Lew Rockwell

Llewellyn Harrison Rockwell Jr. (born July 1, 1944) is an American author, editor, and political consultant.

A libertarian and a self-professed anarcho-capitalist, he founded and is the chairman of the Mises Institute, a non-profit promoting the Austrian School of economics.

After graduating from university, Rockwell had jobs at the conservative Arlington House Publishers, the radical-right John Birch Society, and the traditionalist Hillsdale College.

Reading the works of Murray Rothbard, who became his mentor, led Rockwell to become an ardent believer in Austrian economics and what he calls "libertarian anarchism".

Rockwell was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1944.

After college, Rockwell worked at Arlington House publishers and became acquainted with the works of Ludwig von Mises.

A former lifetime member of the radical-right John Birch Society, Rockwell worked in its Member's Monthly Message Department before resigning amid disputes with the society's leaders.

In the mid-1970s, Rockwell worked at the traditionalist Hillsdale College in fundraising and public relations.

Rockwell met the anarcho-capitalist Murray Rothbard in 1975 and credits Rothbard with convincing him to abandon minarchism and reject the state completely.

Rockwell was chief of staff to Congressman Ron Paul from 1978 to 1982, and was a founding officer and former vice president at Ron Paul & Associates, which published political and investment-oriented newsletters bearing Paul's name.

Racist and homophobic content in those newsletters became a controversy in Paul's later campaigns; Rockwell denied ghostwriting it but acknowledged a role in the promotion.

Rockwell was Ron Paul's congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982 and was a consultant to Paul's 1988 Libertarian Party campaign for President of the United States.

Reason magazine reported that "a half-dozen longtime libertarian activists – including some still close to Paul" had identified Rockwell as the "chief ghostwriter" of the newsletters, as did former Ron Paul Chief of Staff (1981–1985) John W. Robbins.

Rockwell admitted to Kirchick that he was "involved in the promotion" of the newsletters and wrote the subscription letters but denied ghostwriting the articles.

He said there were "seven or eight freelancers involved at various stages" of the newsletter's history and indicated another individual who had "left in unfortunate circumstances" and "is now long gone", but whom he did not identify, was in charge of editing and publishing the newsletters.

Rockwell has described discussion of the newsletters scandal as "hysterical smears aimed at political enemies."

Ron Paul himself repudiated the newsletters' content and said he was not involved in the daily operations of the newsletters or saw much of their content until years later.

Rockwell partnered with Rothbard in 1982 to found the Mises Institute in Alabama, where, Rockwell still serves as chairman.

In 1982, Rockwell founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and is chairman of the board.

The Mises Institute published Rockwell's Speaking of Liberty, an anthology of editorials which were originally published on his website, along with transcripts from some of his speaking engagements.

In 1985, Rockwell was named a contributing editor to Conservative Digest.

Rockwell also served as Vice President of the Center for Libertarian Studies in Burlingame, California, which published the Rothbard-Rockwell Report.

Numerous sources alleged that Rockwell had ghostwritten the controversial newsletters; Rockwell is listed as "contributing editor" on physical copies of some newsletters and listed as sole Editor of the May 1988 "Ron Paul investment Newsletter".

They forged a "paleo alliance" between paleolibertarians and paleoconservatives in the form of the John Randolph Club in 1989, which allied the Mises Institute and the paleoconservative Rockford Institute.

He was vice-chair of the exploratory committee for Paul's run for the 1992 Republican Party nomination for president.

Rockwell was a founding officer and former vice president at Ron Paul & Associates, which was one of the publishers of a variety of political and investment-oriented newsletters bearing Paul's name.

Rockwell was closely associated with Rothbard until Rothbard's death in 1995.

The institute hosted conferences on secession; Rockwell wrote before a 1995 conference, "We'll explore what causes [secession] and how to promote it."

Rothbard, Rockwell and others described their views as paleolibertarian to describe their cultural conservatism fused with their otherwise anti-statist beliefs.

Rockwell's website, LewRockwell.com, was launched in 1999.

The website features articles about political philosophy, economics, and contemporary politics.

The website's motto is "anti-war, anti-state, pro-market".

Rockwell, his website and the Mises Institute have promoted neo-Confederate views.

Rockwell's website, LewRockwell.com, formed in 1999, features articles and blog entries by various columnists and writers.

In a 2007 interview, Rockwell revealed he no longer considered himself a "paleolibertarian" and was "happy with the term libertarian."

He explained "the term paleolibertarian became confused because of its association with paleoconservative, so it came to mean some sort of socially conservative libertarian, which wasn't the point at all...."

In January 2008, during Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign, James Kirchick of The New Republic uncovered a collection of Ron Paul newsletters that contained "decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays."

For instance, one issue approved of the slogan "Sodomy = Death" and said homosexuals suffering from HIV/AIDS "enjoy the pity and attention that comes with being sick".

Most of the articles contained no bylines.

In 2011, Paul's spokesperson Jesse Benton said that Paul had "taken moral responsibility because they appeared under his name and slipped through under his watch".