Cannon, as well as APP’s Policy Director Jeff Bell, drew on their considerable campaign and political consulting experience as they developed the new organization’s strategy. Bell, who worked as an aide for President Nixon and then as a key campaign official during Ronald Reagan’s table-setting 1976 presidential run, and Cannon, who worked on campaigns for Reagan, Jack Kemp, and John McCain, were both interested in the question of how best to build a bridge from academic argument to policy.

Jeff Bell (left) with Thomas Kean and President Gerald Ford

They were also concerned with the modern conservative movement’s lack of intellectual coherence, a problem which often led both to legislative and electoral failures. Joining forces with Prof. George and APP Board Chairman Sean Fieler, they sought to solve this problem by grounding a reorganized conservatism on the principle of human dignity.

APP chairman Sean Fieler speaks at APP Foundation’s Red, White and Blue Gala