Ed Crane (political activist)

Edward Harrison Crane (born August 15, 1944) is an American libertarian and co-founder of the Cato Institute. He served as its president until October 1, 2012.[1]

Ed Crane
Born	Edward Harrison Crane (1944-08-15) August 15, 1944 Los Angeles, California
Nationality	United States
Institution	Cato Institute (1977–2012)
Field	Economics, politics, social science, culture
School or tradition	Libertarian economics
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley (B.S.) University of Southern California (MBA)
President of the Cato Institute
In office 1977 – October 1, 2012
3rd Chair of the Libertarian National Committee
In office 1974–1977
Preceded by	Susan Nolan
Succeeded by	David Bergland
2nd Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee
In office 1972–1974
Preceded by	Susan Nolan
Influences	Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Milton Friedman

In the 1970s, he was one of the most active leaders within the Libertarian Party.[2] He directed the Party as its National Chair from 1974 to 1977,[3] worked on John Hospers's Presidential bid and managed Ed Clark's 1978 campaign for Governor of California. In 1980, Crane served as Communications Director to the Libertarian Party Presidential ticket of Clark and Vice Presidential candidate David Koch.[4] Prior to founding the Cato Institute, Crane was chartered financial analyst and vice president of Alliance Capital in California.

Crane has been a member of the board of various political organizations, including Americans for Limited Government, a group that assists grassroots efforts throughout the country, and the Center for Competitive Politics. Crane is also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.

Tenure at Cato Institute

In 1977, with the funding of Charles Koch and the assistance of Murray Rothbard, Crane established the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank.

While at Cato, Crane grew the organization: from a staff of 10 and a budget of $800,000 when it first opened in San Francisco, to a staff of 127 and a $21 million budget in a newly renovated building in Washington, DC.[5]

In 2012, a shareholder dispute arose between Crane and Charles and David Koch. Crane accused the Kochs of trying to take control of the organization. The Kochs contended that the shares of deceased shareholder William Niskanen should have been offered to the Institute first, and not passed to his widow. Crane later said that he spoke to New Yorker journalist Jane Meyer, whose reporting indicated the conflict was also about the ideological direction of the Institute.[6][7] As part of the dispute settlement, the Cato shareholder agreement was dissolved and Crane agreed to retire.[8]

In 2013 Crane launched Purple PAC, a super-PAC that supports candidates and causes consistent with the libertarian philosophy.[9]

Political views

Crane has been described as, "one of the men most responsible for the fall of communism, for the rise of libertarianism as an influential political philosophy and movement, and for unselfishly supporting three generations of scholars devoted to developing and applying the freedom philosophy."[10]

Crane is politically libertarian.[11] To him, the core principles of libertarianism are personal liberty, free markets and limited government.[12]

He was supportive of then-presidential candidate Ron Paul on issues such as cutting spending, lowering taxes, support for a non-interventionist foreign policy, protecting civil liberties and promoting Austrian economics. "Support for dynamic market capitalism (as opposed to crony capitalism), social tolerance, and a healthy skepticism of foreign military adventurism is a combination of views held by a plurality of Americans," he states in his column. "It is why the 21st century is likely to be a libertarian century. It is why the focus should be on Ron Paul's philosophy and his policy proposals in 2012."[13]

In 2016 he supported presidential candidate Rand Paul. It was reported that Crane had stopped raising money for the Purple PAC that was supporting Rand; but Crane stated that the PAC was still operating and it wasn't shutting down.[14] He stated, "I'm still 'standing with Rand,' as they say, and there's no one else I can think of supporting."[15]

References

1. "Cato Institute Welcomes New CEO, Announces Changes to Board". Cato Institute.
2. Weigel, David. "Ed Crane steps down to end the Koch brothers' attempted coup at Cato, and libertarians cheer". Slate.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
3. Morin, Richard (May 9, 2002). "Free Radical; Libertarian—and Contrarian—Ed Crane Has Run the Cato Institute for 25 Years. His Way". Washington Post. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
4. Jackovich, Karen G. (September 22, 1980). "Ed Clark Is the Libertarian Party's Headstrong Candidate for the White House". People. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
5. Staff Editorial (October 23, 2012). "Ed Crane's Freedom Legacy". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
6. Weigel, David (March 22, 2012). ""Who the Hell is Going to Take a Think Tank Seriously If It's Controlled by Billionaire Oil Guys?" Cato's President Speaks". Slate. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
7. Meyer, Jane (27 June 2012). "The Kochs v. Cato: Winners and Losers". The New Yorker. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
8. Vogel, Kenneth P. (June 26, 1980). "Cato, Koch brothers settle ownership fight". Politico. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
9. http://purplepac.org/about/
10. "Politico Slanders Ed Crane, a Great Man". The Heartland Institute. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
11. https://www.haas.berkeley.edu/groups/pubs/calbusiness/winter2004/alumni4.html
12. https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/free-radical-libertarian-contrarian-ed-crane-has-run-cato-institute-25-years-way
13. https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/why-ron-paul-matters
14. https://reason.com/blog/2015/09/29/politico-overstates-his-dropping-out-ins
15. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/09/29/pro-rand-paul-pac-isnt-shutting-down-just-asking-paul-to-be-more-libertarian/

External links

• Cato Institute – Edward Crane bio
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Party political offices
Preceded by Susan Nolan	Chair of the Libertarian National Committee 1974 – 1977	Succeeded by David Bergland