The Coalition for a Democratic Majority (CDM) was an American political faction within the Democratic Party. Led by Henry M. Jackson, the CDM favored a strong military and promoted the concept of "peace through strength."[1] Its ideological underpinnings are rooted in neoconservatism, with an emphasis on democracy, anticommunism, and globalism.
The CDM was formed in 1972 following Democratic candidate George McGovern's loss to the incumbent Richard Nixon in the 1972 United States presidential election.[1:1][2] In its founding statement on December 7, 1972,[3] the CDM expressed its opposition to the political left and "to all those legislative and judicial measures—as a prime example, affirmative action—whose intent was to overturn the country’s essential philosophical and political underpinnings."[4]
Name | Position | Notes |
---|---|---|
Ben Wattenberg | Chairman[1:2] | American Enterprise Institute |
Irving Kristol | Co-chairman | American Enterprise Institute, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Council on Foreign Relations |
Peter R. Rosenblatt | President | Council on Foreign Relations, Nixon Center, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, Committee on the Present Danger |
Penn Kemble | Executive Committee Chairman | Freedom House, United States Information Agency |
Maria H. Thomas | Secretary-Treasurer | - |
Midge Decter | Organizing Committee[3:1] | Committee for the Free World, Committee on the Present Danger, American Jewish Committee, Capital Research Center, Center for Security Policy, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institution, Hudson Institute, Jamestown Foundation, Jewish Policy Center, Project for the New American Century (PNAC) |
Robert Keefe | Organizing Committee | - |
Jeane Kirkpatrick | Organizing Committee | American Enterprise Institute, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Project for the New American Century (PNAC), Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, Freedom House, International Republican Institute, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Council on Foreign Relations, Committee on the Present Danger |
Bayard Rustin | Organizing Committee | A. Philip Randolph Institute, Committee on Free Elections in the Dominican Republic, International Rescue Committee, Committee on the Present Danger |
Richard Schifter | Organizing Committee | Committee on the Present Danger, United States Institute of Peace |
Morris J. Amitay | Board member | American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs |
Judy Bardacke | Board member | - |
Philip Baskin | Board member | - |
Walter Beach | Board member | - |
Richard W. Bolling | Board member | Americans for Democratic Action |
Sol Chaikin | Board member | International Ladies Garment Workers Union, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) |
S. Harrison Dogole | Board member | Globe Security Systems |
Evelyn Dubrow | Board member | - |
Angier Biddle Duke | Board member | United States Foreign Service, United States Department of State, International Rescue Committee |
Ervin S. Duggan | Board member | - |
Valerie Earle | Board member | - |
Robin Farkas | Board member | - |
Richard Fellman | Board member | - |
John Frank | Board member | - |
Norman Gelman | Board member | - |
Nathan Glazer | Board member | International Freedom Center, Cultural Change Institute, Social Affairs Unit |
Roy Godson | Board member | National Strategy Information Center, Consortium for the Study of Intelligence, Institute for International Studies, Center for Democracy and Civil Society |
Nathan Golden | Board member | - |
Zmina Goodman | Board member | - |
Judith Hernstadt | Board member | - |
Normal Hill | Board member | A. Philip Randolph Institute |
Samuel P. Huntington | Board member | Trilateral Commission, United States National Security Council, Freedom House, Foreign Policy, Cultural Change Institute |
David Ifshin | Board member | American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee |
Max Kampelman | Board member | Freedom House, United Nations Association, Jerusalem Foundation |
Ginger Lew | Board member | - |
Jerome B. Mack | Board member | - |
Stephen Mann | Board member | - |
Seymour Martin Lipset | Board member | Hoover Institution, American Sociological Association, American Political Science Association, United States Institute of Peace, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Humanities Institute, National Endowment for Democracy, American Jewish Committee, Cultural Change Institute |
Jay Mazur | Board member | Amalgamated Bank of New York, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Campaign for America's Future, Freedom House, Trilateral Commission, National Policy Association |
Philip Merrill | Board member | Center for Security Policy, Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, Council on Foreign Relations |
Bruce Miller | Board member | - |
Joshua Muravchik | Board member | American Enterprise Institute, Project for the New American Century (PNAC), Committee on the Present Danger, Freedom House, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, Washington Institute for Near East Policy |
Michael Novak | Board member | American Enterprise Institute, Board for International Broadcasting, National Endowment for Democracy, Cultural Change Institute |
Clara Penniman | Board member | - |
Richard Pipes | Board member | Benador Associates, Team B Strategic Initiatives Panel, Council on Foreign Relations |
Richardson Pryor | Board member | - |
Lucian Pye | Board member | American Political Science Association, Cultural Change Institute, Foreign Affairs |
Molly Raiser | Board member | - |
John P. Roche | Board member | Americans for Democratic Action, Hudson Institute, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars |
Nina Rosenwald | Board member | Council on Foreign Relations, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, Hudson Institute, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Center for Security Policy, New York Academy of Sciences, Freedom House |
Eugene V. Rostow | Board member | Office of Lend-Lease Administration, Committee on the Present Danger, United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Yale Law School, United States Institute of Peace |
Paul Seabury | Board member | Committee on the Present Danger, League for Industrial Democracy, Consortium for the Study of Intelligence |
Albert Shanker | Board member | Freedom House, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), National Endowment for Democracy, Committee on the Present Danger |
Walter Shorerutin | Board member | - |
Mark A. Siegel | Board member | - |
Steven Simmons | Board member | - |
Walter Slocombe | Board member | Defense Science Board, Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, Atlantic Council |
Allen Weinstein | Board member | Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, International Foundation for Election Systems, Center for Democracy, National Endowment for Democracy, United States Institute of Peace |
Ray Wolfinger | Board member | University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University |
James Woolsey | Board member | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Arlington Institute |
Harriet M. Zimmerman | Board member | United States Institute of Peace, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, National Endowment for the Humanities, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Aspen Institute |
Les Aspin | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | United States Department of Defense |
Charles Bennett | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | - |
Lloyd Bentsen | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | United States Department of the Treasury |
David Boren | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence |
Norm Dicks | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | National Bureau of Asian Research |
James Exon | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | - |
Tom Foley | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Trilateral Commission, Freedom House |
Wyche Fowler | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Middle East Institute, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals |
Howell Heflin | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | - |
Ernest Hollings | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | - |
Skip Humphrey | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau |
Daniel Inouye | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Ford Foundation |
Henry M. Jackson | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine |
Bennett Johnston | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | - |
Dave McCurdy | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | New Democratic Network, Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Electronic Industries Alliance |
Daniel Patrick Moynihan | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Afghanistan Relief Committee (ARC) |
Sam Nunn | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) |
Bill Richardson | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | United States Department of Energy, Freedom House, Natural Resources Defense Council |
Chuck Robb | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board |
James H. Scheuer | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | Commission on Population Growth and the American Future |
Larry Smith | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | - |
Jim Wright | Advisory Board of Elected Officials | United States House of Representatives |
George Backer | Initial Sponsor | - |
Stephen K. Bailey | Initial Sponsor | Office of Strategic Services (OSS) |
Jack Barbash | Initial Sponsor | American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) |
Arnold Beichman | Initial Sponsor | Hoover Institution, Washington Times, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions |
Daniel Bell | Initial Sponsor | Hudson Institute |
Pearl K. Bell | Initial Sponsor | The New Yorker |
Reinhard Bendix | Initial Sponsor | - |
Joseph Bishop | Initial Sponsor | Committee on the Present Danger |
Peter Bommarito | Initial Sponsor | - |
Zbigniew Brzezinski | Initial Sponsor | Trilateral Commission, Jamestown Foundation, Freedom House, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), International Crisis Group |
Walter P. Burke | Initial Sponsor | United Steelworkers of America |
William Connell | Initial Sponsor | - |
Chester Cooper | Initial Sponsor | Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Institute for Defense Analysis, Battelle Memorial Institute |
John E. Cosgrove | Initial Sponsor | - |
C.L. Dennis | Initial Sponsor | - |
William DuChessi | Initial Sponsor | - |
Chester Earle | Initial Sponsor | Georgetown University, Committee on the Present Danger |
James T. Farrell | Initial Sponsor | Committee on the Present Danger, Pacific Research Institute |
David Fellman | Initial Sponsor | - |
John P. Frank | Initial Sponsor | - |
Harold P. Green | Initial Sponsor | - |
Michael J. Halberstam | Initial Sponsor | - |
Patricia Roberts Harris | Initial Sponsor | - |
Velma Hill | Initial Sponsor | American Federation of Teachers, League for Industrial Democracy, Social Democrats USA |
Sanford Kadish | Initial Sponsor | - |
Leon Keyserling | Initial Sponsor | Committee on the Present Danger |
Mary Dublin Keyserling | Initial Sponsor | - |
Irvin Kovens | Initial Sponsor | - |
Paul Kurtz | Initial Sponsor | - |
Martin Malia | Initial Sponsor | - |
Harry McPherson | Initial Sponsor | Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Council on Foreign Relations, Economic Club of Washington, D.C. |
Fred Morgan | Initial Sponsor | - |
Charles S. Murphy | Initial Sponsor | United States Department of Agriculture, Civil Aeronautics Board |
Philleo Nash | Initial Sponsor | - |
Bernard Norwich | Initial Sponsor | - |
James G. O'Hara | Initial Sponsor | United States House of Representatives |
Claire Penniman | Initial Sponsor | - |
Norman Podhoretz | Initial Sponsor | Committee on the Present Danger, American Jewish Committee, Jewish Communal Fund, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) |
Nelson Polsby | Initial Sponsor | - |
Laurence Radway | Initial Sponsor | - |
Bud Raftery | Initial Sponsor | Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators of America, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) |
A. Philip Randolph | Initial Sponsor | A. Philip Randolph Institute |
Austin Ranney | Initial Sponsor | - |
James Roosevelt | Initial Sponsor | United States Congress |
Elizabeth Scull | Initial Sponsor | - |
Walter Shorenstein | Initial Sponsor | Shorenstein Properties, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Gorbachev Foundation |
Carleton Sickles | Initial Sponsor | - |
Philip Siegelman | Initial Sponsor | - |
Richard L. Simpson | Initial Sponsor | - |
Alan Sindler | Initial Sponsor | - |
Arnold Solloway | Initial Sponsor | - |
James V. Stanton | Initial Sponsor | - |
William Stern | Initial Sponsor | - |
Martin Trow | Initial Sponsor | - |
Paul Warren | Initial Sponsor | - |
Robert C. Weaver | Initial Sponsor | United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) |
Eugene L. Wyman | Initial Sponsor | - |
Louis Stulburg | Initial Sponsor | - |
Henry Cisneros | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), National Civic League, National League of Cities, Rockefeller Foundation, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy |
Dante Fascell | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | National Endowment for Democracy, Inter-American Foundation (IAF), American Political Foundation, Center for Democracy |
John T. Joyce | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | Free Trade Union Institute, Freedom House, International Construction Institute, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, National Endowment for Democracy, National Democratic Institute, National Academy of Sciences, Social Democrats USA |
John Kester | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | United States Department of Defense |
Franklin Kramer | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | United States Department of Defense |
Jan Lodal | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | Intelus, United States National Security Council |
Robert Murray | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | Harvard University, Michael Dukakis |
Martin Peretz | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | The New Republic (TNR) |
Robert Scalapino | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley |
John Silber | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | Boston University, National Bipartisan Commission on Central America |
Adam Ulam | Task Force on Foreign Policy and Defense | Harvard University |
Group Watch: Coalition for a Democratic Majority. The Public Eye. Retrieved October 18, 2003, from https://web.archive.org/web/20031018003154/http://www.publiceye.org:80/research/Group_Watch/Entries-26.htm ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Lydon, C. (1974, November 24). McGovern Foes Say They Prevail On Democratic Charter Issues. New York Times. http://archive.today/2024.04.12-002345/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/24/archives/mcgovern-foes-say-they-prevail-on-democratic-charter-issues.html ↩︎
Vaisse, J. (1972, December 7). “Come Home, Democrats.” The original appeal of the Coalition for a Democratic Majority. Neoconservatism: The Biography of a Movement. http://archive.today/2016.03.27-192414/http://neoconservatism.vaisse.net/doku.php?id=come_home_democrats_1972 ↩︎ ↩︎
Decter, M. (2002). Breaking Away. Hoover Digest, 2002(1). https://web.archive.org/web/20090604043109/http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/4484181.html ↩︎