Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America

by Nancy MacLean

The move to George Mason had been a godsend. It was easy to cross the Potomac to speak with political leaders and their staff members or to bring them into Northern Virginia to attend programs. With supportive donors, Buchanan’s center made use of its new site to attract and train many more foot soldiers for the cause. Among the most lastingly important of the many trainees was Stephen Moore, an early M.A. alumnus hired by the Heritage Foundation’s program on budgetary affairs, where he worked throughout the eighties, in the first of many such movement positions. In 1987, Moore was named research director of President Reagan’s Commission on Privatization. In time he would move on to the Wall Street Journal editorial board, where he gained a platform from which to promote the cause to its most important audience: power brokers and potential donors who could benefit from its success.