Academics, Intellectuals, and Politics

Edward H. Crane lays out a strategy to convert the public into “Hayekian intellectuals,” one of his purposes in founding the Cato Institute.

Edward H. Crane

Edward H. Crane is the founder and president emeritus of the Cato Institute. Prior to Cato’s founding, Crane was heavily involved in the leadership of the Libertarian Party; he worked on John Hospers’s 1972 Presidential bid, managed Ed Clark’s 1978 California gubernatorial campaign, and served as the Libertarian Party’s national chairman from 1974-1977.

Edward H. Crane is the founder and president emeritus of the Cato Institute. Prior to Cato’s founding, Crane was heavily involved in the leadership of the Libertarian Party; he worked on John Hospers’s 1972 Presidential bid, managed Ed Clark’s 1978 California gubernatorial campaign, and served as the Libertarian Party’s national chairman from 1974-1977.

In this video from a 1982 Libertarian Party of California event, Crane speaks about his time working within the Libertarian Party and lays out a strategy to convert the public into “Hayekian intellectuals,” one of his purposes in founding the Cato Institute. Crane stresses the importance of public outreach when speaking about the ideas of libertarianism and the dangers of allowing a single “philosopher-​king” to dictate the priorities of every American libertarian.