Howard S. Rich
Ed Crane was influenced by Ayn Rand, Rose Wilder Lane, F. A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman, among others, and he brought the word “libertarian” to the mainstream of public policy debate worldwide by founding Cato with Charles Koch and then running it for 35 years. It’s the flagship of the libertarian movement largely due to him.
In 1989, he advocated for congressional term limits. I was opposed, asking: “Why can’t I vote for the person multiple times? Isn’t that a restriction?” I don’t think it took him 10 minutes to change my mind. He was very persuasive.
My late wife Andrea called him “Chief,” and that’s who he’ll always be in my mind.
Howard S. Rich is a member of the Cato Institute’s Board of Directors and Chairman of US Term Limits.
