not out there peddling our products,” he said.
Feulner’s success at building Heritage’s substantial influence has not gone unnoticed by his ideological opponents. The foundation has played a leading role in winning public support for conservative positions.
“[Conservatives] have got everything from The Heritage Foundation, the sympathetic newspapers to sympathetic cable programs,” former President Bill Clinton famously complained on the “Today Show” in 2003.
Feulner is a native of Chicago who graduated from Regis University and earned a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in 1964. He later received a doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. Feulner and his wife, Linda, have two grown children and three grandchildren. He has written six books and was awarded the prestigious Citizens Medal from President Ronald Reagan in 1989. He says he does not know how long he will stay on at the think tank he founded.
“Every day is a new challenge,” he said. “The opportunity to make a real difference and move policy decisions is very exciting and challenging.”
Serving as the foundation’s leader requires Feulner to travel as many as 150,000 miles a year. To make sure the trips, meetings and speeches do not distract him from his political roots, he carries a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his coat pocket.
Short in length but wide-reaching in scope, the Constitution is his “favorite document,” a point Feulner relishes making given the myriad problems the European Union is experiencing with its massive, 450-page blueprint.
Having the nation’s charter so close to his heart reminds Feulner to “go back to basics,” something he believes decision-makers should do more often. He cites the example of the 14th Amendment, which judges have used in rulings requiring people born on U.S. soil to be considered as citizens, even if their mothers illegally entered the country to give birth.
“That’s not what the 14th Amendment was written for,” Feulner said. “You have to say to yourself as a conservative, ‘Where in the Constitution does it say this?’ I don’t remember seeing it.”
