CEI joins Advancing American Freedom asking that Thomas Sowell be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Dear President Trump:
The undersigned are honored to present Dr. Thomas Sowell as a nominee for the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Dr. Sowell is one of America’s leading intellectuals, shaping how the nation thinks about global prosperity in economics, politics, and history. In his role as a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, he continues to work for economic liberty, equality before the law, and policy judged on its success or failure, not the intent of its proponents. His life reflects the American virtues of perseverance, hard work, and the pursuit of truth.
Thomas Sowell was born in 1930 and was raised by his great-aunt. At the age of nine, his family moved from North Carolina to Harlem, New York City, in search of greater opportunities. His academic promise was evident when he was accepted into the prestigious Stuyvesant High School, but financial difficulties forced him to drop out of high school. He was later drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War and served as a photographer at bases in the United States.
After his time in the Marines, Sowell resumed his education. He began taking night classes at Howard University before transferring to Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. During his time at Columbia and Chicago, he was a distinguished student under the mentorship of renowned economists George Stigler and Milton Friedman, both Nobel laureates.
However, it was Dr. Sowell’s time interning for the U.S. Department of Labor, not primarily the influence of Stigler and Friedman, that began to lead him away from his initial Marxist beliefs. While at Labor, he determined a way to test whether increased unemployment in the Puerto Rican sugar industry was the result of hurricanes or the minimum wage. When he realized the bureaucrats at Labor had no interest in actually investigating the question, Dr. Sowell, as he recounts in his memoir, “realize[d] that government agencies have their own self-interest to look after, regardless of the interests of those for whom a program has been set up.” After all, the administration of the minimum wage law was a significant part of the work of Labor. “Whether or not minimum wages benefited the workers may have been my overriding question, but it was clearly not theirs. They had reasons to want to believe that it did, but no real incentive to probe too deeply to find out.” That experience, he reports, “was the beginning of the erosion of my faith in government programs.”
Dr. Sowell also worked to shed light on late-talking children, children who are intelligent and otherwise developing normally but have delayed speech. Dr. Sowell’s son was such a child when there was little information available about that condition. Dr. Sowell ultimately wrote two books on the subject and personally helped connect parents with the doctors who could help their children.
Thomas Sowell has been a dedicated intellectual servant to the American people, advocating for economic liberty, equality before the law, and rigorous thinking that is focused on outcomes, not intentions and rhetoric. His service was recognized by President George W. Bush who awarded him the National Humanities Medal. Today, at the age of 94, Thomas Sowell continues to contribute to the advancement of economic and social thought.
Thomas Sowell’s contributions to the American people are remarkable and merit the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Throughout his life, he has achieved great triumphs by working through numerous hardships. He has served his family, his country, the American people, and millions around the world through his profound economic insights.
Thank You,
Tim Chapman
President
Advancing American Freedom
Scott Walker
President, Young America’s Foundation
45th Governor of Wisconsin (2011-2019)
Rick Santorum
United States Senator from Pennsylvania
1995-2007
Morton Blackwell
President
Leadership Institute
Roger Ream
President
The Fund for American Studies
Grover Norquist
Founder and President
Americans for Tax Reform
Ilya Shapiro
Director of Constitutional Studies
Manhattan Institute
L. Brent Bozell
Founder and President
Media Research Center
Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell
Vice President
Council For National Policy
Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Kristen A. Ullman
President
Eagle Forum
Tina Descovich
Moms for Liberty
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Daniel Houser
Chairman, Economics Department
George Mason University
Timothy S. Goeglein
Focus on the Family
V.P., Government and External Relations
Beth Parlato
Senior Legal Advisor
Independent Women’s Law Center
Star Parker
Founder
Center for Urban Renewal and Education
Michael P. Farris
General Counsel
National Religious Broadcasters
Donald Sweeting
Chancellor
Colorado Christian University
Christopher Koopman
CEO, Abundance Institute
Bob McEwen
US House of Representatives
Fmr. Member, Ohio
Donald T. Eason
President
Center for Urban Renewal and Education
OJ Oleka
CEO
State Financial Officers Foundation
Drew Cline
President
Josiah Bartlett
Center for Public Policy
Dan Faoro
CEO
National Center for Public Policy Research
John Shadegg
Member of Congress 1995-2010
Shadegg Associates, LLC
Frank Ricci
Fellow of Labor & Special Initiatives
Yankee Institute
Lawson Bader
President
DonorsTrust
Peter G. Klein
W. W. Caruth Chair and Professor of Entrepreneurship
Baylor University
Michael Munger
Director, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program
Duke University
Edward J. Lopez
Executive Director and Past President,
Public Choice Society
Professor of Economics, Western Carolina University
Larry Elder
Salem Communications
Carrie Lukas
President
Independent Women’s Forum
Robert Enlow
President & CEO EdChoice, Inc.
Charles R. Plott
Professor of Economics
California Institute of Technology
Joshua Rauh Hoover
Institution Stanford University
Cristen Wohlgemuth
President & CEO
Mountain States Legal Foundation
Steve H. Hanke
Professor of Applied Economics
The Johns Hopkins University
Diane P. Ferraro
Chief Executive Officer Save The Storks
Heather Higgins
CEO
Independent Women’s Voice
Jeff Nelson
President
The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal
Michael B. Poliakoff
President
American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Raymond J. LaJeunesse, Jr.
Member, Board of Trustees
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
George Mason University
Gregory Schaller
Director, Centennial Institute
Colorado Christian University
Carl Schramm, Ph.D., J.D.
Professor
Syracuse University
William F. Shughart II
Professor in Public Choice Utah State University
Robert S. Eitel
President and Co-Founder
Defense of Freedom Institute
Victor Riches
President & CEO
Goldwater Institute
James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman
60 Plus Association
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
American Association of Senior Citizens
Jack Haye
President
Patrick Henry College
Cleta Mitchell
Esq. Senior Legal Fellow
Conservative Partnership Institute
John Hinderaker
President
Center of the American Experiment
Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
Siri Terjesen
Professor, Associate Dean, & Executive Director
Madden Center for Value Creation
Florida Atlantic University
Nate Dunning
Chairman
Young Conservatives of Texas
Wendy Damron
President & CEO
Palmetto Promise Institute
Alfredo Ortiz
CEO
Job Creators Network
Father Robert Sirico
Co-Founder and President Emeritus
The Acton Institute
Kevin D. Freeman Founder
NSIC Institute
Chad Connelly
President
Faith Wins
Jim Pfaff President
The Conservative Caucus
Stefan J. Padfield
JD Executive Director Free Enterprise Project
Carl Neuss
Co-Founder
Cornell Free Speech Alliance
Brett Hagerman
CEO
Setting Things Right
Paul Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation
Mailee Smith
Sr. Director of Labor Policy
Staff Attorney Illinois Policy
Tim Jones
Fmr. Speaker, Missouri House
Chairman, Missouri Center-Right Coalition
E. Calvin Beisner
Ph.D. President
Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation
Anthony Gill
Professor of Political Science
University of Washington
Douglas P. Seaton
President
Upper Midwest Law Center
Ian Rowe
Founder
Vertex Partnership Academies
Brice Futch
Executive Director
Stand for Georgia Values Action
Charlie Gerow
CEO, Quantum Communications Immediate Past Vice Chairman, CPAC
Erin Phillips
Co-Founder/CEO Power2Parent Union
Eli Lehrer
President
R Street Institute
Annette Olson
Chief Executive Officer
MacIver Institute for Public Policy, Inc.
Ryan Ellis
President
Center for a Free Economy
Allan F. Wright
Executive Director
NJ Family Policy Center
Suzi Voyles
President
Eagle Forum of Georgia
Gary D. Libecap
Distinguished Professor (Emeritus)
University of California, Santa Barbara
Roberta Herzberg
Ph.D. Distinguished Senior Fellow
Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey
Distinguished Scholar
Isaiah Berlin
Chair Cato Institute
Stephanie Smith
President & CEO Alabama Policy Institute
Nicole Theis
President
Delaware Family Policy Council
Daniel J. Mitchell
President
Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Dr. Eric M. Wallace and Jennifer Wallace
President and Senior Fellow; Cofounders Freedoms Journal Institute
Ralph Benko
Chairman
The Capitalist League
Myron Ebell
Chairman
American Lands Council
Sean Noble
President
American Encore
Shawnna LM Bolick Arizona State Senator District 2
Dick Patten
President
American Business Defense Council
Donna Jackson
Director of Membership Development
Project 21 Black Leadership Network
Joy Villa
CEO
Joy Villa Productions Inc.
David S. DeLugas
Executive Director
National Association of Parents, Inc. d/b/a ParentsUSA
John Droz
Physicist
Founder, Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED)
T. Hunt Tooley
A.M. Pate, Jr.
Professor of History
Austin College
Robert L. Woodson
Sr. President and Founder Woodson Center
Melissa Ortiz
Founder
Capability Consulting
Dran Reese
President
The Salt & Light Council
Jay D. Homnick
Senior Fellow Project Sentinel
Mark Gotz
Founder/CEO
School Development Group
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy & Senior Fellow
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Kayla Gubov
Chair
Young Jewish Conservatives
Brian Blase
President
Paragon Health Institute
Stephen D. Clouse
President
Stephen Clouse & Associates, Inc.
Jenny Beth Martin
Honorary Chairman
Tea Party Patriots Action
Amy Kappelman
Chair, Moms for Liberty-Chatham
Moms for Liberty NC Ambassador Secretary
NC Legislative Committee
Dr. Allen Mendenhall
Executive Director
Manuel H. Johnson
Center for Political Economy
Gerard Kassar
State Chairman
NYS Conservative Party
Allan Parker
President
The Justice Foundation
Kerri Toloczko
Executive Vice President
Election Integrity Network
Allen Roth
President
Secure America Now
Robert Lewit, MD
Republican Jewish Coalition
Heritage Foundation
Cherylyn Harley LeBon
Former Sr. Counsel
US Senate Judiciary Committee
Aaron Poynton
CEO
Omnipoynt Solutions
Chris Burger
Founder & CEO
Rotunda Public Affairs
Eunie Smith
President
Eagle Forum of Alabama
Brandon Dutcher
Senior Vice President
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Jameson T. Taylor, Ph.D. President
Center for Political Renewal (CPR)
Prof. Lawrence H. White
Department of Economics
George Mason University
Rachel Greszler
Economist & Visiting Fellow in Workforce
Economic Policy Innovation Center
George Landrith
President
Frontiers of Freedom
Wayne Valis
President & Founder Valis Associates, LLC
Tripp Baird
Founder and Principal Off Hill Strategies, LLC
Matthew Tyrman
Visegrad24
Michael D. Thomas, PhD
Associate Professor of Economics & Finance
Creighton University Heider College of Business
Diana Thomas
Creighton University
Heider College of Business Center for Economic Inquiry
Sandy McDade
Political Chairman
Eagle Forum
Robert J. Schimenz
Center for Independent Thought
David K. Bernard
President
National Apostolic Christian Leadership Conference
Roger D. Congleton
Professor
West Virginia University
Carolina Toczycka
Chief of Staff
Adam Smith Institute
Gabriel Calzada
President
Hesperides University
Richard Allen
JCCWatch.org
Dr. Timothy G. Nash
Director
McNair Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Northwood University
Jonathan Butcher
Will Skillman Senior Research Fellow in Education Policy
The Heritage Foundation
Phillip W. Magness
Independent Institute