The American Conservative

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The American Conservative

File:Cover-image.jpg The American Conservative cover
Editor	Robert W. Merry
Categories	Editorial magazine
Frequency	Bi-monthly
Circulation	8,000
Publisher	Jon Basil Utley[1]
Founder	Scott McConnell, Patrick Buchanan, and Taki Theodoracopulos
First issue	October 7, 2002; 21 years ago (2002-10-07)
Country	United States
Based in	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Language	English
Website	www.theamericanconservative.com
ISSN	1540-966X

The American Conservative (TAC) is a bi-monthly journal of opinion published by the American Ideas Institute. It was founded in 2002 to advocate for what it believes to be the original conservative values of peace, community, and fiscal restraint, in opposition to a new brand of conservative that advocates "war, every man for himself, and endless deficits and debt." It is against the "left-wing ideologies that ran rampant in the 20th century and the right-wing, but not conservative, reaction that has only exacerbated the destruction wrought by the left."^[2]

In 2011 and 2012, the magazine expanded its website, theamericanconservative.com, adding several regular columnists. At present, some notable columnists include Rod Dreher, Daniel Larison, Noah Millman, Andrew Bacevich, Kelly Vlahos, Philip Giraldi, and Robert VerBruggen.

Editorial Stance

History

In 2002 The American Conservative was founded by Scott McConnell, Patrick Buchanan, and Taki Theodoracopulos in opposition to the Iraq War. Daniel Strauss wrote:

The idea of The American Conservative was that there were enough who disagreed with mainstream conservatism—libertarians, paleoconservatives, and civil libertarian conservatives, among other dissenters—to warrant such a publication. While other conservative magazines like National Review and The Weekly Standard marched more or less in lockstep with the Bush Administration, The American Conservative argued for a different course—sometimes with greater ferocity than the major political magazines on the left.^[3]

Scott McConnell served as the magazine's first editor, followed by managing editor Kara Hopkins.

Before the 2006 midterm elections, The American Conservative urged its readers to vote for Democrats, saying, "It should surprise few readers that we think a vote that is seen—in America and the world at large—as a decisive “No” vote on the Bush presidency is the best outcome."^[4]

As of 2007, Buchanan and Taki ceased to be involved with the editorial operations of The American Conservative, although Buchanan remains on the board of its parent, the American Ideas Institute, and both continue to contribute columns.^[5] Ron Unz was named publisher in 2007.^[6] Some paleoconservatives regard him as a proponent of mass immigration.^[6][7][8] Unz has since published two major investigations for the magazine, one on the allegedly low incidence of Hispanic crime^[9] and one on China's growth.^[10] In 2011, Wick Allison became the magazine's publisher.

In its April 20, 2009, issue TAC announced that "[t]he economic crisis is exacting a toll on the publishing world, and The American Conservative has not been spared" and that without "a major new infusion of capital", it would print its final edition on May 7, 2009. It subsequently returned to publication, but as a monthly.^[11][12]

In 2010, Daniel McCarthy succeeded Kara Hopkins as editor. In June 2011, Wick Allison, a former publisher of National Review and owner of D Magazine in Dallas, was named president and CEO of the American Ideas Institute, the magazine's publisher. In September 2011, the magazine introduced an editorial redesign of its print publication, and in May 2012, a redesign of its website. In October 2014, Benjamin Schwarz, the former national and literary editor of The Atlantic, was named national editor of the magazine.^[13]

In November 2016, Robert W. Merry succeeded Daniel McCarthy as editor, with Lewis McCrary and Pratik Chougule as Executive Editors, and Robert as Managing Editor.

Reception

In 2009 Reihan Salam, National Review editor,^[14] wrote that the publication had "gained a devoted following as a sharp critic of the conservative mainstream."^[15]

In 2012 David Brooks, conservative writer at The New York Times, wrote:

The American Conservative has become one of the more dynamic spots on the political Web. Writers like Rod Dreher and Daniel Larison tend to be suspicious of bigness: big corporations, big government, a big military, concentrated power and concentrated wealth. Writers at that Web site, and at the temperamentally aligned Front Porch Republic, treasure tight communities and local bonds. They’re alert to the ways capitalism can erode community. Dispositionally, they are more Walker Percy than Pat Robertson.^[16]

Notable contributors

See also

• Conservatism in the United States

References

External links

• Official website
• "Buchanan's Takeoff" by Murray Polner, Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2003.
• "Paleocon's Revenge" by Whitney Joiner. Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, 1 September 2002.
• The American Conservative Crackup: Why I quit Pat Buchanan’s magazine by Alexander Konetzki, The Washington Monthly
• The American Conservative by J. Bradford DeLong, May 15, 2012.

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