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Leonard E. Read
Leonard Edward Read (September 26, 1898 - May 14, 1983) was the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), one of the first modern libertarian institutions of its kind in the United St...view moreLeonard Edward Read (September 26, 1898 - May 14, 1983) was the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), one of the first modern libertarian institutions of its kind in the United States. He wrote 29 books and numerous essays, including the well-known “I, Pencil” (1958).
After a stint in the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I, Read started a grocery wholesale business in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which was initially successful but eventually went out of business. He moved to California where he started a new career in the tiny Burlingame Chamber of Commerce near San Francisco. Read gradually moved up the hierarchy of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, finally becoming general manager of the Los Angeles branch, America’s largest, in 1939.
In 1945, Read briefly became the executive vice president of the National Industrial Conference Board (NICB) in New York, before starting his own organization. Together with economist Henry Hazlitt, he founded the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in 1946.
In 1950, Read joined the board of directors for the newly founded periodical The Freeman, a free market magazine that was a forerunner of the conservative National Review, to which Read was also a contributor. In 1954, Read arranged for the struggling magazine to be transferred to a for-profit company owned by FEE. In 1956, FEE assumed direct control of the magazine, turning it into a non-profit outreach tool for the foundation.
Read received an Honorary Doctoral Degree at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in 1976. He continued to work with FEE until his death in 1983, at the age of 84.view less
Books by Leonard E. Read
Elements of Libertarian Leadership: Notes on the Theory, Methods, and Practice of Freedom