Grover Glenn Norquist was born on October 19,1956 and is an American political activist and tax reduction advocate who is founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, an organization that opposes all tax increases.
33 Facts About Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist is the son of Carol and Warren Elliott Norquist, a vice president of Polaroid Corporation, and is of Swedish ancestry.
Grover Norquist became involved with politics at an early age when he volunteered for the 1968 Nixon campaign, assisting with get out the vote efforts.
At college, Grover Norquist was an editor at the Harvard Crimson and helped to publish the libertarian-leaning Harvard Chronicle.
Grover Norquist was a member of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
Early in his career, Grover Norquist was executive director of both the National Taxpayers Union and the national College Republicans, holding both positions until 1983.
Grover Norquist served as Economist and Chief Speechwriter at the US Chamber of Commerce from 1983 to 1984.
Grover Norquist traveled to several war zones to help support anti-Soviet guerrilla armies in the second half of the 1980s.
Grover Norquist worked with a support network for Oliver North's efforts with the Nicaraguan Contras and other insurgencies, in addition to promoting US support for groups including Mozambique's RENAMO and Jonas Savimbi's UNITA in Angola and helping to organize anti-Soviet forces in Laos.
Grover Norquist represented the France-Albert Rene government of Seychelles as a lobbyist from 1995 until 1999.
Grover Norquist founded Americans for Tax Reform in 1985, which he says was done at the request of then-President Ronald Reagan.
In 1993, Grover Norquist launched his Wednesday Meeting series at ATR headquarters, initially to help fight President Clinton's healthcare plan.
Alan Simpson, have asked Grover Norquist to disclose his contributors; he has declined but has said that ATR is financed by direct mail and other grassroots fundraising efforts.
Grover Norquist was listed as one of the five primary leaders of the post-Goldwater conservative movement by Nina Easton in her 2000 book, Gang of Five.
Grover Norquist served as a campaign staff member on the 1988,1992 and 1996 Republican Platform Committees.
Grover Norquist campaigned for Bush in both 2000 and 2004.
Grover Norquist has long been active in building bridges between various ethnic and religious minorities and the free-market community through his involvement with Acton Institute, Christian Coalition and Toward Tradition.
Grover Norquist has denied that he did anything wrong, and has not been charged with any crime.
Grover Norquist has helped to set up regular meetings for conservatives in many states.
In 2004, Grover Norquist helped California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with his plan to privatize the CalPERS system.
In Virginia's 2005 Republican primaries, Grover Norquist encouraged the defeat of a number of legislators who voted for higher taxes.
Grover Norquist serves on the boards of directors of numerous organizations including the National Rifle Association, the American Conservative Union, the Hispanic Leadership Fund, the Indian-American Republican Caucus, and ParentalRights.
In 2010, Grover Norquist joined the advisory board of GOProud, a political organization representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender conservatives and their allies, for which he was criticized by the Family Research Council.
Grover Norquist sits on a six-person advisory panel that nominates Time's Person of the Year.
In business, Grover Norquist was a co-founder of the Merritt Group, later renamed Janus-Merritt Strategies.
Grover Norquist is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Grover Norquist signed the Madrid Charter, a document drafted by the conservative Spanish political party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of Ibero-America involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".
Grover Norquist has been noted for his widely quoted quip from a 2001 interview with NPR's Morning Edition:.
Grover Norquist published Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives, in 2008.
Grover Norquist has served as a monthly "Politics" columnist and contributing editor to The American Spectator.
Grover Norquist has called for reductions in defense spending as one way to reduce the size of government.
Grover Norquist has endorsed a non-interventionist foreign policy and cuts to the US military budget.
Grover Norquist has competed three times in the comedy fundraiser "Washington's Funniest Celebrity" and placed second in 2009.