The Future of Freedom Conference
| The Future of Freedom II | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | FOFcon |
| Publication details | |
| History | April 19–20, 1980 |
The Future of Freedom Conference is considered as the first explicitly libertarian conference series ever held in the United States. Debuting in 1969, the conference's keynote speaker was Austrian economist Prof. Ludwig von Mises.
More than 200 students attended the Ludwig von Mises Conference that was held at Long Beach State University, now known as California State University, Long Beach, in May 1969, in response to Young Americans for Freedom's (YAF) purges of libertarian leaders just before the infamous national YAF St. Louis convention in August 1969.
In early March 1969, Dana Rohrabacher and William "Shawn" Steel, co-chairs of California YAF, were removed by National YAF. Many purged leaders, and county chairs would eventually organize a new student organization called the California Libertarian Alliance (CLA). One of their first endeavors was to hold a gathering of libertarian leaders, writers and economists.
The idea to have some type of gathering evolved into a full-fledged conference at a college. The conference was initially planned and organized under the leadership of Dana Rohrabacher, who was the main founder and chairman of the Libertarian Caucus of YAF from 1966 to 69. Dana Rohrabacher, known as the "Johnny Grass-seed" of radical YAFers, later became a journalist, a speechwriter for President Reagan, and a U.S. Congressman in Southern California.
Other purged YAF members involved in the 1969 conference included the following:
Gene Berkman, draft resister, later to become owner of Renaissance Books in Riverside, CA; Bill "Shawn" Steel, USC student and statewide chairman of Youth for Reagan, later to become an attorney, a founder of the California Libertarian Party, and chairman of the California Republican Party; Ron Kimberling, later Dr. Ron Kimberling, radio show commentator who became executive director of the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Assistant Secretary for Higher Education in the last years of the Reagan administration; Dennis Turner, writer for Reason magazine and computer programmer; John Schurman, psychology major and staff worker for Rampart College.
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