Testimonials
Dr. Lee Edwards named Richard A. Viguerie one of 13 “Conservatives of the Century” in a December 1999 Washington Times article. He noted, “The Texas-born Mr. Viguerie became the king of political direct mail and provided conservatives with an essential tool to raise money, communicate ideas, and motivate people.”
—Dr. Lee Edwards
Senior Fellow, Heritage Foundation
“He is the catalyst that allowed conservatism to reach the pinnacles that it has over these past many years.”
—Barry Goldwater Jr.
“The truth is I couldn’t have gotten my institute off the ground without what I learned from him. Without any doubt, Richard Viguerie is the ‘Funding’ Father of the conservative movement. When he fights in the public policy process, his weight is always felt.”
—Morton Blackwell
President, Leadership Institute
“He is one of the genuine pioneers of modern American politics. He went out and figured out some very complicated things and then applied them to a cause he believed in—a cause that I am proud to have worked with him on. The fact is, he really invented the use of direct mail by Republicans and conservatives.”
—Newt Gingrich
Former House Speaker
“When interviewing potential campaign managers or general consultants, the first question you should ask is, ‘What do you know about Richard Viguerie?’ If they’ve never heard of him, you can end the interview right then and there.”
—Chuck Muth
National conservative campaign consultant
“He has left his print on every aspect of the conservative movement, from its infancy to today.”
—David Keene
Former President, National Rifle Association
Former Chairman, American Conservative Union/CPAC
“Richard Viguerie is probably the greatest political copywriter in American history. If you understand copywriting, you understand political communication. He really is the godfather of the conservative movement.”
—Roger Stone
New York Times
Bestselling Author, Political Consultant
“Richard Viguerie is simply the best! He and his talented staff enabled us to set fundraising records that helped carry us to victory in November.”
—Hon. Ken Cuccinelli
Former Attorney General of Virginia
He is “one of the creators of the modern conservative movement.”
—Alexander Cockburn
The Nation
February 14, 2008
“Before Rush Limbaugh, there was Richard Viguerie. But before Rush, conservatives for nearly 40 years looked to Richard Viguerie, the founding father of the conservative movement, for the ‘right word’ on policy and politics. Before Mr. Limbaugh, it was Mr. Viguerie whose mail was delivered over hill and dale, through rain, sleet and snow, to conservative donors and activists, prodding them to take action. Legions of candidates, from the courthouse to the White House, have benefitted from Mr. Viguerie’s expertise, and legions of others have tasted defeat as a direct result of his ability to raise money and promote action simply by sitting down at his typewriter.
—Jim Martin
The Washington Times
“We talk a lot about changing your life with copywriting. But Richard Viguerie did more than just change his life: He changed the world. Richard Viguerie is one of the most brilliant copywriters who ever lived, a truly iconic figure in the history of direct marketing, and a living testament to the power of copywriting to make a difference in the world.”
—Richard Armstrong
Author, The Next Hurrah:
The Communications Revolution in American Politics
John F. Kennedy Jr’s magazine, George, listed Viguerie’s pioneering of political/ideological direct mail in the 1960s and 1970s, which enabled grassroots Americans to participate in the political process to a greater degree than ever before, as one of the “defining political moments of the 20th century.”
—George Magazine
“Richard Viguerie, the direct mail impresario . . . may have understood the value of a name before anyone else in contemporary politics.”
—The New York Times Magazine
He is “the conservatives’ ‘Voice of America.’”
—The Washington Post
He is “the architect of the New Right.”
—The Baltimore Sun
“The father of political [direct marketing].”
—Direct Magazine
“When you lose an election, you think, ‘If only Ronald Reagan wasn’t on the ballot,’ or ‘If only he hadn’t had Richard Viguerie and his mass-mailing operation out in Falls Church, I would have won.”
—Congressman Jerry Patterson (D–VA)
“The Richard A. Viguerie Company aided Reagan’s electoral sweep and the Republicans to gain control of the Senate . . . .”
—U.S. News and World Report (1981)
The new-fashioned conservatives’ use of direct mail “may have tipped the entire political balance” in their direction, and “to a remarkable degree, the story of that development is the story of one man: Richard A. Viguerie.”
—David Broder, Washington Post political reporter and
Nationally syndicated columnist (1980)
“In the rapidly evolving and growing nether world of conservative politics, a ‘new right’ is emerging and Richard A. Viguerie is its godfather. Both his friends and enemies acknowledge that if Richard Viguerie succeeds in fulfilling his dream, American politics may never be the same.”
—John Fialka
The Washington Star
June 23, 1975
If any one man can be credited with creating the conservative movement that now exercises such power over the Republican Party, it is the eighty-eight-year-old Viguerie.
—Andrew Cockburn
Washington editor of Harper's Magazine