Nick Solheim is co-founder and, as of earlier this year, CEO of American Moment. American Moment focuses on identifying and training young leaders toward being public policy leaders that support strong families, a sovereign nation, and prosperity for all. Nick also hosts American Moment’s podcast, Moment of Truth.
A Vision of “Actual Conservatism”
While the name may imply the New Right’s ideas are novel, Oren makes a bold case that the New Right is more a return to conservatism’s roots than an offshoot or rebrand. “What we’re doing is actual conservatism or genuine conservatism,” he quips. Oren sees the 1980s Reagan-era fusion of free-market thinkers and foreign policy hawks as a response to the unique challenges of the Cold War. But that 80s conservatism, Oren argues, led to an over-reliance on market outcomes and neglected key priorities such as family, community, and health of the nation.
“We want free markets,” Oren explains of the New Right. “But we have expectations of what they should deliver, and we recognize there is going to be a role for policy in getting us from what the market might do to what a healthy society looks like.” To Oren, true conservatism is about defining the set of ends that are crucial to human flourishing and then pragmatically thinking about the role of the state to further those ends.
Looking towards the future, Oren optimistically sees the New Right movement at an inflection point. “We are at a very exciting moment where what has initially been something of a sort of insurgent movement … is starting to create real change in the world and is now going to be in a position for the decade to come to really become the conservative establishment.”
A New Generation of Leadership
For Nick, the New Right is not just about ideas and policy, it’s about building institutions and training the next generation to lead them. As co-founder and CEO of American Moment, Nick is focused on cultivating and credentialing young leaders who are prepared to serve in the federal government and beyond—particularly on issues like trade, immigration, and foreign policy where the New Right departs from the Reaganite orthodoxy of recent decades.
“The institutional conservative movement has been asleep at the wheel,” Nick declares, alluding to the lack of new ideas in Washington before groups like his began investing in young talent to meet the challenges of the moment. “There’s this whole crop of young people who would traditionally be defined as under-credentialed… and basically our job is to find these people, to educate them about our programming, and then to give them the credential that can get them their first job on the Hill.”
Together, Oren and Nick highlight several institutions in addition to their own that have been key in advancing New Right ideas such as Claremont Institute, the Center for Renewing America, America First Legal, and more—all of which play a role in building out the people, ideas, and strategies that are driving this ascendent faction.
Oren and Nick’s organizations are two key building blocks in a growing movement that sees America’s cultural and economic challenges not as a reason to shrink government but as a call to rethink what conservatism should be for the 21st century. Their perspectives raise several thought-provoking points about what we those on the Right can do to ensure that people can pursue a livelihood in a world that is dramatically different than what it was a generation or two ago.
If you’re interested in how today’s New Right leaders are shaping the next era of conservatism to put family, community, and nation at the center, listen to the full conversation with Oren Cass and Nick Solheim on Giving Ventures, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
