He is the son of Carol (née Lutz) and Warren Elliott Norquist, a vice president of Polaroid Corporation,[6][7] and is of Swedish ancestry.

[citation needed] Norquist traveled to several war zones to help support anti-Soviet guerrilla armies in the second half of the 1980s.

"[22] Americans for Tax Reform has supported Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) legislation[23] and transparency initiatives,[24] while opposing efforts to regulate health care.

[25] In 1993, Norquist launched his Wednesday Meeting series at ATR headquarters, initially to help fight President Clinton's healthcare plan.

The meetings have been called "a must-attend event for Republican operatives fortunate enough to get an invitation", and "the Grand Central station of the conservative movement.

Critics, such as Sen. Alan Simpson, have asked Norquist to disclose his contributors; he has declined but has said that ATR is financed by direct mail and other grassroots fundraising efforts.

"[3] Prior to the November 2012 election, 238 of 242 House Republicans and 41 out of 47 Senate Republicans had signed ATR's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", in which the pledger promises to "oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.

[33][34] Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY), co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, has been particularly critical, describing Norquist's position as "[n]o taxes, under any situation, even if your country goes to hell.

Norquist was instrumental in securing early support for the presidential campaign of then-Texas Governor George W. Bush, acting as his unofficial liaison to the conservative movement.

[38] He has been active in building bridges between various ethnic and religious minorities and the free market community through his involvement with Acton Institute, Christian Coalition and Toward Tradition.

[citation needed] He has also "announced his plan to assemble a center-right coalition to discuss pulling out of Afghanistan to save hundreds of billions of dollars.

Speaking to a Florida rally, he said "tea party groups should serve as the 'exoskeleton' that protects newly elected Republicans" from pressures to increase government spending.

Records released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee allege that ATR served as a "conduit" for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to surreptitiously finance grassroots lobbying campaigns.

Norquist's national strategy has included recruiting state and local politicians to support ATR's stance on taxes.

[48] In 2010, Norquist joined the advisory board of GOProud, a political organization representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender conservatives and their allies, for which he was criticized by the Family Research Council.

[53] Norquist signed the Madrid Charter, a document drafted by the conservative Spanish political party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of Ibero-America involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".

"[55][56]Journalist William Greider quotes Norquist saying his goal is to bring America back to what it was "up until Teddy Roosevelt, when the socialists took over.

[71][72][73] Humorist P. J. O'Rourke has described Norquist as "Tom Paine crossed with Lee Atwater plus just a soupçon of Madame Defarge".