American Enterprise Institute - Definition and Overview

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a think tank founded in 1943 whose stated mission is to support the "foundations of freedom - limited government, private enterprise, vital cultural and political institutions, and a strong foreign policy and national defense." It has emerged as one of the leading architects of the Bush administration's public policy. It is often seen as a conservative counterpart to the Brookings Institution.

Personnel

• Richard Cohen penned a vociferous response to Congressman Dennis Kucinich's assertion that the war is about oil. He penned a lengthy op-ed piece in the Washington Post explaining the neoconservative idea of World War IV.
• Richard Perle serves on the United States Defense Policy Board and the former deputy Secretary of Defense.
• Michael Fumento works at AEI.
• Newt Gingrich, member of the Republican Party and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives between 1995 and 1999, is a senior fellow at AEI focusing on health care (he has founded the Center for Health Transformation), information technology, the military, and politics.
• Lee Raymond, CEO of ExxonMobil, is the vice chair of AEI's board of trustees.
• CNN Political Affairs reporter Bill Schneider works at the AEI.
• Michael Ledeen was previously involved in the transfer of arms to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair -- an adventure that he documented in his book, Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair.
• Michael Novak is the George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy and Public Policy and Director of Social and Political Studies at the institute. He has written extensively about the role of faith in government.
• Lynne Cheney, the wife of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, and an AEI senior fellow.
• John Lott, Jr. is an opponent of gun control and the author of a book titled "More Guns, Less Crime."
• Christina Hoff Sommers is a critic of the feminist movement. She is the author of Who Stole Feminism and The War Against Boys.
• Fred Thompson, the current D.A. on Law & Order and former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, researches "National Security & Intelligence (China, North Korea, and Russia)" for the AEI.

Funders

AEI has received more than $30 million in funding from sources including the following:

• The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc.
• Castle Rock Foundation
• Coors
• Earhart Foundation
• JM Foundation
• Philip M. McKenna Foundation, Inc.
• John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.
• Sarah Scaife Foundation
• Scaife Family Foundation
• Smith Richardson Foundation

Contact information

American Enterprise Institute
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-862-5800
Fax: 202-862-7177
E-mail: info@aei.org
http://www.aei.org

See also

• National Assessment on Climate Change

External links

• The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) official website (http://www.aei.org)
• The American Enterprise print magazine (http://www.taemag.com)
• Media Transparency: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (http://www.mediatransparency.org/search_results/info_on_any_recipient.php?recipientID=19)