Biography/History

Irving Kristol is thought by many to be the father of the neoconservative movement. During his student years he was an active Trotskyist. However, he moved to the right, disillusioned with the course traditional liberalism was taking on such issues as its stance on Communism in the 1950s, the 1960s rise of the counterculture and anti-war movements, and the 1970s Democratic Party policies. As a thinker, author, editor and publisher, public speaker, and educator, he made broad intellectual contributions to and influenced social and political thought. He also played a large role in facilitating, encouraging, and promoting conservative thinkers and writers, as well as locating funding sources for his own and others' projects, strengthening neoconservative connections with think tanks and pressure groups.

The author of numerous articles, essays, and books, Kristol was a frequent contributor to numerous major magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, Harper's, Yale Review, Commentary, Encounter, The New York Times, Fortune, Foreign Affairs, Atlantic Monthly, The Public Interest, The New Leader and Partisan Review. He was also a part-time professor at New York University's Graduate School of Business. In addition to his professional activities, Kristol was active in a number of organizations, frequently serving as a board member, or in other capacities.

Chronology

1920	Birth, January 22, New York City
1940	Bachelor of Arts in History, City College of New York; joined Trotskyist group at college
1942	Marriage to Gertrude Himmelfarb, conservative author and professor
1943-1946	U.S. Army service
1946-1947	Freelance correspondent in United Kingdom
1947-1952	Managing editor, Commentary (New York City)
1952	Son William (Bill) born. Bill Kristol is a professor, author, conservative commentator, analyst and strategist, who served in the Reagan and first George Bush administration. He co-founded the Project for the New American Century.
1953-1958	Co-founder and co-editor with Stephen Spender, Encounter (London), an intellectual British-American magazine
1956	Daughter Elizabeth born
1959-1960	Editor, The Reporter (New York City), a liberal, anti-Communist magazine
1961-1969	Executive vice-president and senior editor, Basic Books Inc., a small but prestigious New York publishing house
1962-1966	New York cultural correspondent for the London Observer
1965-2005	Co-founder and co-editor with Daniel Bell of The Public Interest, a quarterly journal dealing with U.S. public policy, including urban and social problems. Originally sponsored by Freedom House, the journal was later under the aegis of National Affairs, Inc.
1969	Publication of Confrontation: The Student Rebellion in America
1969-1975	Appointment as Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban Values, New York University
1972	Publication of On the Democratic Idea in America
1972	Lifetime member, Council on Foreign Relations
1972	Member of Board of Contributors, Wall Street Journal
1972-1975	Member of Board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
1972-1977	Member of National Council on the Humanities of the National Endowment for the Humanities
1973	Nathan Glazer successor to Daniel Bell as co-editor at The Public Interest
1973-1976	Informal consultant and general editor of book resulting from the study of the Commission on Critical Choices for America, convened by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Kristol was an informal consultant to the Commission and Governor Rockefeller, and general editor of the book resulting from the Commission's study
1973-1979	Member of Board of Directors, The University [College] of Buckingham Foundation, Inc., supporting the only university independent of direct government support in the United Kingdom
1974	Association with The American Friends of The Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress, established to support the Israel Center to promote and support reform in Israel's economy. Kristol was an important early member, corresponding extensively with Center director Daniel Doron.
1976	Senior Fellow appointment, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a conservative think-tank, whose highest honor is the Irving Kristol Award
1977-1987	Less active role as editorial advisor and general consultant, Basic Books Inc.
1978	Two Cheers for Capitalism published
1978	Founder, with William Simon, of The Institute for Educational Affairs, making grants to scholars, writers, and journalists
1979	Professor of Social Thought, Graduate School Business Administration, New York University
1981-1984	Member of President's Commission on White House Fellowships
1983	Publication of Reflections of a Neoconservative
1983	New York University Distinguished Professor
1985-2001	Founder and publisher of The National Interest, an international affairs journal
1988	John M. Olin Distinguished Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
2002	Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President George W. Bush. “A brilliant writer of remarkable insight and wit, he profoundly improved public discourse on the ideas he championed. Always original, provocative, and practical, Irving Kristol transformed political debate on every subject he approached, from economics to religion, from social welfare to foreign policy.”
2009	Death, September 18, Falls Church, Virginia