Brendan Steinhauser
Brendan Steinhauser
The Conservative Revolution
Brendan Steinhauser is the Director of State and Federal Campaigns for the Washington DC based FreedomWorks and the author of two books, Who is the Real Barack Obama and The Conservative Revolution: How to Win the Battle for College Campuses. His revolution began when he was just 17 years old, growing up in a small town in Texas with the help of a famous radio host, a good friend and some classic novels. “A friend of mine and I began to listen to Rush Limbaugh when we were driving to lunch each day in high school. I read his two books, then read The Fountainhead, 1984 and Animal Farm. These books made a lasting impact on my views about the individual and his relationship to the state.”
Brendan carried these ideas along with his family’s values of hard work, self-reliance and personal responsibility to the University of Texas at Austin. Little did he know that his professors on campus would teach and praise the ideas of the Left, ideas that were directly contradictory to the values of hard work, self-reliance and personal responsibility. Brendan didn’t sit back, but instead he challenged these professors with letters to the editor to the liberal campus paper, the Daily Texan.
It was the events of September 11, 2001 that were the turning point for Brendan’s revolution. “My first involvement with YCT was at a rally in support of a military response to al Qaeda in Afghanistan. I was just passing by the West Mall and offered to help hold up a banner for YCT. From that day on I was debating, writing, protesting or thinking about politics on an almost daily basis.”
Brendan’s activities with the UT Austin chapter of YCT garnered national exposure and provided great opportunities for his fellow members and for chapters to come. He’s taken these ideas with him to Washington D.C. where he leads and organize activists throughout the nation.
“YCT really taught me the leadership skills, organizational skills and media tactics that I use today as the Director of Campaigns at FreedomWorks. And I use these same lessons to teach my volunteer chapter leaders around the country how to be effective organizers. I owe almost all of my political experience and knowledge to my involvement in YCT and a few key books I read along the way.”
Brendan’s best advice to his fellow activists is simple: “roll up your sleeves and work for the values and ideas you hold dear and always remember, the good ideas of conservatism have led to the creation of a free, constitutional republic like the United States, but bad ideas have led to the nightmares of communism, fascism and a host of other failed ideologies. Western Civilization is worth defending, but it can only be defended by dedicated advocates that tirelessly do the hard work required.”
Brendan knows that freedom works and he follows the example of founding father Patrick Henry by this quote, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
“Liberty is the legacy handed down to us by the founders, and we have a duty to protect it,” says Brendan.