Piereson is one of a small, somewhat tight-knit group of individuals leading established conservative think tanks today. His colleague, Kim Dennis, who was picked by 80-year-old Dan Searle to run his foundation, the Searle Freedom Trust, says, “They talk about the vast right-wing conspiracy, but the truth is, you probably keep seeing the same names over and over again.” Piereson has joined the board of Searle’s trust, where he will help decide which projects are funded. The strategy, as with Olin’s, is to spend a large amount of money over a short period to achieve the greatest impact.

Searle, now retired from public life, ran G.D. Searle & Co., a pharmaceutical company that produced Dramamine and aspartame. He plans to dedicate $300 million to his foundation, earmarked to support think tanks, with the stipulation that it all be spent over the next 20 years.

Left to their Devices
Melvyn Weiss is one of the relatively few prominent liberals who realize that public displays of righteous indignation are no substitute for a steady barrage of well-supported ideas and policy recommendations. Weiss is a founding partner in the law firm of Milberg Weiss, famous for its class-action suits. He recalls a meeting with Don Fowler, then head of the Democratic National Committee, during the early days of the Clinton administration. They discussed ways to counter the strength of the right-wing think tanks. Weiss says that Fowler pointed out that it takes tens of millions of dollars and as much as 15 to 20 years to really make a significant impact with new ideas. 


“Wealthy liberals tend to be, most of them, newly wealthy, and they’re used to having more spontaneous results—a quicker reaction to whatever they do,” Weiss says. “So it’s a process to train ourselves for the longer term.” Much of the capital behind liberal think tanks does appear to flow from the technology and entertainment industries and other sources of new wealth.

In the past few years, Weiss has become an energetic backer of the New York-based Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. Founded in 1961 by Harry Wachtel, a lawyer and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr., Drum Major was left moribund after King’s death. Wachtel’s son William, also a lawyer, decided to revive the organization in 1999, reshaping it as a progressive think tank that strives to remain nonpartisan.