Changes

Baroody held family values and religion to be particularly important issues and made them the focus of studies at his institute. He believed that the debate on the legitimacy of the free enterprise system was about more than economics, and as a result, AEI paid more attention to religious thought and political theory than did comparable research centers more concerned with economics.  

Baroody held family values and religion to be particularly important issues and made them the focus of studies at his institute. He believed that the debate on the legitimacy of the free enterprise system was about more than economics, and as a result, AEI paid more attention to religious thought and political theory than did comparable research centers more concerned with economics.  

AEI, a tax exempt charitable institution, grew in size and influence under Baroody's leadership. He was a systematic fund-raiser, growing his budget from $115,000 in 1954 to $266,000 in 1960, thanks to corporate donors such as Allen Bradley, General Electric and Eli Lilly, as well as the Pew and Scaife families, among many others. By the late 1970s he had an annual budget of $8 million and about 125 staff employees. He provided ideas needed by such national conservative leaders as [[Barry Goldwater]], [[Richard M. Nixon]], and [[Gerald R. Ford]]. He brought to the AEI such powerful figures as [[Melvin Laird]], Bryce Harlow, [[Arthur Burns]], Herbert Stein, [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]], and Ben Wattenberg.  AEI scholars strongly supported free markets; opposed Communism; they favored market solutions instead of the use of government power. By 1980 AEI was the conservative counterpart of the older, more liberal Brookings Institution. Both provided staging points for new ideas and resting points for politicians out of office.  [[Robert H. Bork]] praised AEI because it helped conservatives like himself who were “intellectually isolated, even beleaguered, on their own campuses.”  

AEI, a tax exempt charitable institution, grew in size and influence under Baroody's leadership. He was a systematic fund-raiser, growing his budget from $115,000 in 1954 to $266,000 in 1960, thanks to corporate donors such as Allen Bradley, General Electric and Eli Lilly, as well as the Pew and Scaife families, among many others. By the late 1970s he had an annual budget of $8 million and about 125 staff employees. He provided ideas needed by such national conservative leaders as [[Barry Goldwater]], [[Richard M. Nixon]], and [[Gerald R. Ford]]. He brought to the AEI such powerful figures as [[Melvin Laird]], Bryce Harlow, [[Arthur Burns]], Herbert Stein, [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]], and [[Ben Wattenberg]].<ref>Kirkpatrick & Wattenberg were both [[Democrat]]s.</ref> AEI scholars strongly supported free markets; opposed Communism; they favored market solutions instead of the use of government power. By 1980 AEI was the conservative counterpart of the older, more liberal Brookings Institution. Both provided staging points for new ideas and resting points for politicians out of office.  [[Robert H. Bork]] praised AEI because it helped conservatives like himself who were “intellectually isolated, even beleaguered, on their own campuses.”  

While many pundits were bemoaning American decline in the late 1970s, Baroody held was optimistic.  Liberal scholar James MacGregor Burns credited [[Ronald Reagan]]’s victory in 1980 in part to the success of conservative efforts "to build their intellectual case and to use invigorated and broadened conservative ideas as vehicles to political power."  

While many pundits were bemoaning American decline in the late 1970s, Baroody held was optimistic.  Liberal scholar James MacGregor Burns credited [[Ronald Reagan]]’s victory in 1980 in part to the success of conservative efforts "to build their intellectual case and to use invigorated and broadened conservative ideas as vehicles to political power."