Among the better known figures based at the institute are several former George W. Bush administration officials and advisers who were key promoters of the administration's "war on terror" policies, including
John Bolton, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and John Yoo. President Bush highlighted the enormous influence the institute had in his administration during a January 2003 speech at an AEI dinner celebrating
neoconservative trailblazer Irving Kristol.
In 2013, AEI brought on the recently retired
Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) as visiting fellows, tasking the two long-time hawks with heading the institute's new "American Internationalism Project."
Often putting itself at odds with the Obama administration, the think tank has continued to avidly
promote U.S. military entanglements in the Middle East, advocating intervention in Syria's civil war, a hard line against Iran, and a prolonged U.S. presence in Afghanistan. A 2012 AEI briefing called U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan "a recipe for endless war fought on American soil."
AEI has drawn some scrutiny for its sources of funding. The organization generally does not disclose its donors except to acknowledge that it takes money from individuals, foundations, corporations, and the government. A 2009 "schedule of contributors" leaked in May 2013, however, listed the right-wing Donors Capital Fund, the Kern Family Foundation, and the Chamber of Commerce as high-dollar donors.[9] Also disclosed in the leaked document was a $550,000 donation from the de facto Taiwanese embassy in Washington. -
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AEI’s founders included executives from Eli Lilly, General Mills, Bristol-Myers, Chemical Bank, Chrysler, and Paine Webber.
To this day, AEA’s board is composed of top leaders from major business and financial firms.[22]
The American Enterprise Institute (AEI)—which had been renamed in 1962—remained a marginal operation with little practical influence in the national politics until the 1970s. Baroody recruited a resident research faculty; Harvard economist Haberler was the first to join in 1972.[21] In 1977,
former president Gerald Ford joined AEI as its "distinguished fellow." Ford brought several of his administration's officials with him, including Arthur Burns, Robert Bork, David Gergen, James C. Miller III, Laurence Silberman, and
Antonin Scalia.
In 1990, AEI hired
Charles Murray (and received his
Bradley Foundation support for The
Bell Curve) after the Manhattan Institute dropped him.[30] Murray's work on welfare in
Losing Ground was very influential in debates over welfare reform in the 1990s.[31] Others brought to AEI by DeMuth included
John Bolton, Dinesh D'Souza, Richard Cheney, Lynne Cheney, Michael Barone, James K. Glassman, Newt Gingrich, John Lott, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Its board is chaired by Tully Friedman. Current notable trustees include Arthur C. Brooks, Gordon Binder, former managing director and CEO of
Amgen; former vice president
Dick Cheney; Daniel A. D'Aniello, cofounder of
The Carlyle Group; John V. Faraci, chairman and CEO of
International Paper; Harlan Crow, chairman and CEO of
Crow Holdings, the Trammell Crow family's investment company; Christopher Galvin, former CEO and chairman of
Motorola; Raymond Gilmartin, retired chairman and CEO of
Merck & Co.; Harvey Golub, retired chairman and CEO of the
American Express Company; Bruce Kovner, chairman of
Caxton Alternative Associates (and a former chairman of AEI); and Edward B. Rust Jr., chairman and CEO of
State Farm (and also a former AEI chairman).[22]
AEI has a Council of Academic Advisers, chaired by George L. Priest, which includes
Eliot A. Cohen,
Martin Feldstein, R. Glenn Hubbard, Sam Peltzman, John L. Palmer, Jeremy A. Rabkin, and Richard J. Zeckhauser.[22] The Council of Academic Advisers selects the annual winner of the Irving Kristol Award.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enterprise_Institute#Beginnings_.281938.E2.80.931954.29
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