Our Founding
In 1938, leaders in agriculture, industry, finance, and transportation organized the American Enterprise Association (AEA) in New York City. These leaders sought to create a clearer understanding of our free enterprise system and its relationship to America’s social and political institutions.
The outbreak of war underscored this program’s importance. But it also made necessary a change in AEA’s plans. Washington now became the focal point of its activities, and in 1943, a Washington office was opened.
Continue Reading Our Founding History . . .
Events were occurring with such rapidity that neither senators nor representatives in Washington could keep abreast of bills thrown into the legislative hopper, not to mention the numerous pertinent executive orders, directives, and regulations. To deal with such an overwhelming volume of work, senators and representatives asked AEA for help, so the organization began to produce legislative analyses and other products for policymakers. Using lawyers and other professionals from around the country, AEA analyzed about 50 bills each year. The first analysis examined S. 607, a bill to establish an Office of War Mobilization introduced on February 1, 1943.
AEA expanded beyond legislative analyses, publishing histories of foreign aid and proposals on health care and forest conservation, to name a few. These early publications proved successful, and as the association approached its 10th anniversary, the chairman of AEA’s board noted it had developed confidence in its economic studies, “an activity not duplicated by other organizations”; its bill analyses; and its spot research in Washington. By 1956, 80 percent of the Senate and more than 62 percent of the House received AEA reports.
The AEA board hired William J. Baroody Sr. as executive director in 1954, and by the early 1960s, AEA was reaching beyond Congress, making the analyses and longer-range studies available to journalists; professors of political science, economics, and related social science departments of colleges and universities; and people in industry. In 1962, AEA became the American Enterprise Institute, and it collaborated with other institutions such as the Brookings Institution and Hoover Institution while recruiting scholars and experts from around the nation.
In the early 1970s, the modern AEI began to take shape: The Institute was publishing long-range studies and legislative analyses, conducting original research on the federal budget using then-new computer technology, and publishing high school and college debate manuals. AEI’s early programs in foreign and defense policy, economic policy, and social and political processes paved the way for the organization’s future growth. In 1971–72, AEI hired its first resident scholars, Robert Pranger in defense studies and Gottfried Haberler and William Fellner, who were widely renowned in economics studies.
Today, AEI continues to play a crucial role in supporting decision-making and public debate in Washington and around the world.
Historical Facts and Figures
Lewis Brown, AEA’s first president, on the cover of TIME magazine.
Section from AEI’s 1976 Annual Report showing a variety of AEI activities and staff. At top right are Gottfried Haberler and William Fellner, two of AEI’s first resident scholars.
Map of AEI’s locations in Washington, DC, since 1943. Created by 2023 AEI Archives intern Kay Rollins.
Selection of Our Early Publications and Programming
Public Policy Forums
To encourage intellectual debate on pressing issues, AEI hosted a variety of televised and publicized forums, attracting countless viewers over the decades. Public Policy Forums included Rational Debates, Town Hall Meetings, and Round Tables.
Lectures
AEI has had many distinguished lecture series, including the Bicentennial Lectures, Boyer Lectures, Nutter Lectures, and Bradley Lectures, all aimed to enrich debate in the Washington policy community through the exploration of philosophy, history, relationships between private and public industry, and more.
Special Analyses
In the early years, AEI Special Analyses investigated major questions of foreign and domestic policy that were generally not the subject of current specific congressional legislation. These were prepared by experts generally from the academic community, working closely with AEI staff specialists.
Studies Series
AEI’s Studies were the core of its research program for decades. Studies cover a variety of topics and time periods, motivated by issues of public importance and scholarly interest.
Legislative Analyses
The Legislative Analyses were designed for busy legislators, and for those who paid close attention to Congress. These analyses provided a concise and readable summary of specific legislative proposals. They contained the principal arguments of leading proponents and opponents of the proposal.
The AEI Magazine
Throughout the course of its history, AEI has published three different magazines with very similar names: The American Enterprise in early 1990, The American Enterprise: A National Magazine of Politics, Business, and Culture in January 1995, and finally The American in November 2006. This page features an archive of these magazines.
Debate Books
AEI provided debate guidebooks for the national policy debate topics for high school and college students in the 1960s and 1970s. The guidebooks, which included evidence and arguments for both sides, were drafted by debate coaches and expert specialists on the topics selected for debate.
Other AEI Magazines
In the late 1970s, AEI published its first editions of three magazines: Public Opinion Magazine, Regulation Magazine, and the Foreign Policy and Defense Review. These publications featured articles from AEI and other scholars on a variety of timely subjects.
Collaborations
AEI has collaborated with a variety of academic, government, and community organizations. AEI has worked closely with the Brookings Institution and the Hoover Institute on a variety of topics. Some of these studies are featured here.
Tributes
After the deaths of a select few of the institute’s influential scholars, AEI published a tribute to that individual. Six tributes are available on our archive page.
Memorandum
In 1972, AEI began publishing monthly and seasonal newsletters on the activities of the institute and its scholars. Memorandum detailed AEI’s activities from 1972 to 1988 and illuminated the policy debates and controversies at the time of publication.
Annual Reports
AEI released its first official annual report in 1980 after several informal reports in the 1970s. The design and content of these have evolved over the years. Each edition lists board members, scholars, and highlights of AEI’s accomplishments and events in the previous year as well as the organization’s finances.
Archive Videos
To expand the reach of AEI’s public policy forums and other events, AEI partnered with hundreds of radio and television stations to broadcast these events to the American public. Many of these recordings are available on AEI’s YouTube channel.
Books
AEI scholars have written hundreds of books. Many of AEI’s early books are out of print or otherwise unavailable, but a wide selection of titles is still available to the public.
AEI Archives Blog Series
The AEI Archives blog is a series of occasional posts recognizing AEI’s important history. The series draws on work of past scholars and ties this to research AEI scholars are doing today.
First Policy Areas
Alan Greenspan, former chair of the Federal Reserve, addresses participants at an AEI conference.
Jeane Kirkpatrick and Henry Kissinger speak at the AEI World Forum.
President Ronald Reagan speaks at AEI.