Lexington Institute
The Lexington Institute was founded by Merrick Carey in 1998.
According to its web site, the goal of the Lexington Institute is "to inform, educate, and shape the public debate of national priorities in those areas that are of surpassing importance to the future success of democracy, such as national security, education reform, tax reform, immigration and federal policy concerning science and technology. By promoting America's ability to project power around the globe we not only defend the homeland of democracy, but also sustain the international stability in which other free-market democracies can thrive.
"The Lexington Institute believes in limiting the role of the federal government to those functions explicitly stated or implicitly defined by the Constitution. The Institute therefore actively opposes the unnecessary intrusion of the federal government into the commerce and culture of the nation, and strives to find nongovernmental, market-based solutions to public-policy challenges. We believe a dynamic private sector is the greatest engine for social progress and economic prosperity," it states.
Contents
News and Controversies
Lexington Institute Called Out for Blocking Action on Climate Change
In July of 2016, nineteen U.S. Senators delivered a series of speeches denouncing climate change denial from 32 organizations with links to fossil-fuel interests, including the Lexington Institute.[1] Sen. Whitehouse (RI-D), who led the effort to expose "the web of denial" said in his remarks on the floor that the purpose was to,
- "shine a little light on the web of climate denial and spotlight the bad actors in the web, who are polluting our American discourse with phony climate denial. This web of denial, formed over decades, has been built and provisioned by the deep-pocketed Koch brothers, by ExxonMobil, by Peabody coal, and by other fossil fuel interests. It is a grim shadow over our democracy in that it includes an electioneering effort that spends hundreds of millions of dollars in a single election cycle and threatens any Republican who steps up to address the global threat of climate change. . . . [I]t is long past time we shed some light on the perpetrators of this web of denial and expose their filthy grip on our political process. It is a disgrace, and our grandchildren will look back at this as a dirty time in America’s political history because of their work.”[1]
Leadership
- James Andrew Courter, Chairman
- Merrick Carey, Chief Executive Officer
- Dr. Loren B. Thompson, Chief Operating Officer
- Don Soifer, Executive Vice President
- Philip Peters, Vice President
- Dr. Daniel Goure, Vice President
- Robert Holland, Senior Fellow
- Kerry Finnegan, Program Director
- Dr. Andrew Rhein, Research Analyst
Others
- Clifford Sobel was is a trustee of the Lexington Institute [1]
- Bonner Cohen was in 1998 a Visiting Fellow [2] and from January 1999 [3] to 2003 [4] a Senior Fellow of the Lexington Institute
- Paul F. Steidler was from 1998 [5] to 2000 [6] Senior Fellow of the Lexington Institute
- Robert Severns was involved in the start-up of the Lexington Institute and received posthumously the 'Lexington 2003 Leadership Award'. [7]
- Russell G. Redenbaugh, director since 1999 [8]
- Daniel Strickberger, director since 1999
- Adrienne J. Murphy joined the Lexington Institute in October 1998 as Program Coordinator, became the Director of Operations in August 1999, and she was Vice President from August 2000 to summer 2001. [9]
- Nancy J. Limauro joined the Lexington Institute in September 1999 as a Program Coordinator until the end of 2000. [10]
Relation with the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
Many people involved in the Lexington Institute were before active at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution (AdTI).
| Name | (former) function at AdTI |
|---|---|
| James Andrew Courter | former chairman of the 'Committee for the Common Defense' (an AdTI defense program) and in 1998 consultant at AdTI |
| Merrick Carey | Former President AdTI |
| Dr. Loren B. Thompson | Senior Fellow |
| Philip Peters | staff (1998) |
| Clifford Sobel | director (1996) |
| Paul F. Steidler | director of the AdTI's Education Reform Project |
| Robert Severns | member of the first board in 1989 |
Gregory Fossedal (chairman of AdTI) wrote about Merrick Carey (who founded the Lexington Institute in 1998)
"... a bright and well-organized fellow who helped give me my start in politics in 1982, as I later gave him a start in the think tank business in 1993." [11]
Contact details
1600 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 900
Arlington, VA 22209
Phone: 703-522-5828
Fax: 703-522-5837
URL: http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org
Other Related SourceWatch Resources
External links
- Electronic Warfare Working Group, Statement of Congressman Joseph R. Pitts, Lexington Institute Forum on Electronic Warfare, October 5, 2001.
- MediaTransparency.org: 2001, $105,000 for "The Security Implications of Directed Energy Weapons", funded by the Smith Richardson Foundation.
- Lexington Institute on Schema Root
