FOREWORD
by Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives

In our ever-changing, challenging, and dangerous world, the need for the right ideas to solve the most pressing problems that face America has taken on a new urgency. I have been known to offer a few suggestions myself, as in my latest book, Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America. But it will take many ideas to succeed in meeting our challenges.

In the 1960s, The Economist wrote, it seemed as if universities would establish a “monopoly over the life of the mind,” providing policies for politicians and ideas for journalists. But the university became a tower of politically correct babble, and governments led by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher looked to The Heritage Foundation in the United States and the Institute of Economic Affairs in Britain rather than Harvard or Oxford for advice. Both leaders praised the indispensable counsel of these respective institutions. I can personally attest to the effective, farsighted public policy analysis of The Heritage Foundation.

As a young congressman, I attended Heritage events at which I learned from renowned experts how to reduce government spending and strengthen our military. In 1990, when I was House Republican whip, I told a Heritage audience of young conservatives that America faced "a turning point in its history," and I listed five goals for a national agenda, including a growing economy, physical safety for all citizens, and replacement of the bureaucratic state-all areas in which Heritage had proposed sound and innovative policies. read more (PDF)