Alan Keyes | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Keyes in 2015 | |
| 16thAssistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs | |
| In office November 13, 1985 – November 17, 1987 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Gregory J. Newell |
| Succeeded by | Richard S. Williamson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alan Lee Keyes (1950-08-07)August 7, 1950 (age 75) New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (before 2008, 2012–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Constitution (2008) America's Independent Party (2008–2012)[1] |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingMaya |
| Education | Cornell University Harvard University (BA,MA,PhD) |
| Website | Official website |
Alan Lee Keyes (born August 7, 1950) is an American politician, political scientist, andperennial candidate who served as theAssistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987. A member of theRepublican Party, Keyes sought the nomination forPresident of the United States in1996,2000, and2008.
A doctoral graduate ofHarvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in theU.S. Foreign Service in 1979 at the United States consulate inMumbai, India, and later in the American embassy inZimbabwe. Keyes was appointed Ambassador to theEconomic and Social Council of the United Nations by PresidentRonald Reagan and later as President Reagan's Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, a position he held from November 13, 1985, until November 17, 1987; in his capacities as a U.N ambassador, Keyes was involved in the implementation of theMexico City Policy.
Aside from his presidential runs, he was the Republican nominee for theU.S. Senate in Maryland againstPaul Sarbanes in1988 andBarbara Mikulski in1992, as well as inIllinois againstBarack Obama in2004. Keyes lost all three elections by wide margins.
Keyes hosted a radio call-in show,The Alan Keyes Show: America's Wake-Up Call, from 1994 until 1998 onWCBM. The show was briefly simulcast byNational Empowerment Television.[2] In 2002, he briefly hosted a television commentary show on theMSNBC cable network,Alan Keyes Is Making Sense. He is a long time columnist forWorld Net Daily.[3]
Born at the St. Albans Naval Hospital (now aVA Community Living Center) inSt. Albans, Queens,[4] Keyes is the fifth child of mother Gerthina (Quick) and father Allison L. Keyes, aU.S. Armysergeant and a teacher.[5] Due to his father's tours of duty, the Keyes family traveled frequently. Keyes lived inGeorgia,Maryland,New Jersey, New York,Texas,Virginia and overseas in Italy.[6]
After high school, Keyes attendedCornell University, where he was a member of theCornell University Glee Club andThe Hangovers. He studied political philosophy with American philosopher and essayistAllan Bloom and has said that Bloom was the professor who influenced him most in his undergraduate studies.[4] Keyes has stated that he received death threats for opposing Vietnam war protesters who seized a campus building.[7] Keyes has stated that a passage of Bloom's book,The Closing of the American Mind, refers to this incident,[8] speaking of an African-American student "whose life had been threatened by a black faculty member when the student refused to participate in a demonstration" at Cornell.[9] Shortly after this incident occurred, Keyes left Cornell and spent a year in Paris under a Cornell study-abroad program connected with Bloom.[10]
Keyes continued his studies atHarvard University, where he resided inWinthrop House. Keyes completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 1972, graduating magna cum laude. During his first year of graduate school, Keyes's roommate wasWilliam Kristol. In 1988, Kristol ran Keyes's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign in Maryland.[11] Keyes earned his Ph.D. in government from Harvard in 1979, having written a dissertation onAlexander Hamilton and constitutional theory underHarvey C. Mansfield.[12] Due to student deferments and a high draft number, Keyes was not drafted to serve in theVietnam War. Keyes and his family were staunch supporters of the war, in which his father served two tours of duty.[5] Keyes was criticized by opponents of the war in Vietnam, but he says he was supporting his father and his brothers, who were also fighting in the war.[13]
A year before completing his doctoral studies, Keyes joined theUnited States Department of State as a protégé ofJeane Kirkpatrick.[14] In 1979, he was assigned to the consulate inMumbai, India.[15] The following year, Keyes was sent to serve at the embassy inZimbabwe.[15]
In 1983, PresidentRonald Reagan appointed Keyes as Ambassador to theUnited Nations Economic and Social Council. In 1985, he was appointedAssistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, a position he held until 1987. His stay at the UN provoked some controversy, leadingNewsday to say "he has propounded the more unpopular aspects of US policy with all the diplomatic subtlety of the cannon burst inTchaikovsky's 1812 Overture."[16] He also served on the staff of theNational Security Council.[17]
At a fundraiser for Keyes's senate campaign, President Reagan spoke of Keyes's time as an ambassador, saying that he "did such an extraordinary job ... defending our country against the forces of anti-Americanism." Reagan continued, "I've never known a more stout-hearted defender of a strong America than Alan Keyes."[18] In 1987 Keyes was appointed a resident scholar for theAmerican Enterprise Institute. His principal research forAEI was diplomacy, international relations, and self-government.[19]
Following government service, Ambassador Keyes was President ofCitizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) from 1989 to 1991, and founded CAGW's National Taxpayers' Action Day. In 1991, he served as Interim President ofAlabama A&M University, inHuntsville, Alabama.[20]
Among the U.S. delegation to the 1984World Population Conference in Mexico City, Keyes was selected by Reagan as deputy chairman. In that capacity, Keyes negotiated the language of theMexico City Policy to withhold federal funds from international organizations that support abortion.[21][22] Additionally, Keyes fought against an Arab-backed UN resolution calling for investigation of Israeli settlements. The measure passed, 83–2, with 15 abstentions and only Israel and the U.S. voting against it.[23] Reagan again appointed Keyes to represent the U.S. at the 1985 Women's Conference inNairobi.[22]
During his time at theUnited States Department of State, Keyes defended the Reagan policy of not imposing economic sanctions on South Africa as punishment forapartheid, claiming that comprehensiveU.N. sanctions could result in the loss of 2 million jobs for Black South Africans.[24]
In 1988, Keyes was drafted by the Maryland Republican Party to run for theUnited States Senate, and received 38 percent of the vote against victorious incumbentDemocratPaul Sarbanes.[25]
Four years later, he ran again for the Senate from Maryland, coming in first in a field of 13 candidates in the Republican primary. Against DemocratBarbara Mikulski, he received 29 percent in the general election.[26]
During the 1992 election, Keyes attracted controversy when he took an $8,463 (~$16,937 in 2024)/month salary from his campaign fund.[27]
Keyes sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1996.[28] In public debates, he asked other candidates about abortion. Many Republican leaders saw this as unnecessary and divisive.[29] Keyes was particularly critical of Clinton during his campaign, saying, "This guy lies, but he lies with passion." He questioned whether a Republican candidate who is truthful, yet cold and heartless, had a chance to win against the incumbent.[30] Keyes was especially critical ofPat Buchanan, once saying during an interview on theTalk from the Heart program withAl Kresta that Buchanan had a "black heart."[full citation needed]
Keyes's entry into the Republican race after Buchanan had secured victories in New Hampshire and Louisiana led many to believe that Keyes was astalking horse forneoconservative elements in the Republican Party, since Buchanan was well known as ardent foe of abortion and had suffered political fallout for bringing abortion and "cultural war" to the center of public policy debates. Later during the primaries, Keyes was briefly detained by Atlanta police when he tried to force his way into a debate to which he had been invited, and then uninvited. He was never formally arrested and was eventually picked up 20 minutes later by Atlanta's mayor at the time,Bill Campbell.[31][32]
Keyes again campaigned for the Republican nomination in the2000 primaries on ananti-abortion,family values, tax reform plank.[33] In Iowa, he finished 3rd, drawing 14 percent[34] in a crowded field. He stayed in the race after the early rounds and debated the two remaining candidates,John McCain andGeorge W. Bush, in a number of nationally televised debates. He finished second in 8 primaries. His best showing in the presidential primaries was inUtah, where he received 20 percent of the vote.[35] He was also noted for jumping into amosh pit during aRage Against the Machine song during theIowa caucus as part of a segment onMichael Moore's TV seriesThe Awful Truth.[36]
On August 8, 2004—with 86 days to go before the general election—the Illinois Republican Party drafted Alan Keyes to run against Democraticstate senatorBarack Obama for the U.S. Senate, after the Republican nominee,Jack Ryan, withdrew due to asex scandal, and other potential draftees (most notably former Illinois governorJim Edgar and formerChicago Bears coachMike Ditka) declined to run.The Washington Post'' called Keyes a "carpetbagger"[37] since he "had never lived in Illinois."[38][39] When asked to answer charges of carpetbagging in the context of his earlier criticism ofHillary Clinton, he called her campaign "pure and planned selfish ambition", but stated that in his case he felt a moral obligation to run after being asked to by the Illinois Republican Party. "You are doing what you believe to be required by your respect for God's will, and I think that that's what I'm doing in Illinois".[40]
Keyes, who opposes abortion in all cases "except as an inadvertent result of efforts to save the mother's life",[41] said in a September 7, 2004 news conference that Jesus Christ would not vote for Obama[42][43] because of votes that Obama—then a member of theIllinois Senate Judiciary committee and a lecturer inconstitutional law at theUniversity of Chicago Law School—cast in 2001 against a package of three anti-abortion bills that Obama argued were too broad and unconstitutional. The legislation, which provided "that a live child born as a result of an abortion shall be fully recognized as a human person,"[44] passed the Republican-controlled Illinois Senate, but failed to pass out of the Democratic-controlledIllinois House Judiciary committee.[45][46][47] After the election, Keyes declined to congratulate Obama, explaining that his refusal to congratulate Obama was "not anything personal", but was meant to make a statement against "extend[ing] false congratulations to the triumph of what we have declared to be across the line" of reasonable propriety. He said that Obama's position on moral issues regarding life and the family had crossed that line. "I'm supposed to make a call that represents the congratulations toward the triumph of that which I believe ultimately stands for ... a culture evil enough to destroy the very soul and heart of my country? I cannot do this. And I will not make a false gesture," Keyes said.[48]
Keyes was also criticized for his views on homosexuality. In an interview withMichelangelo Signorile, a gay radio host, Keyes defined homosexuality as centering in the pursuit of pleasure, literally "selfishhedonism". When Signorile asked ifMary Cheney, Vice PresidentDick Cheney's lesbian daughter, fit the description and was therefore a "selfish hedonist", Keyes replied, "Of course she is. That goes by definition."[49] Media sources picked up on the exchange, reporting that Keyes had "trashed", "attacked," and "lashed out at" Mary Cheney, and had called her a "sinner"—provoking condemnation of Keyes byLGBT Republicans and several GOP leaders.[50][51] Keyes noted that it was an interviewer, not he, who brought up Mary Cheney's name in the above incident, and he told reporters, "You have tried to personalize the discussion of an issue that I did not personalize. The people asking me the question did so, and if that's inappropriate, blame the media. Do not blame me."[52][53][54]
During the campaign, Keyes outlined an alternative toreparations for slavery. His specific suggestion was that, for a period of one or two generations, African-Americans who were descended from slaves would be exempt from thefederal income tax (though not from theFICA tax that supportsSocial Security).[55] Keyes said the experiment "would become a demonstration project for what I believe needs to be done for the whole country, which is to get rid of the income tax."[56] He also called for the repeal of the17th Amendment in order to require that U.S. senators be appointed by state legislatures, rather than being directly elected.[57]
Keyes finished with 27% of the vote[58] and won a small number of southern Illinois counties.[59]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Barack Obama | 3,597,456 | 70.0 | +22.6 | |
| Republican | Alan Keyes | 1,390,690 | 27.0 | −23.3 | |
| Independent | Al Franzen | 81,164 | 1.6 | ||
| Libertarian | Jerry Kohn | 69,253 | 1.3 | ||
| Write-ins | 2,957 | 0.1 | |||
| Majority | 2,206,766 | 43.0 | +40.1 | ||
| Turnout | 5,350,493 | 71.3 | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | Swing | ||||
On June 5, 2007, We Need Alan Keyes for President was formed as apolitical action committee to encourage Keyes to enter the 2008 presidential election.[60] On September 14, 2007, Keyes officially announced his candidacy in an interview with radio show hostJanet Parshall.[61] On September 17, 2007, Keyes participated in theValues Voter Debatestreamed live onSky Angel, the Values Voter website, and radio. In astraw poll of the attending audience, Keyes placed third among the invited candidates, afterMike Huckabee andRon Paul.[62] Keyes was excluded from the RepublicanCNN/YouTube debate on November 28, 2007. Keyes's campaign called the exclusion "arbitrary, unfair, and presumptuous," arguing that CNN was playing the role of "gatekeeper" for the presidential election.[63]
On December 12, 2007, Keyes participated in theDes Moines Register's Republican presidential debate, televised nationwide byPBS and thecable news networks. This was the first major presidential debate in which Keyes participated during the 2008 election season and the last Republican debate before the Iowa Caucuses.[64][65] Although Keyes was not listed on the latest national CNN poll leading up to the debate,[66] he registered with at least 1 percent of the Iowa vote in order to participate.[67] During the debate, after the moderator began to ask a question of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, Keyes insisted he was not getting fair treatment. He interrupted the debate moderator at one point, saying that she had not called on him in several rounds and that he had to make an issue of it.[68] He went on the offensive against his opponents during the debate, criticizingRudy Giuliani'spro-abortion rights position, as well asMitt Romney's recent change in position on the same subject. In answering a question aboutglobal warming, he continued his criticisms of other candidates, saying, "I'm in favor of reducing global warming, because I think the most important emission we need to control is the hot air emission of politicians who pretend one thing and don't deliver".[65] He also advocated ending the income tax, establishingstate-sanctioned prayer in public schools, and abolishing abortion.[68] Toward the end of the debate, Keyes stated he could not support Giuliani if he were to win the nomination due to the former New York mayor's position on abortion.[69]
In theIowa caucuses, Keyes did not appear on any of the election totals.[70] Keyes stated that many of the caucus locations he visited did not list him as a choice. His campaign CEO, Stephen Stone blamed much of this on the media and on Keyes's decision to enter the race late. Stone explained that the media would not acknowledge Keyes's candidacy, making it difficult to run an effective campaign.[70]
Keyes supports anamendment to the Constitution barring same-sex marriage.[71] He stated he would not have gone towar in Iraq,[72] but also said that the war was justified[73] and defended PresidentGeorge W. Bush's decision in one of his 2004 debates.[74] Keyes has stated that troops should stay inIraq,[75] but also said that he would have turned over operations to the United Nations.[76] However, Keyes has also stated that even while he was an ambassador there he was not a supporter of the United Nations.[77]
After the early states, Keyes exclusively campaigned inTexas,[78] where he finished with 0.60 percent of all votes cast.[79]
Following Texas, the Keyes campaign moved to seeking theConstitution Party presidential nomination,[80] but he continued to appear on several Republican ballots. On May 6, Keyes scored his best showing of the campaign by winning 2.7% for fourth place in North Carolina, earning him two delegates to the Republican National Convention.[81]
Keyes first stated that he was considering leaving the Republican Party during a January 2008 appearance onThe Weekly Filibuster radio show.[82] He did not withdraw his candidacy afterJohn McCain won the necessary 1,191delegates to theRepublican National Convention, even though he was no longer campaigning for the Republican nomination.[78] On March 27, 2008, Keyes's campaign website began displaying the Constitution Party's logo, along with a parody of the trademarked GOP logo in the form of a dead elephant.[83] This appeared to be an indication of Keyes's intentions to quit the Republican party and to begin officially seeking the Constitution Party's presidential nomination.
On April 15, Keyes confirmed his split from the Republican Party and his intention to explore the candidacy of the Constitution Party.[84][85] He lost his bid for the party's nomination, however, coming in second to 2004 CP vice presidential candidateChuck Baldwin at the party's national convention inKansas City, Missouri, on April 26, 2008.[86] During the convention, the party's founder,Howard Phillips, gave a controversial speech in which he referred to Keyes as "theNeocon candidate" who "lingered in the Republican Party until a week ago."[87] Following the defeat, Keyes held an interview with Mike Ferguson[88] in which he compared his defeat to an abortion.[89] Later, Keyes told a group of his supporters that he was "prayerfully considering" making a continued bid for the presidency as anindependent candidate,[90] and asserted his refusal to endorse Baldwin's candidacy.[91]
Keyes later split from the Constitution Party; he and his supporters then formed America's Independent Party, a faction of theAmerican Independent Party for his presidential candidacy.[92][93] America's Independent Party gained the affiliation of a faction of California's American Independent Party. However, the AIP ticket, which had Brian Rohrbough, father of a victim of theColumbine High School massacre, ofColorado as its vice presidential candidate, was only on the general election ballot in California, Colorado, and Florida.[94]
In the general election held on November 4, 2008, Keyes received 47,694 votes nationally to finish seventh. About 86% (40,673) of the votes he received were cast in California.[94]
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Keyes has worked as a media commentator and talk show personality. In 1994, he began hosting asyndicatedradio show calledThe Alan Keyes Show: America's Wake-Up Call forRadio America fromArlington, Virginia. The show became simulcast on cable'sNational Empowerment Television in 1997.[95] Keyes also helped launch various web-based organizations—notably Renew America and The Declaration Foundation.[96][97]
Keyes has served on the board of advisors for theCatholic League, a non-profit,Catholicadvocacy group headed byWilliam A. Donohue. In 1997, he was quoted as calling in that capacity theABC television showNothing Sacred "propaganda dressed up as entertainment, the way the Nazis used to make movies. The entertainment elite's belief that there are no moral absolutes deeply contradicts the religious view of Christianity."[98]
In 2002, he hosted a live television commentary show,Alan Keyes Is Making Sense, on theMSNBC cable news channel.[99] The network canceled the show in July, citing poor ratings. The cancellation triggered a boycott led by Jewish education website Mesora.org[100] The show was unsympathetic to supporters of theal-Aqsa Intifadah—whom Keyes frequently debated on the program—and supported the Israeli crackdown on Palestinians. The show also featured critical discussion of homosexuality and of priests accused in the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals. The last episode was broadcast on June 27, 2002. As a result of Keyes's strong advocacy of Israel on his MSNBC show, in July 2002 the state of Israel awarded him a special honor "in appreciation of his journalistic endeavors and his integrity in reporting" and flew him in to meet Prime MinisterAriel Sharon.[101]
In August 2003, Keyes came out in defense ofAlabama Chief JusticeRoy Moore, citing both theU.S. Constitution and the Alabama constitution as sanctioning Moore's (and Alabama's) authority to publicly display theTen Commandments in the state's judicial building, in defiance of a court order from U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson.[102][103] Although the monument was ultimately removed by state authorities, the issue impelled Keyes to spend the next year advocating his understanding of the Constitution's protection of the right of states to display monuments that reflect the religious sentiments of the people in their states. As a result, he published an essay describing his rationale titled "On the establishment of religion: What the Constitution really says."[104]
In early 2005, Keyes sought to intervene in theTerri Schiavo case, arguing that Schiavo's life was protected by the Florida constitution, and that GovernorJeb Bush had final authority to determine the outcome of the case under state provisions. He attempted to meet with Bush to discuss the provisions of Florida law that authorized the governor to order Schiavo's feeding tubes reinserted—something Bush claimed he wished to do, but for which he said he lacked authority—but the governor declined to meet with Keyes. Keyes subsequently wrote an essay directed openly at Governor Bush titled "Judicial review and executive responsibility",[105] days after Schiavo's feeding tube had been removed.[106]
Keyes appeared in the 2006mockumentary filmBorat as an unwitting interviewee ofBorat Sagdiyev (a character portrayed bySacha Baron Cohen).[107][108]
In November 2006, Keyes criticized Massachusetts governorMitt Romney for institutingsame-sex marriage entirely on his own—according to Keyes—with no requirement or authority to do so under Massachusetts law. Keyes said Romney's actions, which he suggested were due to a complete misunderstanding of his role as governor and of the limitations of the judicial branch of government, were not necessitated by a ruling of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in November 2003 that directed the state legislature to institute same-sex marriage. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court had ruled that the state law banning same-sex marriage was not constitutional.[109] The court gave the Massachusetts Legislature 180 days to modify the law; after it failed to do so, Romney ordered town clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses on May 17, 2004, in compliance with the court ruling.[110] Commenting on the issue, Keyes asked rhetorically, "Since the legislature has not acted on the subject, you might be wondering how it is that homosexuals are being married in Massachusetts. It's because Mitt Romney, who is telling people he's an opponent of same-sex marriage, forced the justices of the peace and others to perform same-sex marriage, all on his own, with no authorization or requirement from the court. Tells you how twisted our politicians have become."[111]
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On May 8, 2009, Keyes and 21 others were arrested while protesting PresidentBarack Obama's commencement speech at theUniversity of Notre Dame. Keyes was charged with trespassing and released on $250 bond.[112] He was arrested a second time on May 16.[113]
In 2010,About.com, owned byThe New York Times Company, named Keyes one of the top 20 conservatives to follow on Twitter.[114]
During the time of the2016 presidential election, Keyes emerged as a strong critic ofDonald Trump. He criticized many conservative Christians for supporting "a candidate whose life could be used to illustrate the deceitfully seductive quality of sin summarized in the phrase 'the glamour of evil.'"[115] After Trump's election, Keyes both criticized[116][117][118] and praised[119][120][121] Trump and various policies he pursued.
Keyes has actively promoted the use ofMiracle Mineral Supplement (MMS) in both the United States and Uganda.[122] One of the products featured by Keyes, made by a company called Genesis II, had its sales blocked in April 2020 by a federal court order.[123]
Keyes is married to Jocelyn Marcel Keyes, who is of Indian descent and is fromCalcutta. They have three children: Francis,Maya, and Andrew. Keyes is atraditional Catholic and a third-degreeKnight of Columbus.[124][125] He was also a close friend of Brazilian philosopherOlavo de Carvalho.[126]
In 2005, at the age of nineteen, Keyes' daughter,Maya Marcel-Keyes, publicly announced she was a lesbian. At the time, Marcel-Keyes toldThe Washington Post that her father had thrown her out of his apartment, stopped speaking to her, and stopped paying for her education.[127][128] Marcel-Keyes also stated that her family had taken these steps after she attended a demonstration against President George W. Bush and asserted that her father "cut her off" because she is a "'liberal queer'".[128][127] In October 2007, Alan Keyes contradicted reports that he had disowned his daughter, stating that to do so would be "wrong in the eyes of God." However, Keyes maintained that he would not give his approval to Marcel-Keyes's homosexuality and contended that he must "stand for the truthJesus Christ represents".[129]
On November 14, 2008, Keyes filed a lawsuit—naming as defendantsCalifornia Secretary of State Deborah Bowen, President-electBarack Obama, Vice President-electJoe Biden, and California's 55 Democraticelectors[130][131]—challenging Obama's eligibility for the U.S. presidency. The suit requested that Obama provide documentation that he is anative citizen of the United States.[132][133]
Following the inauguration, Keyes alleged that Obama had not beenconstitutionally inaugurated, refused to call him president, and called him a "usurper" and a "radicalcommunist".[134][135]Keyes also claimed that Obama's birth certificate had been forged and he was not qualified to be president.[135]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs 1985–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromMaryland (Class 1) 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromMaryland (Class 3) 1992 | Succeeded by Ross Pierpont |
| Preceded by Jack Ryan Withdrew | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromIllinois (Class 3) 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byasConstitution nominee | American Independent Party nominee for President of the United States 2008 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
