Forty Years of Hudson

From the beginning, the atmosphere of the Indiana Roof Ballroom signified that a remarkable night of celebration and recognition was at hand on June 7, 2001. The rotunda ceiling bore a multitude of tiny, bright stars, sparkling over the reminiscences of a forty-year intellectual journey. On Hudson Institute’s fortieth anniversary, the organization and its supporters gathered together in downtown Indianapolis to celebrate the past and look toward the future.

Guest speakers Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, Michael Novak, Mona Charen, Pete du Pont, and past Hudson president Leslie Lenkowsky and current president Herbert London cited highlights of Hudson’s forty-year history. The speakers celebrated the contributions of Hudson donors, trustees, and researchers both past and present, recounting the institution’s influence and analyses that have touched critical issues from nuclear proliferation to the changing workforce to welfare reform, over four decades. The mood of the evening reflected the optimistic outlook that was one of Hudson founder Herman Kahn’s gifts to the world. As Irving Kristol, founder and editor of The Public Interest, recalled concerning this remarkable man, “It was Herman Kahn who taught so many others, not just to prognosticate, for anyone can do that, but to prognosticate through an optimistic future vision which was, I think unique to Herman in those days and, to some extent, is still unique to Hudson.” Former Delaware governor Pete du Pont seconded these thoughts, citing Hudson as a kaleidoscope of clear thinking, which came directly from Kahn, whom he described as “the clearest of the clear, a once-in-a-lifetime gift to all of us.”

The evening’s master of ceremonies, Daniel Oliver, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, noted that Kahn believed in the value and importance of all people, not only academics and experts but also janitors and taxi drivers, whose opinions he would often seek as a means of broadening his own thinking. Kahn’s eagerness to draw in people from across the political spectrum still characterizes Hudson today. As author Midge Decter said in recalling her days at Hudson, “The Hudson Institute clearly has long tentacles. I am the living proof of just how long and entangling they are.”

In this spirit, a highlight of the evening was the presentation of the American Dream Award, given annually to a person who embodies the American spirit by inspiring others to achieve their dreams in the face of formidable obstacles or by making significant contributions to the American culture and society. This year’s recipient was Peyton Manning, quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts, honored not for his considerable contributions on the field but for his charitable work through his PeyBack Foundation. Noting that athletes can have a tremendous positive effect on young peoples’ lives, Manning said that simply by, for example, playing football with children in his spare time, he can hope to “inspire them to compete more rigorously in life and to dream bigger dreams.” Colts coach Jim Mora lauded Manning for his accomplishments off the field, saying, “His PeyBack Foundation promotes the future success of disadvantaged youth with programs that provide necessary leadership and growth opportunities.”

Such leadership is becoming increasingly important as public acceptance of traditional values declines. Former Commentary editor and current Hudson senior fellow Norman Podhoretz observed that the steady decline of American universities since the 1960s has suppressed the nation’s “exploration of daring ideas” and reduced the number of “brave thoughts being thought.” Podhoretz said, “It is because of the existence of the Hudson Institute that the life of the mind that once had its main center in the universities has been able to continue with the kind of vitality from which we all benefit, many of us without even realizing that we do.” Yet, even as Hudson Institute and other organizations have stepped in to fill this void, great cultural corrosives have seeped out and spread to all areas of American life. Building on this observation, Michael Novak, director of Social and Political Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, challenged both Hudson and the audience to work at renewing the culture: “The greatest remaining test yet to be overcome by Hudson lies in the cultural dimension of our civilization and its undeniable slide into carelessness, moral slovenliness, and shrug-your-head nonjudgmentalism.”

That is a difficult challenge, but, as Hudson President Herb London noted, Hudson is already initiating proposals and research strategies to renew American culture and restore the nation’s civil society. Former Indianapolis mayor Steven Goldsmith lauded Hudson’s ongoing work in the restoration of communities, families, and neighborhoods. He noted many positive trends taking root across America today, stating, “As we look at Hudson ideas that are now at center place in our country, our state, and our city, it’s remarkable how much the landscape has shifted, how much this strange concept that the less fortunate would be better off if they worked than if they received a welfare check, how this has become a part of our country today, and how much our country has grown as a result.”

Former Hudson president Leslie Lenkowsky echoed those points, noting that Hudson has grown into “a unique kind of think tank, one rooted in the nation’s heartland but casting its shadow throughout the world; one that has not lost sight of the values that made our country great and strives to keep them relevant in a world that prizes novelty and change.” As syndicated columnist and Hudson senior fellow Mona Charen succinctly put it, “Hudson Institute has been on the cutting edge of societal evolution.”

Michael Novak found it highly appropriate that Peyton Manning be honored at such a gathering, because football inspires the classical virtues—courage, precision, teamwork, discipline, the endurance of pain, and the struggle to be perfect and to achieve heroic acts on the field of battle. Novak said that the Hudson Institute values these virtues both in others and itself, and Manning set an ambitious agenda for the future by exhorting the audience to be ambitious in working for positive social change. “Risk more than others think is safe,” he said, “care more than others think is wise, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible.”