American Conservative Union

Basic facts
Location:| Washington, D.C.
Type:| 501(c)(4)
Affiliation:| Conservative
Year founded:| 1964
Website:| Official website
Budget
2013:| $8,050,271
2012:| $10,277,123
2011:| $4,772,554
Connections
•American Conservative Union Foundation
•Carly Fiorina
•Amy Noone Frederick
•Matthew Schlapp
•CPAC

## Contents

* 1 Mission
* 2 Background
* 3 Work
* 3.1 CPAC and CPAC 365
* 3.2 Legislative ratings
* 4 Board members
* 5 Finances
* 6 Related groups
* 6.1 The American Conservative Union Foundation
* 7 Recent news
* 8 See also
* 9 External links
* 10 Footnotes

The American Conservative Union (ACU) is a conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1964, the organization is responsible for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

## Mission[edit]

According to the American Conservative Union's website, the organization has the following purpose:[1]

“  |

ACU has served as an umbrella organization harnessing the collective strength of conservative organizations fighting for Americans who are concerned with liberty, personal responsibility, traditional values, and strong national defense. As America’s premier conservative voice, ACU is the leading entity in providing conservative positions on issues to Congress, the Executive Branch, State Legislatures, the media, political candidates, and the public.[2]

| ”

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## Background[edit]

The ACU was founded shortly after the 1964 presidential election. In the wake of Sen. Barry Goldwater's defeat to Lyndon Johnson, concerned conservatives gathered to assess the future of conservatism. In order to address broader issues that some within the movement felt were being ignored, the gathered conservatives decided to create an organization with broad appeal. Thus, in December 1964, the ACU met for the first time; in attendance were Frank S. Meyer, John Chamberlain, Jameson Campaigne Sr., John Ashbrook, Katharine St. George, William F. Buckley Jr., L. Brent Bozell and Robert E. Bauman.[3]

## Work[edit]

### CPAC and CPAC 365[edit]

See also: Conservative Political Action Conference

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) began in 1974 and was born out of the pre-existing Conservative Awards Dinners. In 1995, it was decided that CPACs would be held in various locations around the country. In 2011, the first regional CPAC was held in Orlando, Florida, 2012's CPAC was in Chicago, Illinois and 2013's was held in St. Louis, Missouri.[4]

The conference is four-days long. It begins with the Activism Boot Camp, a program that brings together conservative organizations involved in activism training and campaign management. The other three days of the conference bring together political leaders of the conservative movement with the people who make up the movement.[5]

### Legislative ratings[edit]

Since 1971, the ACU has published ratings for each session of the U.S. Congress. The organization's Ratings of Congress score members on how conservatively they vote on a wide range of fiscal, social and foreign policy issues.

ACU expanded the coverage of its ratings in 2011 to include five state legislatures. It continues to add ratings each year with a goal of covering all 50 state legislatures by 2016.[6]

## Board members[edit]

Matthew Schlapp, current chairman of the ACU

The Board of Directors of the American Conservative Union included the following individuals, as of June 2015:[7]

* Joseph Bast, President, Heartland Institute
* Bob Beauprez, former Member, U.S. House of Representatives, Colorado District 7
* Morton Blackwell, President, Leadership Institute
* John Bolton, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (retired)
* Jameson G. Campaigne, Jr. (Secretary), Publisher, Jameson Books & Green Hill Publishers; Founder, Young Americans for Freedom
* Alberto Cardenas, Senior Partner, Squire Sanders LLC; former Chairman, ACU
* Ron Christie, former Deputy Assistant to the Vice President and Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
* Muriel Coleman, Owner, Coleman Principle-ly Consulting
* Kellyanne Conway, Founder and President, inc./WomanTrend
* Tom DeLay, former Member and Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, Texas; Founder, First Principles LLC
* Becky Norton Dunlop (Treasurer), Vice President for External Relations, Heritage Foundation
* John Eddy, SourceRock and Marmik Oil Company
* Carly Fiorina, Chairwoman, ACU Foundation
* Luis Fortuno, former Governor of Puerto Rico; Partner, Steptoe & Johnson
* Amy Noone Frederick, President, 60 Plus Association
* Charlie Gerow, CEO, Quantum Communications
* Alan Gottlieb, Chairman, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms; Founder, Second Amendment Coalition
* Van D. Hipp, Jr., Chairman, American Defense International; Treasurer, ACU Foundation
* David Keene, Opinion Editor, The Washington Times; former President, National Rifle Association
* James Lacy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Wewer and Lacy LLP
* Michael Long, Chairman, New York State Conservative Party
* Carolyn Meadows, Board of Directors, National Rifle Association; Chairwoman, Stone Mountain Board of Directors
* Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
* Anne Northup, former Member, U.S. House of Representatives, Louisville, Kentucky; Commissioner, Consumer Product Safety Commission
* Ron Robinson, President, Young America's Foundation
* Ned Ryun, Founder and President, American Majority; Founder and CEO, Voter Gravity
* Matthew Schlapp (Chairman), former Political Director, President George W. Bush reelection campaign
* Fred L. Smith, Jr., Founder and President, Competitive Enterprise Institute
* Mark Stephens (Member-at-Large)
* Lew Uhler, President, National Tax Limitation Committee

## Finances[edit]

The following is a breakdown of the American Conservative Union's revenue and expenses for the 2011-2013 fiscal years:

Annual revenue and expenses for American Conservative Union, 2011-2013

Tax Year  | Total Revenue  | Total Expenses
2013[8] | $8,050,271 | $7,985,208
2012[9] | $10,277,123 | $10,694,076
2011[9] | $4,772,554 | $4,339,397

## Related groups[edit]

### The American Conservative Union Foundation[edit]

See also: American Conservative Union Foundation

The American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF) is the 501(c)(3) branch of the ACU. It is classified as an educational foundation. It was founded in 1973. According to the ACUF website, the foundation's mission is "to reach out and educate, influence and convert those who may not know they are conservatives as well as informing, inspiring and motivating those who know they are conservatives," and to "educate voters, office-holders and opinion leaders as to why conservative principles work better to solve problems, as well as to equip them to become better conservatives and effective problem-solvers."[10]

## Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms American Conservative Union. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

American Conservative Union - Google News

## See also[edit]

* American Conservative Union Foundation
* CPAC
* Carly Fiorina
* Amy Noone Frederick
* Matthew Schlapp
* 501(c)(4)
* Nonprofit organization

## External links[edit]

* American Conservative Union
* ACU Foundation
* CPAC
* GuideStar
* Social media:
* Facebook
* Twitter
* YouTube
* LinkedIn

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ American Conservative Union, "Who We Are," accessed June 10, 2015
2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
3. ↑ ACU, "History," accessed June 10, 2015
4. ↑ ACU, "History," accessed June 10, 2015
5. ↑ CPAC, "About," accessed June 11, 2015
6. ↑ ACU, "ACU Ratings," accessed June 12, 2015
7. ↑ ACU, "Board of Directors," accessed June 12, 2015
8. ↑ GuideStar, "American Conservative Union IRS Form 990 (2013)," accessed June 12, 2015
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 GuideStar, "American Conservative Union IRS Form 990 (2012)," accessed June 12, 2015
10. ↑ ACUF, "Our Mission," accessed June 10, 2015

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