M. Stanton Evans

Medford Stanton Evans (born July 20, 1934) is an American journalist, author and educator. He is the author of eight books, including Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies (2007).

Contents

Early life and education

He was born in Kingsville, Texas on July 20, 1934 to Medford Bryan Evans, a college professor, author, and United States Atomic Energy Commission official,[1] and classics scholar Josephine Stanton Evans.[2]

He grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.[3] Evans graduated magna cum laude from Yale University, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1955,[4] with a B.A. in English, followed by graduate work in economics at New York University under Ludwig von Mises.[5]

Journalism

As an undergraduate, Evans was an editor for the Yale Daily News.[6] It was at Yale that he read One Is a Crowd by Frank Chodorov. In The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945, George H. Nash writes:

“ It was the first libertarian book he [Evans] had ever read, and [he said] it ‘opened up more intellectual perspectives to me than did the whole Yale curriculum.’ Evans came to believe that Chodorov ‘probably had more to do with the conscious shaping of my political philosophy than any other person.’[7] ”

Upon graduation, Evans became assistant editor of The Freeman, where Chodorov was editor.[8] The following year, he joined the staff of William F. Buckley's fledgling National Review (where he served as associate editor from 1960 to 1973)[9] and became managing editor of Human Events, where he is currently a contributing editor.[10] He became a proponent of National Review co-editor Frank Meyer's "fusionism," a political philosophy reconciling the traditionalist and libertarian tendencies of the conservative movement.[11] Evans argued that freedom and virtue are not antagonistic, but complementary:

“ The idea that there is some sort of huge conflict between religious values and liberty is a misstatement of the whole problem. The two are inseparable.... [I]f there are no moral axioms, why should there be any freedom?[12]

The con­servative believes that ours is a God-centered, and therefore an ordered, uni­verse; that man’s purpose is to shape his life to the patterns of order proceeding from the Divine center of life; and that, in seeking this objective, man is hampered by a fallible intellect and vagrant will. Properly construed, this view is not only compatible with a due regard for human freedom, but demands it.[13]

 ”

In 1959, Evans became head editorial writer of The Indianapolis News,[14] rising to editor the following year—at 26, the nation's youngest editor of a metropolitan daily newspaper[15]—a position he held until 1974.[16] In 1971, Evans became a commentator for the CBS Television and Radio Networks, and in 1980 became a commentator for National Public Radio, the Voice of America, Radio America and WGMS-FM in Washington, D.C.[17] In 1974, he became a nationally syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times syndicate.[18] Barry Goldwater wrote that Evans "writes with the strength and conviction and authority of experience."[19] In a 1975 radio address, Ronald Reagan cited Evans as "a very fine journalist."[20] In 1977, Evans founded the National Journalism Center, where he served as director until 2002. In 1980, he became an adjunct professor of journalism at Troy University in Troy, Alabama,[21] where he currently holds the Buchanan Chair of Journalism.[22] In 1981-2002, he was publisher of Consumers' Research magazine. Evans expressed his journalistic philosophy as follows:

“ I don't think that the way to correct a spin from the left is to try to impart a spin from the right.... [A]n information flow distorted from the right would be just as much a disservice as distortion from the left. What we really should be after... is accurate information. And I don't see what any conservative or anybody else for that matter has to fear from accurate information.[23] ”

Political activism

Evans was present at Great Elm, the family home of William F. Buckley in Sharon, Connecticut, at the founding of Young Americans for Freedom,[24] where on September 11, 1960, he drafted YAF's charter, the Sharon Statement.[25] Some conservatives still revere this document as a concise statement of their principles.[26]

In 1971-1977, Evans served as chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU).[27] He was one of the first conservatives to denounce Richard Nixon, just a year into his first term and long before Watergate, co-writing a January 1970 ACU report condemning his record. Under Evans' leadership, the ACU issued a July 1971 statement concluding, “the American Conservative Union has resolved to suspend our support of the Administration.” In June 1975, ACU called upon Ronald Reagan to challenge incumbent Gerald Ford for the 1976 Republican presidential nomination.[28] In June 1982, Evans and others met with President Reagan,[29] warning him about White House staff who thought they could make a deal with the Democratic Congress. (Reagan subsequently made such a deal, in which for each $1 in higher taxes Congress promised $3 in spending cuts; Reagan delivered the tax hike, but Congress reneged, actually increasing spending.)[30]

In 1974, Evans founded the Education and Research Institute, of which he is still chairman. He has also served as president of The Philadelphia Society; a member of the Council for National Policy and Young Americans for Freedom National Advisory Board; and a trustee of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI),[31] and is a member of the Board of Advisers of the National Tax Limitation Committee. Evans has also been an effective plaintiff in numerous Federal Court cases involving the First Amendment issue of "freedom of information."[32]

Honors

Evans has been awarded honorary doctorates from Syracuse University, John Marshall Law School, Grove City College and Francisco Marroquín University.[33] He is a past winner of two Freedom Foundation awards for editorial writing and the National Headliners Club Award for “consistently outstanding editorial pages.”[34] Evans has also been awarded the Media Research Center's William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence,[35] Accuracy in Media's Reed Irvine award for excellence in journalism,[36] the American Spectator's Barbara Olson Award for Excellence & Independence in Journalism,[37] the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs' John M. Ashbrook Award,[38] the ISI's Regnery Award for Distinguished Institutional Service[39] and four Freedoms Foundation George Washington medals.[40] Troy University ’s Hall School of Journalism hosts an annual M. Stanton Evans symposium named in his honor, as is the ISI's M. Stanton Evans Alumni Award.

Books by M. Stanton Evans

Quotations

References

  1. ^ The Theme is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition by M. Stanton Evans, Booknotes, C-SPAN, February 5, 1995
  2. ^ "Josephine Evans, 97, former teacher," The Washington Times, June 3, 2005; cf. James B. Lloyd, ed., Lives of Mississippi Authors, 1817-1967 (University Press of Mississippi, 2009) ISBN 1604734116, pp. 157-158
  3. ^ The Theme is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition by M. Stanton Evans, Booknotes, C-SPAN, February 5, 1995
  4. ^ "End of a Search," Time October 10, 1960
  5. ^ M. Stanton Evans, "Government Can Be Hazardous to Your Health," Imprimus, June 1975
  6. ^ Banner and Pot Pourri Yearbook - Class of 1954, Yale University, 1954, p. 132 (e-yearbook.com)
  7. ^ George H. Nash, The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 (ISI Books, 2006) ISBN 1933859121, p. 39
  8. ^ Archive for Frank Chodorov, The Freeman
  9. ^ Sam G. Riley, Biographical Dictionary of American Newspaper Columnists (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995) ISBN 0313291926, p. 84
  10. ^ M. Stanton Evans, Human Events
  11. ^ William F. Meehan, III, "Evans, M. Stanton," First Principles, April 17, 2008
  12. ^ Gregory L. Schneider, Cadres for conservatism: young Americans for freedom and the rise of the contemporary right (NYU Press, 1999) ISBN 081478108X, p. 35
  13. ^ L. Brent Bozell, “Freedom or Virtue?,” Freedom and Virtue: The Conservative / Libertarian Debate. George Wescott Carey, ed., (Wilmington, Del: ISI Books, 1998), p. 22
  14. ^ Sam G. Riley, Biographical Dictionary of American Newspaper Columnists (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995) ISBN 0313291926, p. 84
  15. ^ "End of a Search," Time October 10, 1960
  16. ^ Sam G. Riley, Biographical Dictionary of American Newspaper Columnists (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995) ISBN 0313291926, p. 84
  17. ^ Eugene G. Schwartz, American Students Organize: Founding the National Student Association after World War II: An Anthology and Sourcebook (American Council on Educators/Praeger Publishers, 2006) ISBN 0275991008, p. 804
  18. ^ Sam G. Riley, Biographical Dictionary of American Newspaper Columnists (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995) ISBN 0313291926, p. 84
  19. ^ Fulton Lewis, Jr., "Washington Report," Reading Eagle, November 17, 1961, p. 10
  20. ^ Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson and Martin Anderson, eds., Reagan, in His Own Hand (Simon and Schuster, 2001) ISBN 0743219384, p. 364
  21. ^ Troy University Journalism Symposium named in honor of M. Stanton Evans, Hall School of Journalism, Troy University
  22. ^ About Prof. Evans, Hall School of Journalism, Troy University
  23. ^ M. Stanton Evans, “Can Conservatives Change the Media?” Heritage Foundation Resource Bank lecture, August 7, 1990
  24. ^ M. Stanton Evans, Intercollegiate Studies Institute
  25. ^ Rebecca E. Klatch, A generation divided: the new left, the new right, and the 1960s (University of California Press, 1999) ISBN 0520217144, p. 21
  26. ^ "The Sharon Statement would last as the late 20th century's single most elegant distillation of conservative principles." (K.E. Grubbs, Jr., "The Magnificent Legacy of the YAF," Investors Business Daily, September 9, 2010); "[T]he Sharon Statement... sounds as good, reads as well, is as good as it was when he [Evans] first wrote it." (Howard Phillips, "Conservative Roundtable," The Conservative Caucus [youtube.com]); "The [Sharon] statement has stood the test of time." (Eric Ericson, "Sharon and Mt. Vernon," RedState.com, February 17, 2010); "Fifty years later, the Sharon Statement has lost none of its brilliance." (David Franke, "50 Years Downhill Since the Sharon Statement," LewRockwell.com, February 18, 2010); "[T]he Sharon Statement is, half a century on, still a fine treatise on freedom and discourse." (Patrick Ishmael, "Gays at CPAC: The Sharon Statement, Sorba, and a curious reversal of roles," HotAir.com, February 20, 2010); "It is not an overstatement that it [the Sharon Statement] may well be one of the most important documents on the American purpose and conservative vision since the Declaration of Independence itself." (Michael Johns, "Walking the Road that Buckley Built," redcounty.org, September 16, 2008); "The ongoing challenge for all conservatives is to ensure that the generations that follow will be provided the opportunity to learn, to develop leadership skills, to build networks of committed conservatives who will advance the principles enunciated in the Sharon Statement some 50 years ago." Wayne Thorburn, "The Lasting Impact of Sharon," Human Events, August 8, 2010
  27. ^ Statement of Principles: The Sharon Statement, American Conservative Union
  28. ^ Our History, American Conservative Union
  29. ^ Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson and Martin Anderson, eds., Reagan: A Life in Letters (Simon and Schuster, 2004) ISBN 0743276426, p. 595
  30. ^ Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan: An American Life (Simon and Schuster, 1990) ISBN 0671691988, p. 314. Cf. Steven F. Hayward, The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution, 1980-1989 (Random House, Inc., 2009) ISBN 1400053579, pp. 210-212
  31. ^ William F. Meehan, III, Evans, M. Stanton, First Principles, April 17, 2008
  32. ^ Board, National Tax-Limitation Committee
  33. ^ M. Stanton Evans, Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies (Random House, Inc., 2007) ISBN 140008105X, "About the Author" (back cover)
  34. ^ "Fact Finders to Hear Young Editor, Today," Palm Beach Daily News, May 4, 1962, p. 5
  35. ^ MRC Presents the 2010 William F. Buckley Jr. Award to M. Stanton Evans, Media Research Center, October 14, 2010
  36. ^ Alanna Hultz, AIM Honors Stan Evans, March 25, 2009
  37. ^ M. Stanton Evans (The American Spectator, Nov 1, 2011), youtube.com
  38. ^ John Gizzi, Matthew Robinson, Joseph A. D'Agostino, David Freddoso and Matthew A. Rarey, "29th Conservative Political Action Conference sets attendance record, Human Events, February 11, 2002
  39. ^ M. Stanton Evans, Intercollegiate Studies Institute
  40. ^ M. Stanton Evans, "Unlearning the Liberal History Lesson: Some Thoughts Concerning Conservatism and Freedom," Imprimus, March 1980
  41. ^ Alfred Regnery, American Spectator, Vol. 27, Issue 3 (March 1994)
  42. ^ Bethany Stotts, Revisionist Health Care History, Accuracy in Academia, March 25, 2010
  43. ^ William F. Meehan, III, Evans, M. Stanton, First Principles, April 17, 2008
  44. ^ M. Stanton Evans, Glenn Beck Show (transcript) (Fox News), June 25, 2010
  45. ^ Christopher Manion, "Are Principles Passe?" Heritage Foundation lecture, August 1, 1989
  46. ^ Steven F. Hayward, "Everything Old Is New Again: Behold, The Great Energy Society," The Enterprise Blog (American Enterprise Institute), June 8, 2009
  47. ^ Martin Higgins, The Nastiest Things Ever Said About Democrats (Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot, 2006) ISBN 1592289576, p. 76
  48. ^ John Gizzi, Matthew Robinson, Joseph A. D'Agostino, David Freddoso and Matthew A. Rarey, "29th Conservative Political Action Conference sets attendance record, Human Events, February 11, 2002
  49. ^ M. Stanton Evans, "The Foundations of Conservatism," Council for National Policy
  50. ^ M. Stanton Evans, "Cultivating conservatism," ISI speech, Heritage Foundation, excerpted in The Washington Times, July 17, 2007
  51. ^ M. Stanton Evans, "The Foundations of Conservatism," Council for National Policy
  52. ^ Lecture delivered at ISI 30th anniversary alumni seminar, Washington, D.C., 1983 (Audio)
  53. ^ Steven F. Hayward, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Powerline Blog, July 13, 2011
  54. ^ James C. Roberts, "CPAC Over 30 Years: Conservatives Have Come a Long Way," Human Events, February 3, 2003
  55. ^ Steven F. Hayward, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Powerline Blog, July 13, 2011
  56. ^ William F. Meehan, III, Evans, M. Stanton, First Principles, April 17, 2008
  57. ^ William F. Meehan, III, Evans, M. Stanton, First Principles, April 17, 2008
  58. ^ Steven F. Hayward, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Powerline Blog, July 13, 2011

External links