What is now called “woke” started with the social engineering obsession of the “democratic managerial state” and the threat it represented to traditional social relations.

Chronicles began as a recognizably Boomer publication. As an early contributor to the magazine, I noticed that its founders, Rockford College President John Howard as publisher and the Polish émigré writer Leopold Tyrmand as editor, held what were establishment conservative views for the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were exceedingly high on Ronald Reagan, whom they regarded as the great champion of our “ way of life” against our pervasive Communist foes. 

Opposing world Communism led by the Kremlin and defending the American free market, which by then combined capitalism and an already existing welfare state, were constant themes in early Chronicles writings and speeches. Although I had problems with the cut-and-dry nature of these positions, as a professor at nearby Rockford College surrounded by conventional academic leftists, I appreciated the willingness of the Rockford Institute and its leaders to recognize the dubious character of what Reagan designated as the “evil empire.”

Back then, the Rockford Institute maintained exemplary relations with the Heritage Institute, Philadelphia Society, and other fixtures of Washington conservatism. Some of our contributors occasionally wrote for National Review, and some held leadership positions in establishment conservative organizations. Despite efforts by the Rockford Institute to identify itself with the American heartland, its links to the East Coast conservative policy community were too obvious to be denied. At least in its early days, the Rockford Institute resembled an outpost of that influential guide to requisite conservative thinking.