Heritage Foundation Giant Who Revolutionized Conservative Politics Dies at 83

Paul Riverbank, 7/20/2025Heritage Foundation founder Ed Feulner dies at 83, leaving legacy of conservative policy innovation.

Walking through Heritage's impressive headquarters today, it's hard to imagine its humble beginnings in a rented townhouse. But that's where Feulner started his revolution in conservative thinking. He had this uncanny knack - he could take dense policy papers and distill them into what staffers called "the Feulner brief." Two pages, no more. These weren't just summaries; they were action plans that busy Congressional offices could actually use.

"People are policy," Ed would often tell me during our conversations. It became his mantra, and you can see its impact everywhere in conservative circles. When Reagan took office in '81, Heritage's policy recommendations weren't just sitting on shelves - they were being implemented by strategically placed conservatives throughout the administration.

I remember watching Ed work a room at a Philadelphia Society meeting back in the '90s. He had this way of bringing different conservative factions together - libertarians, social conservatives, foreign policy hawks. "Addition, not subtraction," he'd say with that characteristic grin. The movement grew stronger because he understood that ideological purity matters less than practical progress.

The Heritage Foundation's influence under Feulner's leadership showed up in unexpected places. Take welfare reform in '96 - Heritage's fingerprints were all over that legislation, though you'd never see it in the headlines. Even after stepping down as president, Ed kept working. Just last year, he was helping shape Project 2025, proving that his strategic thinking remained sharp until the end.

His wife Lina once told me that Ed never really considered retirement. "In Washington," he'd say, "there are no permanent victories." That perspective kept him going, kept him building. Today's Heritage Foundation, with its commanding presence just blocks from the Senate, stands as testament to his vision.

Looking back, what made Feulner exceptional wasn't just his intellectual capacity or political savvy - though he had both in spades. It was his ability to see around corners, to understand that conservative ideas needed both rigorous thinking and practical application to succeed in the rough-and-tumble world of Washington politics.

Ed's gone now, but the machinery he built keeps running. Every time I see a young conservative staffer hurrying through the Capitol with a policy brief in hand, I think of Ed and those early days when he was revolutionizing how we think about turning ideas into action.

The passing of Ed Feulner at 83 marks more than just the loss of a conservative leader - it represents the closing chapter of an era that fundamentally reshaped American politics. I first met Ed in the mid-1980s, when Heritage was already transforming how Washington thought about policy. What struck me then, as now, was his remarkable ability to bridge the gap between academic theory and practical politics.Walking through Heritage's impressive headquarters today, it's hard to imagine its humble beginnings in a rented townhouse. But that's where Feulner started his revolution in conservative thinking. He had this uncanny knack - he could take dense policy papers and distill them into what staffers called "the Feulner brief." Two pages, no more. These weren't just summaries; they were action plans that busy Congressional offices could actually use."People are policy," Ed would often tell me during our conversations. It became his mantra, and you can see its impact everywhere in conservative circles. When Reagan took office in '81, Heritage's policy recommendations weren't just sitting on shelves - they were being implemented by strategically placed conservatives throughout the administration.I remember watching Ed work a room at a Philadelphia Society meeting back in the '90s. He had this way of bringing different conservative factions together - libertarians, social conservatives, foreign policy hawks. "Addition, not subtraction," he'd say with that characteristic grin. The movement grew stronger because he understood that ideological purity matters less than practical progress.The Heritage Foundation's influence under Feulner's leadership showed up in unexpected places. Take welfare reform in '96 - Heritage's fingerprints were all over that legislation, though you'd never see it in the headlines. Even after stepping down as president, Ed kept working. Just last year, he was helping shape Project 2025, proving that his strategic thinking remained sharp until the end.His wife Lina once told me that Ed never really considered retirement. "In Washington," he'd say, "there are no permanent victories." That perspective kept him going, kept him building. Today's Heritage Foundation, with its commanding presence just blocks from the Senate, stands as testament to his vision.Looking back, what made Feulner exceptional wasn't just his intellectual capacity or political savvy - though he had both in spades. It was his ability to see around corners, to understand that conservative ideas needed both rigorous thinking and practical application to succeed in the rough-and-tumble world of Washington politics.Ed's gone now, but the machinery he built keeps running. Every time I see a young conservative staffer hurrying through the Capitol with a policy brief in hand, I think of Ed and those early days when he was revolutionizing how we think about turning ideas into action.