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Frank Straus Meyer (1909–1972) was a libertarian political philosopher and co-founding editor of the National Review magazine.

Frank S. Meyer was born to a prominent business family in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Princeton University for one year but was displeased by the antisemitism and snobbery he found there. He then transferred to Balliol College at Oxford University. He later studied at the London School of Economics.

Meyer was an active communist early in life before his conversion to conservatism and his joining of National Review. As a conservative, Meyer—like many of the magazine's founding senior editors an ex-Communist—was a close adviser to and confidant of founder/editor William F. Buckley, Jr.

In the late 1960s, Meyer engaged in a debate over the role of Abraham Lincoln with conservative Harry V. Jaffa. Meyer argued that Lincoln's abuses of civil liberties and expansion of government power should make him anathema to conservatives, while Jaffa defended Lincoln as a continuation of the Founding Fathers.[1]

Meyer is best known for his theory of "fusionism"—a political philosophy that unites elements of libertarianism and conservatism. (Murray Rothbard argued, however, that Meyer's fusionism was actually the natural law-natural rights branch of libertarian thought that Rothbard and others followed.[2]) Meyer's philosophy was presented in two books, In Defense of Freedom and a collection of his essays, The Conservative Affirmation. It was reviewed affirmatively by journalist Ryan Sager in 2007's The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party, in which Sager called for a principled revival of Meyer's fusionism to save the embattled party following its 2006 electoral defeats.

Known in conservative and libertarian circles for his nocturnal lifestyle—Buckley among others has recalled (in Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography) that Meyer would sleep by day and be on the phone by night on behalf of his journalism and activism.

Meyer married the former Elsie Bown. They had two sons, John and Eugene. The latter is president of the Federalist Society.

Frank Meyer converted to Catholicism before he died of lung cancer in 1972.

Works   more

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Frank Meyer", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 17
Diaper Dude The Ultimate Dad's Guide to Surviving the First Two Years
From Dude to Dad The Diaper Dude Guide to Pregnancy
2014 - From Dude to Dad the Diaper Dude Guide to Pregnancy (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780399166266
ISBN-10: 0399166262
Genre: Parenting & Relationships
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Liebesreste und andere Luegenmaerchen
2008 - Liebesreste Und Andere Luegenmaerchen [German Edition] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9783837200645
ISBN-10: 3837200647
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On the Road with the Ramones
2007 - On the Road with the Ramones (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780825673535
ISBN-10: 0825673534
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
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On The Road With The Ramones
2007 - On the Road with the Ramones [revised edition] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781847721037
ISBN-10: 1847721036
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Humor & Entertainment
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 4

Betrayed by Our Own
2007 - Betrayed By Our Own (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780741440921
ISBN-10: 074144092X
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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America's Choice Tragedy or Triumph
2007 - America's Choice Tragedy or Triumph (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780741440723
ISBN-10: 0741440725
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Gun Rites
2006 - Gun Rites (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780741434944
ISBN-10: 0741434946
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Die Stadte der vier Kulturen Eine Geographie der Zugehorigkeit und Ausgrenzung am Beispiel von Ceuta und Melilla
2005 - Die Stadte Der VIer Kulturen Eine Geographie Der Zugehorigkeit Und Ausgrenzung Am Beispiel Von Ceuta Und Melilla [Spanien/Nordafrika - Erdkundliches Wissen - German Edition] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9783515086028
ISBN-10: 3515086021
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On The Road With The Ramones
2003 - On the Road with the Ramones (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781860745140
ISBN-10: 1860745148
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Humor & Entertainment
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 5

Line of Duty
2001 - Line of Duty (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780759640016
ISBN-10: 0759640017
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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IN DEFENSE OF FREEDOM AND RELATED ESSAYS
Demokratieprinzip und Europisches Strafrecht Zu den Anforderungen des Demokratieprinzips an Strafrechtsetzung im Mehrebenensystem der Europischen Union
Schreiben fur die Fremde Politische und kulturelle Publizistik des deutschsprachigen Exils in Norwegen und Skandinavien 19331940
Trouthe in mittelenglischen Versromanzen des 14 Jahrhunderts Eine semantopragmatische Analyse