The views expressed in the statement, while not considered "traditional conservative principles" at the time, played a significant role in influencing Republican leaders in the 1980s.

[1] Written by M. Stanton Evans[2] and adopted on September 11, 1960, the statement is named for the location of the inaugural meeting of Young Americans for Freedom, held at William F. Buckley, Jr.'s childhood home in Sharon, Connecticut.

[citation needed] Amongst the attendees were several future conservative leaders including historian Lee Edwards, Howard Phillips, Don Lipsett (co-founder Philadelphia Society), Paul Niemeyer (United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit), William A. Rusher (National Review publisher), Allan Ryskind (publisher of Human Events) and M. Stanton Evans.

[5] Evans said he was influenced by the works of conservative thinkers such as F. A. Hayek, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley Jr., and Whittaker Chambers.

It then proceeds to espouse five core principles which have directed the conservative movement since its adoption:[3] Two years later, in 1962, Tom Hayden wrote the Port Huron Statement.