Editing American Enterprise Institute (section)

===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>