Heritage Chief Urges Presidential Medals of Freedom for Feulner, Buchanan

Two coalition letters penned by Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts are calling on President Donald Trump to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Heritage’s late founder, Ed Feulner, and to Pat Buchanan, a longtime titan of the conservative movement and adviser to three Republican presidents.

The medal is the highest civilian honor a president can bestow. Past honorees have included Pope John XXIII, Walt Disney, Margaret Thatcher, Neil Armstrong, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Recent recipients include Pope Francis, Steve Jobs, Simone Biles, and Jane Goodall.

Feulner was the co-founder of the Heritage Foundation and served as its president from 1977 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2018. He served as a Heritage trustee from 1973 to 2025. He was previously awarded the country’s second-highest civilian honor, the Presidential Citizen’s Medal, by President Ronald Reagan in 1989. He passed away last month at the age of 83, so the new honor would be presented posthumously.

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, and nine other House Republicans introduced H.Res.614 in July honoring the conservative leader and asking Trump to award Feulner the medal. 

Roberts’ letter lists the bevy of accomplishments by Feulner, including as president of The Philadelphia Society, chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s board of trustees, and executive director of the Republican Study Committee, among other distinctions. 

“These roles amplified conservative ideas, launched countless careers, and embodied his belief that ‘people are policy.’ His ‘briefcase test’ ensured concise, actionable policy solutions, empowering lawmakers and grassroots movements alike,” the letter explains, adding:

Feulner’s passing marks the loss of a great patriot, yet his legacy endures through the institutions he built and the leaders he inspired, ensuring his influence will burn as long as liberty thrives.

Awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom would honor a lifetime of service, recognizing his profound effect on American policy and the global cause of freedom.

Feulner was also highly respected by America’s East Asian allies, earning honors from the governments of South Korea and Taiwan. He wrote the afterward for Heritage’s Mandate for Leadership titled “Onward!” so named after his famous catchphrase.

“There are always new battles and new opportunities ahead to challenge us to do even more, and we must be ready for them, willing to engage, and use them to work for the betterment of this nation and her people,” Feulner said at the end of the policy manual.

The coalition letter for Buchanan comes after Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., shared a letter last week that he sent to Trump urging him to honor the longtime conservative columnist, talk-show panelist, and presidential adviser with the award. 

Buchanan is a former aide to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and served as White House communications director from 1985 to 1987 under President Ronald Reagan. He also ran for president three times: as a Republican in 1992 and 1996 and as a member of the Reform Party in 2000. 

The coalition letter praises Buchanan, now 86, for leading “the way in proclaiming that America’s strength lay with its working and middle classes.”

“Decades before these ideas became mainstream, he prophetically warned that unfettered globalization, open-border immigration, and endless military engagements were threats to our nation,” it contends.

Buchanan would go on to found The American Conservative in 2002. That magazine counts the president of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute Johnny Burtka, Vice President JD Vance, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., among its contributors. 

The letter praises the magazine for providing “a vital home for sober realism and cultural rootedness.”

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