Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Congressional caucuses Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) is a conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960 as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians on American college campuses.

[4] Jerome Tuccile writes, "The second faction of rebels consisted of radical libertarians or anarchists, most of them belonging to Karl Hess IV's Anarcho-libertarian Alliance.

"[6] Lauren Lassabe Shepherd details how YAF coalitions of traditionalists, libertarians, and evangelicals were fragile and could only be united under the banner of anti-liberalism.

[citation needed] However, Black membership has always been exceptional in YAF and many of the organization's national board members have been outspoken segregationists, including Strom Thurmond, William Colmer, and L. Mendel Rivers.

The memorial was cancelled after protests by Ralph Plofsky, the commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America.

[13][14] YAF faced opposition from groups like the American Nazi Party because of the presence of Jews in the organization and its close relationship with Marvin Liebman.

[17][non-primary source needed] Liberalism and radicalism dominated campuses from the mid-1960s until the early 1970s, primarily as a result of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War.

Though outnumbered, YAF went on the offensive against radical left-wing organizations by challenging and rebutting civil rights groups like the Afro-American Society and W.E.B.

DuBois clubs, as well as antiwar groups like Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and New MOBE in support of a U.S. victory in Vietnam.

[20] YAF often made protests appearances at Fonda events, getting in physical altercations with her security guards and mocking her peace activism and acting career by holding up banners that read, "Barbarella bombed, why can't Nixon?"

YAF supported Reagan's almost-successful bid to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1976 and his victorious race for the presidency in 1980.

The Iran Hostage Crisis focused public criticism on the Carter Administration and provided YAF a rallying point in 1979.

During this era, a new generation of liberal and radical activism was growing on college campuses, and members began focusing on opposing these movements.

Most members considered President George H. W. Bush to be insufficiently conservative, and his rhetoric justifying the war – "a new world order" – to be dangerously utopian.

NAMBLA members got quite a surprise at one of their events in Washington DC in 1996 when YAFers held banners warning the effects of 'deviant and un-natural sexual practices.

'[citation needed] In 1997, Brian Park, National Director and state Chairman of California YAF, organized support for the rights of American Indians when their tribal sovereignty was being encroached upon by Governor Pete Wilson.

YAF made over 1 million voter contacts with direct-mail pieces to educate the public on American Indian Sovereignty issues and the measure passed overwhelmingly with bi-partisan support of 62.4% to 32.6%.

In 2007, the YAF chapter at Michigan State University organized protests against legislation enacting anti-discrimination protection for transgender individuals.

[29] Beginning in 2009, Young Americans for Freedom has organized a number of new college chapters to supplement the long-standing units on campuses such as Penn State.

[30][31] In 2009, YAF, a coalition of Tea Party groups, retired police and firefighter association, and Keep America Safe hosted the "9/11 Never Forget" Rally in New York City.

The Coalition united to fight the decision of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to try the 9/11 co-conspirators in New York City's federal court.

[citation needed] The coalition claimed Holder's decision gave alleged war criminals the same rights as American citizens; it also said trying the defendants in New York City would endanger the citizenry.

The rally brought nationwide attention to Holder's decision and eventually led the Department of Justice and the Obama administration to move the trial from New York City.

[32] Young America's Foundation provides students with speakers, activism programs, conferences and opportunities to learn about Ronald Reagan's accomplishments by visiting his beloved ranch, Rancho del Cielo, in Santa Barbara, California.

[33] Young America's Foundation has brought speakers like Ben Shapiro and David Horowitz to College Republican groups across the United States, as well as to broader university venues.

Current chapters receive a wide variety of materials, training, support, and encouragement based on YAF's decades of activism experience.

[36] Karl Zinsmeister wrote the following about YAF: The conservative activists who first organized themselves [through YAF] in the early 1960s were the force behind the rise of Barry Goldwater, the election of Ronald Reagan as Governor of California, the takeover of the Republican Party from the liberal wing that controlled it for decades, the election of Ronald Reagan as president, and the reversion of Congress to Republican control for the first time in 40 years.

[37]Although YAF members and chapters were engaged in many projects to influence public policy and elect conservative candidates to office, the leadership of the organization was well aware that their goals and objectives were more long-term.

Many college students and young adults active in YAF went on to form new groups or serve as important personnel in conservative organizations founded by others.

This new ideology was formulated in large part by the newspaper Human Events, the magazine National Review, and its editor William F. Buckley Jr.