Answers age-old question: what do Richard Nixon, Dan Rather and Chuck Norris have in common?

WASHINGTON, DC — Question:  What do Richard Nixon, Dan Rather, and Chuck Norris have in common?  Answer:  They have all written for The Ripon Forum.

Now, their essays, along with the essays of other individuals who have written for the centrist Republican journal of thought and opinion over the past 44 years, can be found online in The Ripon Forum Archives.

“The Ripon Forum was first published in 1965,” stated Lou Zickar, the Forum’s editor. “Since that time, it has published an impressive collection of interviews and essays from some of the most recognized figures in our nation’s history and contemporary American politics. We thought people might have an interest in reading some of them, which is why we have posted these Archives online.”

Zickar noted that the Archives currently feature over 200 individuals, and include such disparate personalities as Richard Nixon, Dan Rather and Chuck Norris. “One is a giant of politics, one is a giant of media, and one is a giant of kicking butt,” Zickar remarked. “I think it’s safe to say the Forum is probably one of the few publications, if not the only one, that has published essays from all three.”

“More to the point, I think this represents the wide variety of authors who have been featured in our journal, and the fact that The Ripon Forum has long been committed to featuring ideas from anywhere on the political spectrum – left, right, and the center.”

The Archives can be found at https://riponsociety.org/rfarchives.htm.  They include such individuals as:

•       New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, writing in 1968 about the importance of pragmatism in politics;
•       Congressman Melvin Laird, writing that same year about the Republican agenda should the GOP win a majority in the House that fall;
•       Michigan Governor George Romney, also writing in 1968, about the war in Vietnam and his plan to establish a “positive program for peace.”
•       Secretary of Labor George Schultz, writing in 1970 about the Nixon Administration’s plan to achieve equal opportunity in the workplace;
•       Scholar Morton Halperin, writing in 1974 about national security and civil liberties and the challenge Congress faces in balancing the two;
•       United States Senator John Tower, writing in 1982 about national defense and the need to keep America secure;
•       David Eisenhower, talking in 1988 about his grandfather, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his father-in-law, Richard Nixon;
•       U.S. Representative Newt Gingrich, talking in 1989 about the future of the Republican Party and his new role as House Minority Whip;
•       Presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan, talking in 1992 about the politics of the moment and the race for President that year;
•       U.S. Representative Rob Portman, writing in 1999 about retirement security and the need to reform the nation’s outdated pension laws;
•       Former U.S. Representative J.C. Watts, talking in 2007 about race and the Republican Party; and,
•       U.S. Senator John McCain, talking last year about his campaign for the Presidency and America’s place in the world.

Zickar said that additional individuals will be added to the Archives throughout the year.
The Ripon Forum is published by the Ripon Society in Washington, DC.  Founded in 1962, the Ripon Society is a public policy organization that takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 — Ripon, Wisconsin.  One of the main goals of the Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s past success.  These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

For more information on the Ripon Society and to view the current edition of The Ripon Forum, please visit https://riponsociety.org.

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