Committee to Form a Libertarian Party

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The Committee to Form a Libertarian Party was the precursor to the modern United States Libertarian Party. It was formed to debate the desirability of a specifically Libertarian political force. It was founded July 17, 1971 by David Nolan, a Colorado consultant and businessman, and 4 friends to co-ordinate interest in founding a US Libertarian Party.

It was, according to one outreach brochure, preceded by several abortive attempts, including a Libertarian Party in California, a functional Libertarian group in Florida, the Florida Libertarian Party (founded in 1970 and that was involved in bringing about an early Libertarian victory, a form of popular initiative and that remains as the Libertarian Party Florida), a Libertarian Party in California and another in New York, and a Libertarian Party formed in 1856 by Manuel de Lemos and Joseph Déjacque which evolved into the Libertarian and Workingmen's Library that existed for many years in the area of the present Woolworth building in Manhattan, and which was associated with the French and Spanish anarchists and the then-radical Republican Club of New York, and eventually the (Western) Libertarian League whose members were involved in starting the US Chamber of Commerce, continuing what became the Libertarian International Organization, founded the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and other educational and activist groups.

Contrary to a common belief that it was the first Libertarian group, the Committee was preceded by groups such as the Radical Libertarian Alliance, and the extant Libertarian Alliance (UK) in promoting Libertarian political action,. It became formally defunct upon the first convention in 1972 of the newly formed US Libertarian Party, though the Party itself was legally created in December, 1971. However, it did pioneer modern focus on getting Libertarians in public office and creating coalitions, according to the initial strategic plan by Nolan outlined in a letter to the Society for Individual Liberty(SIL), and who in it offered the Party as a convenience to SIL (now ISIL or International Society for Individual Liberty and those in the movement already at work on political projects. The new party soon attracted Libertarians in the other parties, had a Libertarian in office by its first convention, and was running local and national candidates.(1)