In the early 1980s, Pearson served as an advisor to Senator Jesse Helms, and, in 1982, he received a letter of praise from President Ronald Reagan for his “substantial contributions to promoting and upholding those ideals and principles that we value at home and abroad” (quoted in Kühl 1994, 4). In 1986, Pearson was discovered to be closely associated with a number of former leaders of U.S. intelligence agencies and American Security Council members (Covert Action 1986). Pearson served as editor of MQ from 1979 to 1996 (Winston 2013).
