Early years Historians have documented the volatility inside YAF during its early years as a coalition of
conservatives and
libertarians. Kenneth Heineman writes, "YAF itself suffered internal strife. In 1969 the organization split into competing, irreconcilable factions." Gregory L. Schneider states, "In the mid-1970s YAF suffered from weak leadership based on factions and personalities rather than ability". Jerome Tuccile writes, "The second faction of rebels consisted of radical libertarians or anarchists, most of them belonging to
Karl Hess's son Karl Hess IV's Anarcho-libertarian Alliance. This contingent was more interested in splitting off from YAF entirely." Rebecca E. Klatch writes, "When one young libertarian burned his draft card on the convention floor, the crowd turned into an angry mob and, ultimately, purged all libertarians from YAF. One libertarian faction stormed out of the meeting." Lauren Lassabe Shepherd describes YAF members as "United by anticommunism, Christian moralism, and disdain for bureaucracy and planned economies".
National conservative activism, 1960-1965 In September 1960, about 90 young people met at the childhood home of
William F. Buckley Jr. in Sharon, Connecticut. They gathered to lay the groundwork for a new national conservative youth organization. It is here that Young Americans for Freedom was born and their statement of principles, the
Sharon Statement, was drafted.
The New Guard magazine made its debut as the official magazine of YAF in 1961. In the first four years of its existence, YAF grew rapidly on college campuses.
Ronald Reagan joined the YAF National Advisory Board in 1962 and for 42 years served as its Honorary Chairman. In the 1960s, the
Republican Party was divided between its conservative wing, led by
Barry Goldwater, and its more
liberal wing, led by
Nelson Rockefeller. YAF members fell squarely on Goldwater's side and spearheaded the campaign of Barry Goldwater for president. On March 7, 1962, a YAF-sponsored conservative rally filled
Madison Square Garden in New York City, drawing 18,000 people. In attendance was
Barry Goldwater. The event has been described as "the birthday of the conservative movement." The second national YAF convention was held in 1963 at the Gault Hotel in Florida. With over 450 voting delegates in attendance. Hotel management at the Gault Hotel refused accommodations to Don Parker, an African-American delegate from Brooklyn. As word of this spread around the YAFers in attendance, a number of delegates and numerous others began gathering in the lobby of the hotel demanding that either the Gault Hotel allow all the black YAFers to stay and the hotel change its segregation policy or YAF would move the convention to another site. However, Black membership has always been exceptional in YAF and many of the organization's national board members have been outspoken segregationists, including
Strom Thurmond,
William Colmer, and
L. Mendel Rivers. By 1964, YAF was a major force in the campaign to nominate Goldwater, and then after his nomination, to elect him president. Goldwater's run for the White House catalyzed YAF more than any other event in its history. Lee Edwards, former
New Guard editor, said "Barry Goldwater made YAF, but YAF also made Barry Goldwater." Goldwater's massive defeat in the
presidential election of 1964 demoralized many YAF members. In YAF's campaign to "STOP RED TRADE",
IBM,
Mack Truck, and
Firestone Tire and Rubber were targeted for engaging in high visibility trade with the Soviet Bloc. As part of a wave of America First boycotts, YAF claimed that it stopped Firestone's attempt to build a synthetic rubber plant in
communist Romania through letter-writing campaigns, boycotts, and demonstrations. YAF also claimed their plan to distribute 500,000 flyers at the
Indianapolis 500 was key to the decision by Firestone executives to cancel their Romanian plans in April 1965. In September 1965, the YAF announced plans to hold a memorial honoring three Russian Nazi collaborators from the
Russian Liberation Army, who'd committed suicide on June 29, 1945, to avoid
repatriation to the Soviet Union. The memorial was cancelled after protests by Ralph Plofsky, the commander of the
Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America. YAF faced opposition from groups like the
American Nazi Party because of the presence of Jews in the organization and its close relationship with
Marvin Liebman. However, YAF did honor Senator from
South Carolina Strom Thurmond, a segregationist, with its Freedom Award in 1962. Several YAF members campaigned for segregationist
George Wallace for president in 1968, forming an auxiliary Youth for Wallace movement, which later became the
National Youth Alliance and the
American Nazi Party. An unsubstantiated claim has been made that a YAF member was involved with the 'Welcome Mr. Kennedy to Dallas' ad placed in the
Dallas Morning News (coincidentally on the morning of JFK's assassination), which accused him of ignoring the Constitution.
Reaction to radical activism, 1965-1971 Liberalism and
radicalism dominated campuses from the mid-1960s until the early 1970s, primarily as a result of the
civil rights movement and the
Vietnam War. Though outnumbered, YAF went on the offensive against radical left-wing organizations by challenging and rebutting civil rights groups like the Afro-American Society and
W.E.B. DuBois clubs, as well as antiwar groups like
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and New MOBE in support of a U.S. victory in Vietnam. YAF members tended to hold similar opinions to their older compatriots within the conservative movement, including members of their advisory board such as
Strom Thurmond,
John Tower,
L. Mendel Rivers, and
William Colmer. YAF often made protests appearances at Fonda events, getting in physical altercations with her security guards and mocking her peace activism and acting career by holding up banners that read, "
Barbarella bombed, why can't Nixon?" and "Shoot Fonda, not film!" A faction of YAF philosophically extended the group's traditional support of limited government in economic issues to social issues and a foreign policy of non-interventionism. This group came to be known as
libertarians. A more serious and lasting challenge for YAF came from this group, those who believed in limited or even no government – radical libertarians and anarchists. YAF's Libertarian and Anarchist Caucuses were purged at the YAF's 1969 national convention in St. Louis, and members of this faction were among the founding members of the
Libertarian Party in 1971.
Advocacy politics, 1971-1985 In the 1970s, rather than merely staging campus demonstrations, YAF focused on influencing national politics by lobbying and occasionally staging and publicizing small demonstrations. YAF went on the offensive when President
Nixon enacted wage controls, price controls, abandoned the gold standard, and opened relations with the communist
People's Republic of China, ceasing relations with
Taiwan. YAF felt he was abandoning conservative principles so YAF publicly denounced the administration for these moves, becoming the first conservative organization to do so. In 1974, YAF, along with the
American Conservative Union, sponsored a modest and ambitious gathering called the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). CPAC has become the largest annual gathering of conservatives and is still held annually in the Washington, D.C. area. On college campuses, YAF was more conservative and less partisan than the
College Republicans. Members were willing to oppose liberal candidates and support conservative candidates regardless of party affiliation. During many local and national races throughout this era, YAF members were divided about whether to support a moderately conservative electable candidate or to support a staunchly conservative long-shot candidate. YAF supported
Reagan's almost-successful bid to win the
Republican presidential nomination in 1976 and his victorious race for the
presidency in 1980. YAFers around the nation mobilized in support of Reagan's agenda. Many YAFers received appointments to the Reagan Administration. Reagan Administration officials and prospective appointees who were targeted by the radical left were strongly defended by YAF. YAFers rallied to the support of Labor Secretary
Raymond Donovan, Interior Secretary
James Watt, Circuit Court Judge Dan Manion, Supreme Court nominee
Robert Bork, and NSC staff member Lt. Colonel
Oliver North. By the mid-1980s, many of YAF's leaders were in their thirties and long out of college. Some of them held positions in government while continuing to run the organization as a lobbying and fund-raising group for conservative causes. At the same time, internal problems paralyzed the YAF hierarchy. The national board was controlled by lawyers and lobbyists who focused on fundraising. This era ended with financial problems which led to YAF losing most of its assets.
Campus activism, 1985-1991 After a financial collapse, most of the older members went on to other things, while younger members dominated YAF. During this era, a new generation of liberal and radical activism was growing on college campuses, and members began focusing on opposing these movements. This growth was strongest in California, where members staged protests in favor of aid to the
Nicaraguan
Contras, in favor of Reagan's anti-communist policies and in opposition to the
United Nations. The emphasis on campus activism gradually spread to all the states where YAF was still active. In 1989, an alliance of Californian and New York activists took over a majority of the seats on the national board. In April of 1990, the
University of Massachusetts-Amherst YAF branch organized and participated in a "Burn a
Fag in Effigy" student rally. The event was repeated for Conservative Awareness Week in March of 1991 as a "
straight pride demonstration", which was attended by about 50 people and protested by a crowd of approximately 500 people.
Rebuilding years, 1991-1999 Though the presence of National YAF was lax during the 1990s as they were focusing on revitalizing and rebuilding the organization, there remained very active pockets of YAF activity throughout the country, campus charters and statewide units that organized and operated on their own. California YAF continued as a strong conservative force on campuses and in that state's political arena. Many states like Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia and others still had very active individual campus chapters. By 1991, the national board of YAF contained a majority of Californians – the first time a single state had had a majority in the governing council. However, this new régime found itself unable to effectively run YAF as a financial and organizational entity. The strength of its activism was shattered by the
Gulf War that began in January 1991. Most members considered President
George H. W. Bush to be insufficiently conservative, and his rhetoric justifying the war – "a
new world order" – to be dangerously
utopian. While conservative-oriented students on campuses around the country were showing support for the American effort against Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, many YAF leaders of the time were expressing opposition to the war effort. Thus, an opportunity to expand the organization's membership was lost. In August 1991, YAF held its 16th National Convention in Washington D.C. YAF members from around the country gathered to reaffirm its commitment to conservative principles and heard such speakers as William F. Buckley, Jr., Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, and G. Gordon Liddy. The following year, YAF National Chairman Jeff Wright met with Vice President Dan Quayle and delivered over 40,000 petitions in support of his renomination as vice president. YAF launched an Anita Hill Truth Squad and YAFers confronted Anita Hill on college campuses across America. YAF pushed the 1992 Republican National Convention to continue strong support for conservative issues. At the 1995 Conservative Political Action Conference, YAF held a "Colloquium on Revolution." Young Americans for Freedom members rallied around speakers such as YAF founding elder Howard Phillips, Congressman Robert Dornan, Joseph Sobran, and other speakers motivating the young crowds to continue YAF's conservative charge to preserve freedom and individual liberty. In 1996, National chairman Jon Pastore led a delegation of YAFers to bring national attention to a group called the
North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). NAMBLA members got quite a surprise at one of their events in Washington DC in 1996 when YAFers held banners warning the effects of 'deviant and un-natural sexual practices.' In 1997, Brian Park, National Director and state Chairman of California YAF, organized support for the rights of American Indians when their tribal sovereignty was being encroached upon by Governor
Pete Wilson. Later in the 1990s, YAF returned to national advocacy politics. The national office organized petition drives and staged a variety of events to promote the conservative viewpoint on a variety of public issues. Some of these events would have an attention-grabbing theme such as "Pardon Oliver North" and "Impeach Janet Reno".
Resurgence, 2000-2010 . This picture appeared on the national YAF organization's website banner. In 2007, the YAF chapter at
Michigan State University organized protests against
legislation enacting
anti-discrimination protection for
transgender individuals. Ten years later, Grant Strobl, YAF's national chairman, said the Michigan State chapter was not chartered and had associated itself with YAF without authorization. Beginning in 2009, Young Americans for Freedom has organized a number of new college chapters to supplement the long-standing units on campuses such as Penn State. On college campuses, YAF chapters have been involved in activities including sponsoring conservative speakers, rallies supporting the armed forces, advocacy of strict control of
illegal immigration, demonstrations against
affirmative action and protesting liberal campus speakers. In 2009, YAF, a coalition of
Tea Party groups, retired police and firefighter association, and Keep America Safe hosted the "9/11 Never Forget" Rally in New York City.
Modern history, 2010-present On March 16, 2011, Young Americans for Freedom passed National Board Resolution #001, unifying the
Young America's Foundation with Young Americans for Freedom on April 1, 2011. Young America's Foundation provides students with speakers, activism programs, conferences and opportunities to learn about Ronald Reagan's accomplishments by visiting his beloved ranch, Rancho del Cielo, in Santa Barbara, California. Young America's Foundation has brought speakers like
Ben Shapiro and
David Horowitz to College Republican groups across the United States, as well as to broader university venues. As of May 16, 2011, Young Americans for Freedom officially became a project of
Young America's Foundation. The existing board members of Young Americans for Freedom, at the time of the unification, became part of a newly formed board of governors. Existing YAF chapters were brought under the auspices of the Foundation. According to the
New York Times, organizations like YAF were largely displaced in campus conservatism by the rise of
Turning Point USA in the 2010s and 2020s. ==Influence==