Editing American Enterprise Institute (section)

==History==
===Beginnings (1938–1954)===
AEI grew out of the '''American Enterprise Association''' (AEA), which was founded in 1938 by a group of New York businessmen led by [[Lewis H. Brown]].<ref name="AEI History">{{cite web|last=AEI|title=History of AEI|url=http://www.aei.org/history|access-date=July 6, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708195505/http://www.aei.org/history|archive-date=July 8, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> AEI's founders included executives from [[Bristol-Myers]], [[Chemical Bank]], [[Chrysler]], [[Eli Lilly and Company|Eli Lilly]], [[General Mills]], and [[Paine Webber]].<ref name="AEI-Trustees">{{cite web|url=https://www.aei.org/about-old/board-of-trustees/|title=Board of Trustees|publisher=AEI|access-date=April 2, 2020|archive-date=February 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229144128/https://www.aei.org/about-old/board-of-trustees/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1943, AEA's main offices were moved from New York City to Washington, D.C. during a time when [[United States Congress|Congress]]'s portfolio had vastly increased during [[World War II]]. AEA opposed the [[New Deal]], and aimed to propound [[classical liberalism|classical liberal]] arguments for limited government.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} In 1944, AEA convened an Economic Advisory Board to set a high standard for research; this eventually evolved into the Council of Academic Advisers, which over the decades included economists and social scientists, including [[Ronald Coase]], [[Martin Feldstein]], [[Milton Friedman]], [[Roscoe Pound]], and [[James Q. Wilson]].{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

AEA's early work in Washington, D.C. involved commissioning and distributing legislative analyses to Congress, which developed AEA's relationships with [[Melvin Laird]] and [[Gerald Ford]].<ref name="Van Atta">{{cite book|last=Van Atta|first=Dale|title=With Honor: Melvin Laird in War, Peace, and Politics|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=2008|location=Madison, Wisc.|pages=55–56, 509|isbn=978-0-299-22680-0}}</ref> Brown eventually shifted AEA's focus to commissioning studies of government policies. These subjects ranged from [[fiscal policy|fiscal]] to [[monetary policy]] and including [[health care]] and [[energy]] policy, and authors such as [[Earl Butz]], [[John Lintner]], former New Dealer [[Raymond Moley]], and [[Felix Morley]]. Brown died in 1951, and AEA languished as a result. In 1952, a group of young policymakers and public intellectuals including Laird, [[William J. Baroody Sr.]], [[Paul McCracken (economist)|Paul McCracken]], and [[Murray Weidenbaum]], met to discuss resurrecting AEA.<ref name="Van Atta"/> In 1954, Baroody became executive vice president of the association.

===William J. Baroody Sr. (1954–1980)===
Baroody was executive vice president from 1954 to 1962 and president from 1962 to 1978. Baroody raised money for AEA to expand its financial base beyond the business leaders on the board.<ref name="Abelson">{{cite book|last=Abelson|first=Donald E.|title=A Capitol Idea|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2006|location=Montreal|isbn=978-0-7735-3115-4}}</ref> During the 1950s and 1960s, AEA's work became more pointed and focused, including [[monograph]]s by [[Edward Banfield (political scientist)|Edward Banfield]], [[James M. Buchanan]], [[P. T. Bauer]], [[Alfred de Grazia]], [[Rose Friedman]], and [[Gottfried Haberler]].<ref>{{cite journal | title=Essay in Apportionment and Representative Government |journal = Political Science Quarterly|volume = 79|issue = 4|pages = 612–614| last=Grazia | first=Alfred de | date=December 1964 |jstor = 2146715|doi = 10.2307/2146715}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=Review: New Perspectives on the Presidency? |journal = Public Administration Review|volume = 29|issue = 6|pages = 670–679| last=Schlesinger | first=Arthur | date=December 1969 |jstor = 974112|doi = 10.2307/974112}}</ref>

In 1962, AEA changed its name to the '''American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research''' (AEI) to avoid any confusion with a trade association representing business interests attempting to influence politicians.<ref>{{cite book|last=Phillips-Fein|first=Kim|year=2009|title=Invisible Hands|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-393-05930-4 |pages=66}}</ref> In 1964, [[William J. Baroody Sr.]], and several of his top staff at AEI, including [[Karl Hess]], moonlighted as policy advisers and speechwriters for [[Republican Party (United States)|presidential nominee]] [[Barry Goldwater]] in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 presidential election]]. "Even though Baroody and his staff sought to support Goldwater on their own time without using the institution's resources, AEI came under scrutiny of the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] in the years following the campaign," author Andrew Rich wrote in 2004.<ref name="Rich">{{cite book|last=Rich|first=Andrew|title=Think tanks, public policy, and the politics of expertise|url=https://archive.org/details/thinktankspublic00andr|url-access=registration|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|location=Cambridge, UK|page=[https://archive.org/details/thinktankspublic00andr/page/54 54]}}</ref> Representative [[Wright Patman]] subpoenaed the institute's tax papers, and the IRS initiated a two-year investigation of AEI.<ref name="Judis">{{cite book|last=Judis|first=John B.|title=The paradox of American democracy|publisher=Taylor and Francis|year=2001|location=London}}</ref> After this, AEI's officers attempted to avoid the appearance of partisan political advocacy.<ref name="Rich"/>

Baroody recruited a resident research faculty; [[Harvard University]] economist Gottfried Haberler was the first to join in 1972.<ref name="AEI History"/> In 1977, former president Gerald Ford joined AEI as a "distinguished fellow." Ford brought several of his [[Presidency of Gerald Ford|administration officials]] with him, including [[Robert Bork]], [[Arthur Burns]], [[David Gergen]], [[James C. Miller III]], [[Laurence Silberman]], and [[Antonin Scalia]]. Ford also founded the [[AEI World Forum]], which he hosted until 2005. Other staff hired during this time included  [[Walter Berns]] and [[Herbert Stein]]. Baroody's son, [[William J. Baroody Jr.]], a Ford [[White House]] official, also joined AEI, and later became president of AEI, succeeding his father in that role in 1978.<ref name="AEI History"/>

The elder Baroody made an effort to recruit [[neoconservatism|neoconservatives]] who had supported the New Deal and [[Great Society]] but were disaffected by what they perceived as the failure of the welfare state. This also included [[Cold War]] [[war hawks|hawks]] who rejected the peace agenda of [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 Democratic presidential candidate]] [[George McGovern]]. Baroody brought [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]],  [[Irving Kristol]], [[Michael Novak]], and [[Ben Wattenberg]] to AEI.<ref name="Kristol-Neoconservatism">{{cite book|last=Kristol|first=Irving|author-link=Irving Kristol|title=Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea|publisher=Free Press|year=1995|location=New York}}</ref>

While at AEI, Kirkpatrick authored "[[Dictatorships and Double Standards]]", which brought her to the attention of [[Ronald Reagan]], and Kirkpatrick was later named [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations|U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Tim|last=Weiner|title=Jeane Kirkpatrick, Reagan's Forceful Envoy, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/washington/09kirkpatrick.html|work=The New York Times|date=December 9, 2006|access-date=September 13, 2008|archive-date=September 8, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908012629/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/washington/09kirkpatrick.html?_r=1|url-status=live}}</ref> AEI also became a home for [[supply-side economics|supply-side economists]] during the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref name="BWW">{{cite news|last=Wallace-Wells|first=Benjamin|title=In the Tank: The Intellectual Decline of AEI|newspaper=Washington Monthly|date=December 2003|url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0312.wallace-wells.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205221215/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0312.wallace-wells.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 5, 2013|access-date=July 6, 2009}}</ref> By 1980, AEI had grown from a budget of $1 million and a staff of ten to a budget of $8 million and a staff of 125.<ref name="AEI History"/>

===William J. Baroody Jr. (1980–1986)===
Baroody Sr. retired in 1978, and was replaced by his son, William J. Baroody Jr. Baroody Sr. died in 1980, shortly before Reagan took office as U.S. president in January 1981.<ref name="AEI History"/>  According to ''[[Politico]]'', the think tank "rose to prominence" in this period "as the primary intellectual home of [[supply-side economics]] and [[neoconservatism]]."<ref name="c770"/>

During the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]], several AEI staff were hired by the administration. But this, combined with prodigious growth, diffusion of research activities,<ref>See AEI's Annual Reports, 1980–1985.</ref>{{original research inline|date=June 2018}} and managerial problems, proved costly.<ref name="Abelson"/> Some foundations then supporting AEI perceived a drift toward the center politically. Centrists like Ford, Burns, and Stein clashed with rising [[Movement conservatism|movement conservatives]]. In 1986, the [[John M. Olin Foundation]] and the [[Smith Richardson Foundation]] withdrew funding for AEI, pushing it to the brink of bankruptcy. The board of trustees fired Baroody Jr. and, after Paul McCracken then served briefly as interim president.

===Christopher DeMuth (1986–2008)===
[[File:CheneyatAEI.jpg|thumb|Then [[Vice President of the United States|U.S. vice president]] [[Dick Cheney]] speaks at AEI on the [[war on terror]], arguing against a withdrawal from the [[Iraq War]], in November 2005.]]
In December 1986, AEI hired [[Christopher DeMuth]] as its new president,<ref name="Abelson"/> and DeMuth served in the role for 22 years.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Spackman|first=Andy|date=December 22, 2009|title=The American Enterprise Institute (www.aei.org)|journal=Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship|volume=15|issue=1|pages=44–50|doi=10.1080/08963560903017607|s2cid=58839559|issn=0896-3568}}</ref>

In 1990, AEI hired [[Charles Murray (political scientist)|Charles Murray]] (and received his [[Bradley Foundation]] support for ''[[The Bell Curve]]'') after the [[Manhattan Institute]] dropped him.<ref>{{cite news|last=DeParle|first=Jason|title=Daring Research or 'Social Science Pornography'?|newspaper=The New York Times Magazine|date=October 9, 1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/09/magazine/daring-research-or-social-science-pornography-charles-murray.html|access-date=July 6, 2009|archive-date=January 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129125309/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/09/magazine/daring-research-or-social-science-pornography-charles-murray.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Others brought to AEI by DeMuth included [[John R. Bolton|John Bolton]], [[Dinesh D'Souza]], [[Richard Cheney]], [[Lynne Cheney]], [[Michael Barone (pundit)|Michael Barone]], [[James K. Glassman]], [[Newt Gingrich]], [[John R. Lott|John Lott]], and [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]].{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} During DeMuth's tenure, the organization turned further to the political right.<ref name=":05">{{Cite book |last=Lampton |first=David M. |title=Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-5381-8725-8 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=266 |author-link=David M. Lampton}}</ref>

AEI had severe financial problems when DeMuth began his presidency.<ref name=":05" /> During the [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[Bill Clinton]] administrations, AEI's revenues grew from $10 million to $18.9 million.<ref>See AEI Annual Reports, 1988–89 and 2000.</ref> Academic [[David M. Lampton]] writes that DeMuth was responsive to the financial power of "America's hard right".<ref name=":05" />

The institute's publications ''Public Opinion'' and ''The AEI Economist'' were merged into ''[[The American Enterprise]]'', edited by [[Karlyn Bowman]] from 1990 to 1995 and by [[Karl Zinsmeister]] from 1995 to 2006, when Glassman created ''[[The American (magazine)|The American]]''.

AEI was closely tied to the [[George W. Bush administration]].<ref>Arin, Kubilay Yado (2013): Think Tanks, the Brain Trusts of US Foreign Policy. Wiesbaden: VS Springer.</ref><ref name="Abramowitz">{{cite news|first=Michael |last=Abramowitz |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801373.html |title=Conservative Anger Grows Over Bush's Foreign Policy |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=A01 |date=July 19, 2006 |access-date=February 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108112901/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801373.html|archive-date=November 8, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> More than 20 staff members served either in a Bush administration policy post or on one of the government's many panels and commissions, including [[Dick Cheney]], [[John R. Bolton]],<ref name=":0" /> [[Lynne Cheney]], and [[Paul Wolfowitz]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} Bush addressed the institute on three occasions.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} "I admire AEI a lot—I'm sure you know that", Bush said. "After all, I have been consistently borrowing some of your best people."<ref name="Bush 2007">{{cite press release|title=President Bush Discusses Progress in Afghanistan, Global War on Terror|publisher=The White House|date=February 15, 2007|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070215-1.html|access-date=July 6, 2009|archive-date=March 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312112836/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070215-1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Bush Cabinet officials also frequented AEI.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} In 2002, [[Danielle Pletka]] joined AEI to promote the foreign policy department. AEI and several of its staff—including [[Michael Ledeen]] and [[Richard Perle]]—became associated with the start of the [[Iraq War]].<ref name="VF">{{cite news|last=Rose|first=David|title=Neo Culpa|newspaper=Vanity Fair|date=January 2007|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/12/neocons200612|access-date=July 6, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530092345/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/12/neocons200612|archive-date=May 30, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Bush used a February 2003 AEI dinner to advocate for a democratized Iraq, which was intended to inspire the remainder of the Mideast.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/27/usa.iraq2 | title=George Bush's speech to the American Enterprise Institute | date=February 27, 2003 | website=The Guardian | access-date=October 17, 2018 | archive-date=October 11, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011115932/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/27/usa.iraq2 | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2006–07, AEI staff, including [[Frederick W. Kagan]], provided a strategic framework for the [[Iraq War troop surge of 2007|2007 surge]] in Iraq.<ref name="NYT-Surge"/><ref name="Choosing Victory"/> The Bush administration also drew on AEI scholars and their work in other areas, such as [[Leon Kass]]'s appointment as the first chairman of the [[President's Council on Bioethics]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |date=19 March 2002 |title=SCIENTIST AT WORK/Leon R. Kass; Moralist of Science Ponders Its Power |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/19/science/scientist-at-work-leon-r-kass-moralist-of-science-ponders-its-power.html |access-date=24 September 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> and [[Norman J. Ornstein]]'s work heading a campaign finance reform working group that helped draft the [[Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act]] that Bush signed in 2002.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gross |first=Terry |date=7 November 2012 |title=Could A Second Term Mean More Gridlock? |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/164609577 |access-date=24 September 2024 |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref>

===Arthur C. Brooks (2008–2019)===
When DeMuth retired as president at the end of 2008, AEI's staff numbered 185, with 70 scholars and several dozen adjuncts,<ref name="AEI History"/> and revenues of $31.3 million.<ref name="AR"/> [[Arthur C. Brooks]] succeeded him as president at the start of the [[Late-2000s recession]].<ref name="DavidWeigel">{{cite news|last=Weigel|first=David|title=Conservative Think Tank Adjusts to Tough Times|newspaper=Washington Independent|date=March 13, 2009|url=http://washingtonindependent.com/33697/conservative-think-tank-adjusts-to-tough-times|access-date=July 6, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619215450/http://washingtonindependent.com/33697/conservative-think-tank-adjusts-to-tough-times|archive-date=June 19, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a 2009 op-ed in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', Brooks positioned AEI to be much more aggressive in responding to the policies of the [[Barack Obama administration]].<ref name="Culture War">{{cite news|last=Brooks|first=Arthur C.|author-link=Arthur C. Brooks|title=The Real Culture War Is Over Capitalism|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=April 30, 2009|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124104689179070747|access-date=July 6, 2009|archive-date=December 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231032428/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124104689179070747|url-status=live}}</ref> Under his leadership, AEI identified itself with "[[compassionate conservativism]]" and the maximisation of happiness.<ref name="k448">{{cite magazine | last=Rose | first=David | title=Why Was the Dalai Lama Hanging Out with the Right-Wing American Enterprise Institute? | magazine=Vanity Fair | date=26 February 2014 | url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/02/dalai-lama-american-enterprise-institute | access-date=5 September 2024 }}</ref><ref name="j498">{{cite web | last=Young | first=Chris | title=Kochs, American Enterprise Institute, and happiness and well-being research: Center for Public Integrity on the billionaires' research initiative. | website=Slate Magazine | date=25 June 2014 | url=https://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/06/kochs_american_enterprise_institute_and_happiness_and_well_being_research.html | access-date=5 September 2024}}</ref> [[Politico]] said that Brooks "helped elevate [AEI] into a bastion of free-market orthodoxy and center-right policy wonkery during the Obama years", before leaving to become a "happiness expert" and [[self-help]] guru.<ref name="c770">{{cite web | last=Ward | first=Ian | title=Arthur Brooks Is Now a Self-Help Guru Writing Books with Oprah | website=POLITICO | date=15 September 2023 | url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/09/15/arthur-brooks-journey-happiness-guru-00115752 | access-date=5 September 2024}}</ref> In 2018, Brooks announced that he would step down effective July 1, 2019.<ref name=retirement>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Rachel |title=Arthur Brooks To Step Down As President Of AEI |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/05/15/611199663/arthur-brooks-head-of-american-enterprise-institute-to-step-down |access-date=June 21, 2019 |publisher=NPR |date=May 15, 2018 |archive-date=June 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621201348/https://www.npr.org/2018/05/15/611199663/arthur-brooks-head-of-american-enterprise-institute-to-step-down |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Termination of David Frum's residency====
On March 25, 2010, AEI resident fellow [[David Frum]] announced that his position at the organization had been "terminated."<ref name="frumgoodbye">{{cite web|url=http://www.frumforum.com/aei-says-goodbye|title=AEI Says Goodbye|website=Frumforum.com|access-date=June 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162426/http://www.frumforum.com/aei-says-goodbye/|archive-date=June 12, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="vanityfrum">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/03/a-farewell-to-frum.html|title=A Farewell to Frum|magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|access-date=June 10, 2018|archive-date=June 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614135425/http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/03/a-farewell-to-frum.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Following this announcement, media outlets speculated that Frum had been "forced out"<ref name="cbsnewsfrum">{{cite web | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-commentator-david-frum-loses-job-after-criticizing-party/ | title=GOP Commentator David Frum Loses Job After Criticizing Party | last=Montopoli | first=Brian | date=March 25, 2010 | website=CBS News | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513213743/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20001204-503544.html | archive-date=May 13, 2013 | url-status=live | access-date=October 18, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="wapofrum">{{cite web|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/03/aei_hits_david_frum_where_it_h.html|title=PostPartisan - AEI hits David Frum where it hurts|access-date=April 5, 2018|archive-date=March 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314104537/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/03/aei_hits_david_frum_where_it_h.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="timefrum">{{cite magazine|url=https://swampland.time.com/2010/03/25/amid-column-furor-the-american-enterprise-institute-dismisses-david-frum/|title=Amid Column Furor, The American Enterprise Institute Dismisses David Frum|first=Michael|last=Scherer|magazine=Time|date=March 25, 2010|access-date=April 5, 2018|via=swampland.blogs.time.com|archive-date=May 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530084345/http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/03/25/amid-column-furor-the-american-enterprise-institute-dismisses-david-frum/|url-status=live}}</ref> for writing a post to his FrumForum blog called "[[Waterloo (blog post)|Waterloo]]", in which he criticized the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]'s unwillingness to bargain with [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] on the [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]. In the editorial, Frum claimed that his party's failure to reach a deal "led us to abject and irreversible defeat."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.frumforum.com/waterloo | title=Waterloo | last=Frum | first=David | date=March 21, 2010 | website=FrumForum | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325040735/http://www.frumforum.com/waterloo | archive-date=March 25, 2010 | access-date=October 18, 2018 }}</ref>

After his termination, Frum clarified that his article had been "welcomed and celebrated" by AEI President Arthur Brooks, and that he had been asked to leave because "these are hard times." Brooks had offered Frum the opportunity to write for AEI on a nonsalaried basis, but Frum declined.<ref name=cbsnewsfrum/> The following day, journalist [[Michael Allen (journalist)|Mike Allen]] published a conversation with Frum, in which Frum expressed a belief that his termination was the result of pressure from donors. According to Frum, "AEI represents the best of the conservative world{{nbsp}}... But the elite isn't leading anymore{{nbsp}}... I think Arthur [Brooks] took no pleasure in this. I think he was embarrassed."<ref name="politico">{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/playbook/0310/playbook998.html|title=Frum thinks critique of GOP led to boot -- 2 big bipartisan bashes -- Chris Matthews, cornered -- HHS Secretary is vastly more powerful -- Jackie Calmes to White House beat -- Kimberly Dozier to AP|website= Politico |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100329133104/http://www.politico.com/playbook/0310/playbook998.html | last = Allen    |   first = Mike |date =  March 26, 2010 | archive-date = March 29, 2010 | issn = 2381-1595  | oclc = 864712228  |access-date=April 5, 2018}}</ref>

===Robert Doar (2019–present)===
In January 2019, [[Robert Doar]] was selected by AEI's board of trustees to be AEI's 12th president, succeeding Arthur Brooks on July 1, 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/aei-names-robert-doar-as-new-president-as-conservative-movement-tries-to-find-its-way-in-trump-era/2019/01/18/129f54da-1b41-11e9-9ebf-c5fed1b7a081_story.html|title=AEI names Robert Doar new President|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 18, 2019|access-date=February 2, 2020|archive-date=May 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513130519/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/aei-names-robert-doar-as-new-president-as-conservative-movement-tries-to-find-its-way-in-trump-era/2019/01/18/129f54da-1b41-11e9-9ebf-c5fed1b7a081_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2023, Doar led an AEI delegation (including [[Kori Schake]], [[Dan Blumenthal]], Zack Cooper, and [[Nicholas Eberstadt]], among others) to visit Taiwan to meet with President [[Tsai Ing-wen]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=President Tsai meets delegation from American Enterprise Institute |url=https://english.president.gov.tw/News/6626 |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=english.president.gov.tw |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-10-16 |title=US think tank commits to strengthening US-Taiwan defense ties {{!}} Taiwan News {{!}} 2023-10-16 15:56:00 |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5021018 |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=Taiwan News}}</ref>