My old friend Richard V. “Dick” Allen passed away November 16 at his home in Denver, Colorado.
Dick Allen, who served as National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan, was one of the most influential conservative national security voices and thinkers of the Cold War era.
With the rise of the Tea Party, constitutional conservativism and now Donald Trump’s MAGA Movement it may be difficult for some to realize that once upon a time the American conservative movement consisted of two somewhat disparate blocks of voters: Economic Conservatives and National Security Conservatives.
This “two-legged stool” could win an occasional national election, but until Ronald Reagan and his team added a third leg – cultural conservatives – it was not a majority coalition. Thanks to the wisdom and political savvy of Dick Allen, Paul Weyrich, Jerry Falwell, North Carolina’s Senator Jesse Helms, Nevada’s Senator Paul Laxalt, Lyn Nofziger, Ed Meese, Marty Anderson, Jeff Bell, Tom Ellis, Judge William Clark, and others, the Reagan majority was stitched together.
Dick was a devout Catholic and staunch anti-Communist who studied political science at Notre Dame, and later earned his Ph.D. at the University of Freiburg in Germany.
After earning his Ph.D. Dick taught political science at Georgia Tech and helped to establish the Center for Strategic Studies at Georgetown University, where he edited a massive volume about the influence of communism around the world. In 1966, he relocated to the Hoover Institution at Stanford, becoming Editor of the Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1968. Among his other best-known publications are Peace or Peaceful Coexistence? (1966) and Communism and Democracy: Theory and Action (1967).
He got his start in presidential politics in Richard Nixon’s 1968 campaign, where he was Chief Foreign Policy Coordinator. After Nixon won Dick served as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and special assistant to the president.
Dr. Allen then served as principal foreign policy advisor in Ronald Reagan’s unsuccessful 1976 campaign for the Republican nomination.
As I explained in my book TAKEOVER, one day at his golf course, Allen related to me how in 1977 he had contacted Reagan to let him know that he was exploring a run for governor of his home state of New Jersey, and if he decided to get in the race, he would have to bow out as Reagan’s campaign advisor on national security matters.
Reagan liked and relied on Allen and didn’t want to lose him, so he said, “Dick, do you want to know what my approach to dealing with the Soviets will be when we get to the White House?” Allen said he’d like to know, and Reagan replied, “I tell them, ‘We win, you lose.’”
Dick was so impressed by Reagan's clear articulation of his theory of the Cold War that he immediately committed to supporting Ronald Reagan's campaign. Over the next several years, he traveled extensively with Reagan, helping forge deep relationships with conservative leaders around the world, including Margaret Thatcher and Helmut Kohl, and shaping U.S. foreign policy goals.
During the 1980 transition and throughout his tenure in the Administration, Allen helped President Reagan manage many foreign crises, including the American hostages held in Iran, aggressive actions by the Soviet Union, instability in the Middle East and unrest in Latin America. He is credited with helping Reagan coin the phrase “trust, but verify,” and setting the stage for the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union.
Dick was a friend for many years, and we shared a joke about our initials – his were RVA and mine are RAV, so we often greeted each other with a play on them, “RVA, this is RAV.”
As a confidant of President Reagan, Richard V. Allen was in large measure responsible for the victory of the United States and the West over Soviet Communism, would that we had his clarity on matters of national security today.
Incline Thine ear, O Lord, unto our prayers, wherein we humbly pray Thee to show Thy mercy upon the soul of Thy servant, and my friend, Richard V. Allen, whom Thou hast commanded to pass out of this world, that Thou wouldst place him in the region of peace and light, and bid him be a partaker with Thy Saints. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ronald Reagan cabinet
Dick Allen
Richard V. Allen
National Security Advisor
Cold War Era
National Security Conservatives
Cultural Conservatives
Anti-Communist
We Win You Lose
Margaret Thatcher