K. Tucker Andersen of Warren, Connecticut began contributing to The Fund for American Studies in 1993 when now-President Roger Ream first came to TFAS from Citizens for a Sound Economy. After speaking with Ream and becoming familiar with the TFAS mission, Andersen decided to make a contribution. As a successful investor, Andersen says he viewed his support as an investment and that is why he continues to give today.
“It doesn’t matter the ideas or purpose of a company or organization because if you don’t have the right people running it – or, as I say, animating it – it really doesn’t matter,” said Andersen.
Obviously I’m sympathetic to, and a great believer in, educating the next generation of leaders about first principles, and that’s really what I believe TFAS does in a nutshell.”
Andersen began focusing on politics and public policy in his 30s. As a math and psychology major in college, his most recent history and government classes had been in his junior year of high school. “I had my midlife crisis when I was 26. I was in the service, and when I got out of the service, I became an individual investor. When I started investing in companies, I started seeing how many companies were reliant on the government,” said Andersen.
After coming to this realization, Andersen formed a relationship with Ed Crane from The Cato Institute and became active in public policy in Washington. According to Andersen, his new initiatives sparked him to form a coherent philosophy. “All of my learning was self taught,” Andersen explained. “It was actually being in the Washington environment and meeting with politicians and public policy people that got me to think about government and history in a coherent way, and that is why I am so adamant today about changing the atmosphere on college campuses. I believe college graduates should be exposed to a whole spectrum of political views.”
Education is one of Andersen’s passions. He serves on the board at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and is an advocate for teaching college students more about the ideas of western civilization, particularly in the areas of economics and political theory. “The key is getting faculty members who are sympathetic to those ideas and want to interweave them in their class syllabus,” said Andersen. “I’m optimistic that it can be done on college campuses. If I wasn’t optimistic, then I wouldn’t even try. A lot of people tell me I can’t change anything, but I say: ‘How do you know if you don’t try?’”