Edward H. Crane

On the exclusive list of persons who have had the greatest impact on the pro-liberty movement, Ed Crane’s name is preeminent. 

Cato is the flagship of the libertarian movement largely due to Ed Crane.

I cannot even imagine the libertarian movement in the United States without Ed Crane.

From Chile, I salute this great American and dear friend. In the words of Yeats: “Think where man’s glory most begins and ends. And say my glory was I had such friends.”

Ed was a man of great energy, confidence, and intellect. His passion was to defend liberty so that people could thrive in the pursuit of happiness.

Ed was an effective leader of both Cato and the wider movement he created because he cared so deeply about freedom. 

The Cato Institute was Ed Crane’s gift to America at a time when many were losing sight of the principles on which our nation was conceived.

It was the privilege of my life to be able to work with Ed, on and off as a colleague and always as a comrade, for so many years.

Ed Crane’s famed wit and charm could never disguise the vital historic significance of the grand legacy he built for us and our grandchildren: the Cato Institute.

Ed pulled me, like many other libertarian scholars and activists, into a movement I was barely cognizant of.

The Cato Institute showed us it was possible to turn libertarianism from ragtag activism into a serious, well-funded institution with intellectual credibility. We all wanted a mini-Cato back home.

I am deeply saddened by the loss of a wonderful human being, a loyal and loving friend, and an incomparable champion of liberty, the great Ed Crane.

Few individuals have done as much over the past century to build, shape, and sustain the institutions that give classical liberal and libertarian ideas a durable presence in American public life. 

Ed of course played the central role in bringing libertarianism into the mainstream of American political life. But he also created an esprit de corps that lives on in Cato scholars and donors alike.

Ed’s vision of creating a think tank that would compete with others in the battle of ideas has been realized, perhaps more successfully than even he had envisioned.

The freedom that Ed created for Cato scholars to do the right thing inspires us to this day.