In 2017, the New York Times dubbed Young America’s Foundation “the conservative force” and POLITICO called YAF “a key pillar of the conservative movement.” Now, just a few weeks into 2018, the Los Angeles Times hails the Foundation as “one of the most preeminent, influential” forces in our Movement. The Los Angeles Times published these accolades in a profile of President Reagan’s beloved Rancho del Cielo and Young America’s Foundation’s work to preserve the premiere Presidential property as a lasting monument to our 40thPresident’s achievements. “The nonprofit works to keep alive bedrock conservative principles by teaching them to students around the country and boasts 400 chapters at high schools and colleges,” notes the January 17 article. “Rancho del Cielo has allowed the foundation’s reach to transcend generations.” “The Young America’s Foundation, born in the politically turbulent late 1960s, has become one of the most preeminent, influential…forces in the nation’s youth Conservative Movement.” The article describes the Foundation as “a beacon…of empowerment” for young conservatives and a “counterweight to the liberal thought that its supporters say courses through American colleges.” As is apparent to any student who walks in President Reagan’s footsteps at Rancho del Cielo, the LA Times reports that the Reagan Ranch is “a cathedral of conservatism, where the former president’s legacy is preserved and future generations are trained in free-market capitalism, individual liberty, and the faith-based tenets of the American right.” Featuring a recent high school conference at the Reagan Ranch, the newspaper reports, “Students at Young America’s Foundation conferences spent much of their time discussing and learning about Reagan’s traditional conservative principles,” and are “urged to stand up for their beliefs and challenge the liberal point of view of their instructors.” The profile also reinforces what the Ranch meant to Ronald Reagan and its essential role in Presidential and American history: With its 688 acres of oak and manzanita trees and riding trails hidden in the Santa Ynez mountains, Reagan’s ranch was a sanctuary from the pressures of the White House. There the former president cobbled together the ranch’s split-rail fence, bagged snakes slithering across the grounds, split firewood and took long horseback rides. The century-old, 1,200-square-foot adobe ranch house hosted world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev and Queen Elizabeth, as well as the Reagan family’s Thanksgiving dinners. The article also underscores Young America’s Foundation’s important work protecting and preserving Ronald Reagan’s Ranch home—a project now in its 20th year and integral to our mission. “The young conservatives who pass through Rancho del Cielo find it preserved as the Reagans left it.” And—most importantly—they leave inspired to carry forth the ideas and values of the great American President who called the ranch his home.
