Editing Ayn Rand (section)

== Legacy ==
=== Popular interest ===

[[File:Atlas Shrugged (1957 1st ed) - Ayn Rand.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Dust jacket from ''Atlas Shrugged'' depicting railroad tracks|''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'' has sold more than 10 million copies.{{sfn|Offord|2022|p=12}}]]
With over 37{{nbs}}million copies sold {{as of|2020|lc=y}}, Rand's books continue to be read widely.{{sfn|Offord|2022|p=12}}{{efn|name="sales"}} In 1991, a survey conducted for the [[Library of Congress]] and the [[Book of the Month Club]] asked club members to name the most influential book in their lives. Rand's ''Atlas Shrugged'' was the second most popular choice, after the Bible.{{sfn|Doherty|2007|p=11}} Although Rand's influence has been greatest in the United States, there has been international interest in her work.{{efn|Countries mentioned by sources discussing such interest include Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Israel, Monaco, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.{{sfn|Gladstein|2003|pp=384–386}}{{sfn|Murnane|2018|pp=2–3}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|pp=126, 129, 137–138, 145-157}}}}

Rand's contemporary admirers included fellow novelists, like [[Ira Levin]], [[Kay Nolte Smith]] and [[L. Neil Smith]]. She influenced later writers like [[Erika Holzer]], [[Terry Goodkind]],{{sfn|Riggenbach|2004|pp=91–144}} and comic book artist [[Steve Ditko]].{{sfn|Sciabarra|2004|pp=8–11}} Rand provided a positive view of business and subsequently many business executives and entrepreneurs have admired and promoted her work.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=168–171}} Businessmen such as [[John A. Allison IV|John Allison]] of [[BB&T]] and [[Ed Snider]] of [[Comcast Spectacor]] have funded the promotion of Rand's ideas.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=298}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=412}}

Television shows, movies, songs, and video games have referred to Rand and her works.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2004|pp=4–5}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=282}} Throughout her life she was the subject of many articles in popular magazines,{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=110–111}} as well as book-length critiques by authors such as the psychologist Albert Ellis{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=98}} and Trinity Foundation president John W. Robbins.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=101}} Rand or characters based on her figure prominently in novels by American authors,{{sfn|Sciabarra|2004|p=3}} including Kay Nolte Smith, [[Mary Gaitskill]], [[Matt Ruff]], and [[Tobias Wolff]].{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|pp=15–22}} [[Nick Gillespie]], former editor-in-chief of ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'', remarked: "Rand's is a tortured immortality, one in which she's as likely to be a punch line as a protagonist. Jibes at Rand as cold and inhuman run through the popular culture."{{sfn|Chadwick|Gillespie|2005|loc=at 1:55}} 

Two movies have been made about Rand's life. A 1997 documentary film, ''[[Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life]]'', was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]].{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=128}} ''[[The Passion of Ayn Rand (film)|The Passion of Ayn Rand]]'', a 1999 television adaptation of the [[The Passion of Ayn Rand|book of the same name]], won several awards.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=122}} Rand's image appears on a [[List of people on stamps of the United States#R|1999]] [[Postage stamps and postal history of the United States|U.S. postage stamp]] illustrated by artist [[Nick Gaetano]].{{sfn|Wozniak|2001|p=380}}

Rand's works, most commonly ''Anthem'' or ''The Fountainhead'', are sometimes assigned as secondary school reading.<ref>Salmieri, Gregory. "An Introduction to the Study of Ayn Rand". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=4}}.</ref> Since 2002, the Ayn Rand Institute has provided free copies of Rand's novels to teachers who promise to include the books in their curriculum.{{sfn|Duffy|2012}} The Institute had distributed 4.5{{nbs}}million copies in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2020.<ref name="ARI2020"/> In 2017, Rand was added to the required reading list for the [[GCE Advanced Level (United Kingdom)|A Level]] Politics exam in the United Kingdom.{{sfn|Wang|2017}}

=== Political influence ===
{{Capitalism sidebar}}
{{see also|Objectivism and libertarianism}}

Although she rejected the labels "conservative" and "libertarian",{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=258}}{{sfn|Weiss|2012|p=55}} Rand has had a continuing influence on [[right-wing politics]] and libertarianism.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=4}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=107–108, 124}} Rand is often considered one of the three most important women, along with [[Rose Wilder Lane]] and Isabel Paterson, in the early development of modern [[American libertarianism]].{{sfn|Burns|2015|p=746}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|p=88}} [[David Nolan (libertarian)|David Nolan]], one founder of the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]], said that "without Ayn Rand, the libertarian movement would not exist".{{sfn|Branden|1986|p=414}} In his history of libertarianism, journalist [[Brian Doherty (journalist)|Brian Doherty]] described her as "the most influential libertarian of the twentieth century to the public at large".{{sfn|Doherty|2007|p=11}} Political scientist [[Andrew Koppelman]] called her "the most widely read libertarian".{{sfn|Koppelman|2022|p=17}} Historian Jennifer Burns referred to her as "the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right".{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=4}}

The political figures who cite Rand as an influence are usually conservatives, often members of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]],{{sfn|Doherty|2009|p=54}} despite Rand taking some atypical positions for a conservative, like being [[pro-choice]] and an atheist.{{sfn|Weiss|2012|p=155}} She faced intense opposition from [[William F. Buckley Jr.]] and other contributors to the conservative ''National Review'' magazine, which published numerous criticisms of her writings and ideas.{{sfn|Burns|2004|pp=139, 243}} Nevertheless, a 1987 article in ''The New York Times'' called her the [[Reagan administration]]'s "novelist laureate".{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=279}} Republican [[United States Congress|congressmen]] and conservative pundits have acknowledged her influence on their lives and have recommended her novels.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=xii}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|p=184}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=283}} She has influenced some conservative politicians outside the U.S., such as [[Sajid Javid]] in the [[Conservatism in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], [[Siv Jensen]] in [[Conservatism in Norway|Norway]], and [[Ayelet Shaked]] in [[Conservatism in Israel|Israel]].{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|pp=174–184}}{{sfn|Rudoren|2015}}

[[File:TDTP08.JPG|thumb|alt=Man holding a poster that says "I am John Galt"|A protester's sign at a 2009 [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party]] rally refers to John Galt, the hero of Rand's ''Atlas Shrugged''.]]
The [[2008 financial crisis]] renewed interest in her works, especially ''Atlas Shrugged'', which some saw as foreshadowing the crisis.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=283–284}}{{sfn|Doherty|2009|pp=51–52}} Opinion articles compared real-world events with the novel's plot.{{sfn|Doherty|2009|p=54}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=125}} Signs mentioning Rand and her fictional hero John Galt appeared at [[Tea Party protests]].{{sfn|Duggan|2019|p=xiv}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|p=146}} There was increased criticism of her ideas, especially from the [[political left]]. Critics blamed the [[Great Recession]] on her support of [[Rational egoism#Ayn Rand|selfishness]] and [[free markets]], particularly through her influence on Alan Greenspan.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=283}} 

In 2015, Adam Weiner said that through Greenspan, "Rand had effectively chucked a ticking time bomb into the boiler room of the US economy".{{sfn|Weiner|2020|p=2}} In 2019, Lisa Duggan said that Rand's novels had "incalculable impact" in encouraging the spread of [[neoliberal]] political ideas.{{sfn|Duggan|2019|p=xiii}} In 2021, [[Cass Sunstein]] said Rand's ideas could be seen in the tax and regulatory policies of the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]], which he attributed to the "enduring influence" of Rand's fiction.{{sfn|Sunstein|2021|pp=145–146}}

=== Objectivist movement ===
[[File:Leonard Peikoff (cropped).tiff|thumb|right|upright|alt=Photo of Leonard Peikoff|Rand's heir [[Leonard Peikoff]] co-founded the Ayn Rand Institute.]]
{{main|Objectivist movement}}
After the closure of the Nathaniel Branden Institute, the Objectivist movement continued in other forms. In the 1970s, Peikoff began delivering courses on Objectivism.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=249}} In 1979, [[Peter Schwartz (writer)|Peter Schwartz]] started a newsletter called ''[[The Intellectual Activist]]'', which Rand endorsed.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=402 n5}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=276}} She also endorsed ''[[The Objectivist Forum]]'', a bimonthly magazine founded by Objectivist philosopher [[Harry Binswanger]], which ran from 1980 to 1987.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=79}}

In 1985, Peikoff worked with businessman Ed Snider to establish the [[Ayn Rand Institute]], a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas and works. In 1990, after an ideological disagreement with Peikoff, David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as [[The Atlas Society]].{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=280–281}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=19, 114}} In 2001, historian John P. McCaskey organized the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=117}}