National Review Institute

History of NRI’s Summits · 1993–2013

Conservatism Fights Back: NRI’s First Generation

On the weekend following the first Clinton inauguration, the New York Times published a full-page story describing in nervous tones the first reaction against Billary: an 800-strong conference of conservative leaders and activists in Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, a few blocks away from the White House, under the auspices of the new National Review Institute. With four plenary sessions and no fewer than sixteen breakout debates – on subjects ranging from gay rights to foreign policy interventionism – every faction in the conservative movement from libertarians through social conservatives to neo-conservatives had its say that weekend. By general agreement, this conference gave new heart and spirit to the conservative movement nation-wide. Over the next four years, NRI took the show on the road. It held the first generation of NRI conferences in Charleston, Chicago, San Diego, Dallas, and in Hollywood itself with such speakers as Jack Kemp, William J. Bennett, William Kristol, Rob Long, and Pat Sajak, and introduced new stars such as Rich Lowry, Larry Kudlow, Ramesh Ponnuru, and the great Mark Steyn. At the 1997 International Conservative Congress in Congress, National Review Institute brought together over 400 conservative activists from as far afield as Australia and Czechoslovakia, and featured stirring speeches by conservative leaders such as Newt Gingrich and Margaret Thatcher. In January 2013, National Review Institute hosted the NRI “Future of Conservatism” Summit – a conference designed to assess the conservative movement’s priorities and discuss the way forward. While liberalism ruled in Washington, NRI kept the flag of resistance flying throughout the heartland and across the seas. The conferences were as follows:

Black-and-white photograph of a packed hotel ballroom audience facing the dais at NRI’s first conference
NRI’s first conference, the Washington Conservative Summit · Washington, DC · January 1993

The Conferences

  1. January 23-24, 1993

    Washington, DC

    Washington Conservative Summit

    Speakers included: Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes, William J. Bennett, and Newt Gingrich

  2. June 26, 1993

    Chicago, IL

    Midwest Conservative Summit

    Speakers included: Russell Kirk, Tommy Thompson, Frank Luntz, and Lamar Alexander

  3. August 28-29, 1993

    San Diego, CA

    San Diego Conservative Summit

    Speakers included: William Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Arianna Huffington, and Jack Kemp

  4. March 5-6, 1994

    Washington, DC

    Challenges to Conservatism

    Speakers included: Newt Gingrich, Charles Krauthammer, Ed Koch, and Richard Brookhiser

  5. June 25-26, 1994

    Charleston, SC

    Will the South Keep Rising?

    Speakers included: Carroll Campbell, Kirk Fordice, Joe Wilson, and Jeff Sandefer

  6. October 8-9, 1994

    Los Angeles, CA

    Hollywood and American Culture

    Speakers included: Pat Sajak, Ben Stein, Rush Limbaugh, and David Horowitz

  7. March 4-5, 1995

    Dallas, TX

    After the First Hundred Days, What Next?

    Speakers included: Rick Perry, William Kristol, Karlyn Bowman, and Richard Brookhiser

  8. April 5, 1995

    Washington, DC

    Immigration

    Speakers included: Bill Rusher, John Fonte, Lamar Smith, and Kate O’Beirne

  9. May 3, 1995

    New York, NY

    Advertising and the Media in an Open Society

    Speakers included: John O’Sullivan, Digby Anderson, Norman Vale, and Karl Zinsmeister

  10. June 3-4, 1995

    Washington, DC

    Has America Realigned?

    Speakers included: Bob Dole, Grover Norquist, Michael Horowitz, and Robert Rector

  11. September 28, 1997

    Washington, DC

    International Conservative Congress

    Speakers included: Margaret Thatcher, Newt Gingrich, and William F. Buckley Jr.

  12. January 26-28, 2007

    Washington, DC

    National Review Institute Conservative Summit

    Speakers included: Jeb Bush, Rudy Giuliani, John Boehner, and Mitt Romney

  13. January 25-27, 2013

    Washington, DC

    The Future of Conservatism

    Speakers included: Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, and Ted Cruz

History of NRI’s Summits

  1. 1991–1997The Margaret Thatcher WeekendsSix conferencesExplore
  2. 1993–2013Conservatism Fights Back: NRI’s First GenerationThirteen conferencesYou are here
  3. 2015–PresentIdeas SummitThe current iterationExplore

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