Steve Forbes
Steve Forbes is a prominent American publishing executive and political figure known for his leadership of the family-owned Forbes magazine and his candidacy for the U.S. presidency. Born on July 18, 1947, in Morristown, New Jersey, he is the grandson of the magazine's founder and built a successful career in business and journalism, eventually becoming CEO and editor in chief of Forbes, Inc. Forbes gained national attention during his presidential campaigns in 1996 and 2000, advocating for a flat tax system aimed at simplifying the federal tax code. He garnered a following for his economic ideas, although his proposals were sometimes viewed as self-serving due to his wealth. Beyond his publishing career, he has been involved in various conservative political activities, including serving as a senior policy adviser for Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign. Throughout his career, Forbes has written several books and remains influential in conservative economic thought, emphasizing issues like tax reform and Social Security. Despite the limited success of his political campaigns, his efforts have highlighted key economic discussions within the U.S. political landscape.
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Steve Forbes
- Born: July 18, 1947
- Place of Birth: Morristown, New Jersey
A publishing executive who followed his father and grandfather in running the business-oriented Forbes magazine, Steve Forbes also branched out into politics. During the 1996 presidential primary, he campaigned on a flat tax platform that would drastically simplify the US federal tax code for individuals. In 2000 he added socially conservative stances to a similar economic platform, but again dropped out after limited success in primary elections.
Steve Forbes was born Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. on July 18, 1947, in Morristown, New Jersey. He had four younger siblings, and they grew up wealthy, spending much of their time at Timberfield, the family estate in Far Hills, New Jersey. His grandfather, B. C. Forbes, had founded the business magazine Forbes, and his father, Malcolm Forbes, carried on the publication and also became a New Jersey state senator. Forbes attended high school at the prestigious Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts, graduating in 1966. He then went on to Princeton University, where he founded the magazine Business Today, which would eventually become the largest student-run magazine in the United States. He graduated from college in 1970 with a history degree, and went to work for Forbes. He married his wife, Sabina, in the early 1970s, and they would eventually have five daughters.
Forbes won attention for his writing and his successful economic forecasting, and quickly climbed the ranks of the family business. In 1980 he became chief operating officer and president of Forbes, Inc., the publishers of Forbes. In 1990 he was named editor in chief of the business magazine and chief executive officer (CEO) of the publishing company. He was also involved in the oversight administration of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty in the early years of the decade. In 1993, Forbes campaigned for his friend Christine Todd Whitman, who was elected governor of New Jersey based in large measure on a tax-cut program designed by Forbes.
In 1996, Forbes ran as a Republican candidate for US president but eventually lost the nomination to Kansas senator Bob Dole. Forbes spent nearly $38 million of his own money on the campaign and refused to release his personal tax returns. He won the Republican Party primaries in Arizona and Delaware and attracted serious attention for his proposal to simplify the US federal tax code by moving to a flat tax rate of 17 percent on all personal and corporate earned income, after an agreed upon sum had been exempted. While many voters were in favor of a simpler income tax code, Forbes’s flat-tax rate was seen as very self-serving. As a wealthy businessman, Forbes would have saved a large amount of money in taxes under his plan.
Between presidential campaigns, Forbes was the honorary chairman of Americans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity. This was a Republican political group that favored pro-growth business policies and pro-family (antiabortion) legislation. In 1997, he launched Forbes.com, an online version of the magazine. In 1999, as a prelude to his 2000 presidential campaign, he wrote A New Birth of Freedom, in which he laid out his positions on a flat tax, a new Social Security system, term limits for elected officials, and the need for a strong national defense.
During his short-lived 2000 presidential campaign, Forbes assured voters he would not use his flat-tax rate to his own advantage. In an effort to appeal to a wider range of voters, he also took up many more traditionally Republican positions that he had not emphasized in 1996, including opposition to abortion, gun control, and legalization of drugs. He was in favor of a strong national defense policy, the death penalty, school choice programs, and a smaller federal government. Again, he spent over $30 million of his own fortune on the effort. After a lack of primary success and an early exit from the campaign, which saw Texas governor George W. Bush win the Republican nomination and eventually the presidency, he returned to his job at Forbes magazine.
Forbes became a member of the Heritage Foundation's board of trustees in 2001, helping to run the prominent conservative think tank. In 2005 he published the book Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS. He also became a director of the conservative nonprofit FreedomWorks in 2006. He supported Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, in his 2008 presidential run, serving as a senior policy adviser and national campaign cochair. Forbes also wrote or cowrote other books, including Freedom Manifesto: Why Free Markets Are Moral and Big Government Isn't (2012) and Reviving America: How Repealing Obamacare, Replacing the Tax Code and Reforming the Fed Will Restore Hope and Prosperity (2015). Through these and other outlets he continued to advocate for his signature issues, such as the flat tax, Social Security reform, and other conservative economic positions.
Impact
As the driving force behind the successful Forbes publishing empire from the early 1990s, Steve Forbes had a considerable impact on popular economic thought, especially among conservatives. With a net worth in the hundreds of millions, he is also one of the richest people in the world. His presidential campaigns highlighted the need felt by many voters and members of Congress to simplify the US federal tax code. However, Forbes articulated few other strong positions on the economy or US foreign policy. As a result, his candidacies served more to draw attention to one issue than to present him as a serious contender for leadership of the country.
Bibliography
Forbes, Steve. A New Birth of Freedom: Vision for America. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1999.
Forbes, Steve. The U.S. Presidency in the Twenty-first Century: Opportunities and Obstacles. London: British Library, 2000.
"Steve Forbes." FreedomWorks, www.freedomworks.org/about/board-of-directors/steve-forbes. Accessed 22 May 2024.
"Steve Forbes." The Jackie Robinson Foundation, 2015, www.jackierobinson.org/people/steve-forbes/. Accessed 22 May 2024.
Wayne, Leslie. "The 2000 Campaign: The End; Forbes Spent Millions, but for Little Gain." The New York Times, 10 Feb. 2000, www.nytimes.com/2000/02/10/us/the-2000-campaign-the-end-forbes-spent-millions-but-for-little-gain.html. Accessed 22 May 2024.