Lee Edwards, founding chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), mentor and friend to legions of American political figures, and historian of the modern American conservative movement, passed away on Dec. 12 at his home in Arlington, Virginia.
Edwards was 92.
“Dr. Edwards knew that ideas have consequences when they are institutionalized, so he often set his shoulder to the hard task of developing networks and organizations for thoughtful action,” Eric Patterson, president and CEO of VOC, said in a statement.
Edwin Fuelner, the long-time and former president of The Heritage Foundation, described Edwards in a statement issued by the conservative nonprofit he cofounded as his “dear friend” and “a towering figure in the study and promotion of the conservative movement.”
“Throughout his distinguished career, he authored or edited 25 books, deeply influencing both scholars and activists,” Fuelner said of Edwards.
“His work helped shape the modern conservative movement, and his legacy will be defined by his immense contributions, his mentorship, and his unwavering dedication to the principles of freedom and liberty.
“Lee will be deeply missed by all those who had the privilege of knowing and working with him.”
Kevin Roberts, the current Heritage Foundation president, similarly lauded Edwards’s achievements, saying in the same statement that Edwards’s “legacy as a historian and champion of American conservatism has left an enduring mark on our nation,“ adding that he ”was a pioneering voice in the conservative movement, shaping the ideas and principles that continue to guide us today.”
“His lifelong commitment to advancing freedom and defending the principles of limited government will not be forgotten,“ Roberts said. ”Nor will we forget his friendship, mentorship, and collegiality across the entire Heritage family.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this time.”
Edwards was a resident fellow at The Heritage Foundation for many years. During that time, he completed his “The Conservative Revolution: The Movement that Remade America,” which chronicled the rise to prominence in American politics, media, and public policy of Sen. Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley Jr., former President Ronald Reagan, M. Stanton Evans, and many others.
Edwards was born with politics and printer’s ink in his veins. He was the son of Chicago Tribune newspaperman Willard Edwards, who was the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief for many years. Lee Edwards matured during the post-World War II Washington of former President Richard Nixon, Alger Hiss, and “I Like Ike.”
Edwards was also present for the 1956 Budapest uprising that attempted to overthrow the communist regime in Hungary. What he saw in that brutal episode helped fuel his drive to shape a conservative future for the United States defined by limited government, individual freedom, and strong national defense.
That drive included coauthoring the “Sharon Statement,” which prompted the founding of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), the conservative movement’s college organization with thousands of young members in hundreds of chapters across the country in the 1960s and through the 1970s. Edwards was the first editor of YAF’s New Guard magazine. He was campaign press secretary to Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign, and he launched Conservative Digest magazine in 1975.
Edwards’s scope of political activity, advocacy journalism, and conservative scholarship was broad; he graduated from the Sorbonne and held a doctorate in world politics from the Catholic University of America.
He was the founder and director of the Institute for Political Journalism at Georgetown University’s Fund for American Studies. He also held fellowships at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics in the John F. Kennedy School of Government and was a resident fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
In 1993, a rare act of unanimous congressional consent authorized the founding of an organization to remember and honor the more than 100 million victims of communism. Then-President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law, and Edwards, along with diplomat and anti-communist advocate Lev Dobriansky, founded the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in 1994.
A memorial statue remembering victims of communism was erected on Capitol Hill in Washington and dedicated by then-President George W. Bush in 2007; in 2022, the Victims of Communism Museum was opened.
On Dec. 6, a few days before Edwards’s passing, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Crucial Communism Teaching Act with a vote of 327–62.
The legislation mandates VOC will develop a curriculum that will educate a new generation about the dangers of communist and totalitarian ideologies.
It also calls for a historical series called “Portraits in Patriotism,” featuring firsthand stories from survivors of communist regimes.
Edwards and his late wife, Anne, are survived by two children and 11 grandchildren.
