In 1967 at Indiana University, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. started a newsprint tabloid called The Alternative. The magazine was originally launched in response to the campus influence of the Students for a Democratic Society. In 1977, it became The American Spectator, and by 1985, the magazine and its staff moved to Washington, DC.

Published continuously since 1967, sparring toe-to-toe with presidents and a generation of leading political thinkers, The American Spectator continues to provide its unique view of American conservative politics, with a keen sense of irreverence.

“I am the founder of The American Spectator not once but twice, in 1967 during graduate school and in 2000, after my friends, the Clintons and their Justice Department, wreaked their grand jury on AmSpec. Frankly I have immensely enjoyed founding it both times. In 1967 I was a college boy with a pretty girlfriend and a riotous political and intellectual scene to laugh about. In 2000 I was a middle-aged gent with a pretty wife and an equally riotous political and intellectual scene to laugh about. What is astounding is that the scene has changed so little. The source of my laughter has been liberalism and it has not dropped one idiotic cause through all these decades. Its so-called new causes are mostly the old causes in a new pair of baggy pants and fresh grease pain. The clown remains a clown.”
-- R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., Editor in Chief

“It’s said that life is a tragedy for those who feel, a comedy for those who think. The American Spectator has chronicled the tragicomedy of modern liberalism for almost two generations without losing its head, heart, or humor.”
-- George Neumayr, Executive Editor

“Not only is the old American Spectator back. It is back with a vengeance.”
-- Al Regnery, Publisher

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