Tevi Troy, a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute and senior scholar at Yeshiva University’s Straus Center, recently discussed the influence of nonprofits in American politics and philanthropy. Troy, who previously served as deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and as a White House domestic-policy aide under President George W. Bush, spoke about the historical skepticism toward large foundations from both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Troy referenced President Lyndon Johnson’s distrust of the Ford Foundation in the 1960s. When Johnson’s advisor Joe Califano suggested involving McGeorge Bundy, then head of the Ford Foundation, to discuss urban violence issues, Johnson responded with skepticism. “Johnson wrote in the margins of the memo, ‘Ha! Ha!’ So that’s already how they thought about the Ford Foundation back in a Democratic administration in the 1960s,” Troy said.
He also noted that President Richard Nixon shared similar concerns. “Nixon was not a fan of the Ford Foundation either,” Troy explained. “I found this great rant where he went off about how much funding they had given to Ed Muskie, who was his presumed opponent in the 1972 election. Nixon complained about how much Ford Foundation had sponsored [Muskie’s] travel and—look, as we all know, money is fungible—if the Ford Foundation is paying for your travel, then you don’t have to raise money for it or use government funds for it.”
When asked if progressivism has always been part of American philanthropy’s foundation, Troy replied: “This has been an issue of philanthropic drift for a long time, but I’m not willing to go so far as to say progressivism is in philanthropy’s DNA.” He added: “We focus on [George] Soros and what he does to promote criminality in our cities and we focus on all the left-wing things that happen in foundations, but there’s a lot of good things that happen in foundations that have nothing to do with politics,” including work done by hospitals, educational institutions, and support for school choice.
Troy highlighted that conservative think tanks also benefit from philanthropic support. “There are all kinds of great, conservative think tanks that get philanthropic help, including the Reagan Institute where I work, and the Hudson Institute and American Enterprise Institute where I’ve worked previously,” he said.
However, he expressed concern over some foundations’ activities: “That said, at the same time, there are a lot of foundations that are giving money to causes that I don’t agree with, and I think some of them are destructive not only to America but to the idea of capitalism writ large. I think as conservatives we should push back against that. But I really don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater and get rid of the philanthropic system that is really unique to America and something that is an advantage I think America has over other countries.”
On whether reforms limiting political activity by tax-exempt organizations would be excessive regulation or necessary oversight, Troy stated: “I absolutely think that you cannot engage in partisan activities from a foundation if you have” Internal Revenue Code § “501(c)(3) status, which is tax-exempt status. Now, that said, that is already the law.” He continued: “I think we need to be very careful that whatever changes we make to the law will apply to both conservative and liberal foundations. Progressivism is definitely in government’s DNA, and so we’ve got to be careful about who is guarding the henhouse.”
The second part of this conversation will address how conservatives might respond to challenges posed by politicized nonprofits.
