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{{Short description|American businessman and publisher (born 1947)}}{{other people||Stephen Forbes (disambiguation){{!}}Stephen Forbes}}{{Lead too short|date=February 2024}}{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}

factoids

| birth_place = Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.Republican Party (United States)>RepublicanSabina Beekman|1971}}Moira Forbes>Moira| father = Malcolm ForbesForbes family (publishers)>Forbes| relatives = B. C. Forbes (grandfather)Princeton University (Bachelor of Arts>AB)| signature = Signature of Steve Forbes (cropped).jpg}}{{Conservatism US}}Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. ({{IPAc-en|f|ɔr|b|z}}; born July 18, 1947)NEWS,weblink Famous birthdays for July 18: Vin Diesel, Kristen Bell, United Press International, July 18, 2019, August 7, 2019, July 19, 2019,weblink live, Publisher Steve Forbes in 1947 (age 72), is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of Forbes, a business magazine. He is the son of longtime Forbes publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandson of that publication's founder B.C. Forbes. He is an adviser at the Forbes School of Business & Technology.WEB,weblink Forbes School of Business & Technology Board of Advisors {{!, Ashford University|website=www.ashford.edu|access-date=May 12, 2019|archive-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301060900weblink|url-status=dead}} Forbes was a candidate in the 1996Mitt Romney to report financial assets of at least $190 million {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514040030weblink |date=May 14, 2007 }} Fox News and 2000 Republican presidential primaries.

Early life and education

Forbes was born in Morristown, New Jersey, to Roberta Remsen (née Laidlaw) and Malcolm Forbes.MAGAZINE,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071015211703weblink">weblink dead, October 15, 2007, Time, Milestones: Nov. 4, 1985, April 18, 2005, May 24, 2010, WEB,weblink Ancestry of Steve Forbes (b. 1947), October 16, 2015, Forbes grew up in Far Hills, New Jersey. He attended the Far Hills Country Day School with his longtime friend and future Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman. He graduated cum laude from Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts, in 1966.Forbes graduated with an A.B. in history from Princeton University in 1970 after completing a 75-page long senior thesis titled "Contest for the 1892 Democratic Presidential Nomination."JOURNAL, Forbes, Jr, 1970, Contest for the 1892 Democratic Presidential Nomination,weblink Bumiller, Elisabeth. "Politics: On The Trail; In Political Quest, Forbes Runs in Shadow of Father", The New York Times, February 11, 1996. Accessed December 11, 2007. "Christine Todd, Mr. Forbes's childhood friend from the Far Hills Country Day school, would grow up to become Governor Whitman... His son went off to the Brooks School in North Andover, Mass., then on to Princeton, Malcolm Forbes's alma mater." While at Princeton, Forbes founded his first magazine, Business Today, with two other students. Business Today is currently the largest student-run magazine in the world.WEB,weblink Lyceum Series – March 20, 2007: Steve Forbes, ULM University of Louisiana at Monroe, October 16, 2015, Forbes is a member of Alpha Kappa Psi and Tau Kappa Epsilon.WEB,weblink Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity :: News, October 16, 2015, He holds honorary degrees from several universities, including New York Institute of Technology and Lehigh University.BOOK,weblink Forbes Best Business Mistakes: How Today's Top Business Leaders Turned Missteps into Success, Sellers, Bob, 9780470768334, June 17, 2010, John Wiley & Sons,

Political career and views

Early political career

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed Forbes as head of the Board of International Broadcasting (BIB), which historically managed the operation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush reappointed Forbes to the position. Forbes would continue to serve as the BIB's leader until 1993, following the inauguration of Bill Clinton.WEB,weblink Steve Forbes, June 6, 2002, Forbes, April 7, 2021, Following his career as the BIB's head, Forbes went on to get involved in various conservative political advocacy groups. From 1993 to 1996, Forbes was the chairman of the Board of Directors of "Empower America", which later merged with the advocacy group FreedomWorks. Through "Empower America", Forbes became associates with prominent conservative politician Jack Kemp, who would go on to endorse Forbes during the 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries.WEB,weblink Jack Kemp endorses Forbes, May 7, 1996, Tampa Bay Times, April 7, 2021, From 1996 to 1999, Forbes also served as honorary chairman of the advocacy group "Americans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity", described as "a grassroots, issues-advocacy organization founded to advance pro-growth, pro-freedom and pro-family issues."Forbes helped craft Christine Todd Whitman'sNEWS,weblink CNN, May 24, 2010, Crossfire, March 3, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160303195354weblink">weblink dead, plan for a 30% cut in New Jersey's income tax over three years, and this plan proved to be a major factor in her victory over incumbent Governor James Florio.NEWS,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060416095414weblink">weblink dead, April 16, 2006, Welfare states â€“ benefits of tax cuts, National Review, NEWS,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071016105846weblink">weblink dead, October 16, 2007, Nowhere Girl, National Review, Despite Forbes and Whitman being childhood friends, Forbes would later distance himself from Whitman during his bid for the Republican nomination in 2000 owing to Whitman's pro-choice stance on abortion.NEWS,weblink Whitman and Forbes, Separated Now by Political Ideology, The New York Times, Kocieniewski, David, November 9, 1999, April 7, 2021,

Campaigns for president

(File:Forbespres.gif|thumb|right|Logo from 1996 campaign)Forbes entered the Republican primaries for President of the United States in 1996 and 2000, primarily running on a campaign to establish a flat income tax (Forbes's emphasis on the flat tax proposal was so heavy that he was described as a "single-issue candidate", a label he claimed was inaccurateNEWS, Pinkerton, James, Win or Lose, Forbes Should Be True to Himself : *GOP: Dissembling to woo the right dilutes his limited government message–and won't work.,weblink April 7, 2021, The Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1996, ). Forbes believed the American taxation system had become too Byzantine and bureaucratic and was in desperate need of reform and simplification.WEB, Steve Forbes on Tax Reform,weblink 2023-03-09, www.ontheissues.org, Forbes also supported the ideas of reintroducing 4.5% mortgages and term limits in 1996; however, he dropped both in 2000, as they were minor planks in his overall platform.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}When Forbes ran for president in 1996 and 2000, he sold some of his Forbes, Inc. voting shares to other family members to help finance his run. Forbes did not come close to securing the Republican nomination, despite winning the Arizona and Delaware primaries in 1996 and getting some significant shares of the vote in other primaries. Forbes's "awkward" campaigning style was considered to be a major factor in his defeat. Time Magazine called his stumping a "comedy-club impression of what would happen if some mad scientist decided to construct a dork robot."NEWS, CALVIN TRILLIN Monday, February 26, 1996,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100826044526weblink">weblink dead, August 26, 2010, Primary Fixation, TIME, February 26, 1996, March 21, 2011, Jeff Lyon of The Chicago Tribune wrote of Forbes on the campaign trail, "[Forbes] resembles the classic (wikt:milquetoast|milquetoast), with a prissy smile, gold-rimmed glasses that make his eyes look smaller, and a stiff way of presenting himself when he works a crowd. He has a cornball style and uses preppie slang like 'get real' and 'el zippo' (meaning zero) in speeches."NEWS, Lyon, Jeff, UNLIKELY POPULIST,weblink April 8, 2021, The Chicago Tribune, January 26, 1996, Forbes and his campaign staff were known for travelling between campaign stops via their "big silver bus."NEWS, Apple, R.W., POLITICS: STEVE FORBES;Candidate of the Flat Tax Is a Bit of a Flat Campaigner, The New York Times,weblink April 8, 2021, The New York Times, February 12, 1996, NEWS, Apple, R.W., POLITICS: STEVE FORBES; Delaware Backs Him Because He Was There, The New York Times,weblink April 8, 2021, The New York Times, February 26, 1996, For his 2000 presidential campaign, he raised $86,000,000 in campaign contributions, of which $37,000,000 was self-donated.WEB,weblink Steve Forbes – $86,012,139 raised, '00 election cycle, Republican Party, President, October 16, 2015, (File:Forbes2000.gif|thumb|right|Logo from 2000 campaign)After dropping out early in the 2000 primary season, Forbes returned to heading the magazine and company. During the 1996 campaign, insiders at Fortune alleged that stories about Forbes's advertisers became favorably biased toward them.POLITICS: ON THE TRAIL;In Political Quest, Forbes Runs in Shadow of FatherMajor issues Forbes has supported include free trade, health savings accounts, and allowing people to opt out 75% of Social Security payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts (PRAs). Forbes supports traditional Republican Party policies such as downsizing government agencies to balance the budget, tough crime laws, support for the death penalty, and school vouchers. Forbes opposes gun control and most government regulation of the environment, as well as drug legalization and same-sex marriage,Steve Forbes:On The Issues OnTheIssues.com in spite of his father being gay.Bumiller, Elisabeth. "In Political Quest, Forbes Runs in Shadow of Father", The New York Times, February 11, 1996. Accessed December 14, 2009. In terms of foreign policy, he called for a "US not UN foreign policy" (which is composed of anti-International Monetary Fund sentiments, pro-Israeli sentiment, opposition to Most Favored Nation status for the People's Republic of China, and anti-UN sentiment.)Forbes's flat-tax plan has changed slightly. In 1996, Forbes supported a flat tax of 17% on all personal and corporate earned income (unearned income such as capital gains, pensions, inheritance, and savings would be exempt). However, Forbes supported keeping the first $33,000 of income exempt. In 2000, Forbes maintained the same plan; however, instead of each person receiving an exemption of $33,000, it more closely resembled the Armey Plan (Forbes's version called for a $13,000-per-adult and $5,000-per-dependent deduction). Forbes is very wealthy, with a net worth in 1996 of $430 million. In response to this criticism, Forbes promised in his 2000 campaign to exempt himself from the benefits of the flat tax, although he did support the repeal of the 16th Amendment in a debate with Alan Keyes the previous year.In his 2000 campaign, Forbes professed his support for social conservatism along with his supply-side economics. Despite holding opposite positions in 1996, for the 2000 campaign Forbes announced he was adamantly opposed to abortion and supported prayer in public schools. The previous year Forbes had issued a statement saying he would no longer donate money to Princeton University because of its hiring of philosopher Peter Singer, who views personhood as being limited to 'sentient' beings and therefore considers some disabled people and all infants to lack this status. Steve Forbes was one of the signers of the Statement of Principles of Project for the New American Century (PNAC) on June 3, 1997.

Other political activities

In 1996, Forbes campaigned on behalf of Ron Paul in the congressional election for Texas's 14th congressional district.NEWS,weblink The New York Times, The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul, July 22, 2007, Christopher, Caldwell, September 3, 2009, Actor Mark McKinney played Steve Forbes on the comedy television show Saturday Night Live, a program known for featuring political satire. In an episode which aired on March 16, 1996—shortly after Forbes dropped out of the 1996 presidential race—McKinney played Forbes in a skit in which Forbes purchases land in Russia to found his own country, called "Forbes America".Archived at Ghostarchive{{cbignore}} and the weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210915172249weblink">Wayback Machine{{cbignore}}: WEB, Forbes America – Saturday Night Live,weblink YouTube, {{cbignore}} Forbes himself hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live that aired on April 13, 1996. The episode featured a skit in which Forbes earnestly wishes to answer the questions of potential voters, but all the questions he receives instead have to do with his enormous personal wealth (for example, with regards to the then ongoing war in Bosnia, Forbes is asked by an audience member, "Why don't you just buy Bosnia and tell all those people over there that if they don't stop fighting you'll just, you know, throw them the hell out?").Archived at Ghostarchive{{cbignore}} and the weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210424232218weblink">Wayback Machine{{cbignore}}: NEWS,weblink Steve Forbes Monologue – Saturday Night Live, Night Live, October 2, 2013, April 7, 2021, {{cbignore}} On that same episode, Forbes starred in a skit, playing a roofer, the comedy deriving from Forbes's character being a tough blue collar worker, a personality which clashes with Forbes's nerdy, intellectual demeanor and appearance.Archived at Ghostarchive{{cbignore}} and the weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210424232857weblink">Wayback Machine{{cbignore}}: WEB, Roofers Slack Off on the Job – Saturday Night Live,weblink YouTube, {{cbignore}} The episode also featured a skit where the real Forbes interviewed his SNL counterpart, played by McKinney.WEB, Roy King, Don, SNL Transcripts: Steve Forbes: 04/13/96: Forbes On Forbes,weblink SNL Transcripts Tonight, October 8, 2018, April 8, 2021, In December 2006, Forbes joined the Board of Directors of the advocacy organization FreedomWorks. Forbes is also on the board of directors of the National Taxpayers Union. Forbes is also a member of the board of trustees of The Heritage Foundation, an influential Washington, D.C.-based public policy research institute.WEB,weblink Board of Trustees, The Heritage Foundation, October 16, 2015, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100304025805weblink">weblink March 4, 2010, Forbes is a frequent panelist on the television program Forbes on Fox, which also features members of the Forbes magazine staff and is shown Saturday mornings on Fox News Channel at 11:00 am EST.On March 28, 2007, Forbes joined Rudy Giuliani's campaign for the 2008 presidential election, serving as a National Co-{{not a typo|Chair}} and Senior Policy Advisor. Later in the 2008 presidential campaign, Forbes served as John McCain's economic adviser on taxes, energy and the budget during McCain's bid for the 2008 presidential election.Goldsmith, Brian Steve Forbes: McCain Isn't Bush, CBS News.com. July 11, 2008.In March 2013, Forbes participated in an NPR broadcast Intelligence Squared debate with James Grant, Frederic Mishkin and John R. Taylor Jr. concerning the motion "Does America Need A Strong Dollar Policy?".NEWS,weblink Does America Need A Strong Dollar Policy?, NPR Staff, NPR, March 18, 2013,

Personal life

In 1971, he married Sabina Beekman. They have five daughters, including Moira Forbes.WEB,weblink Eugene Register-Guard, October 16, 2015, Forbes appeared alongside his family on Larry King Live during his 1996 presidential campaign.NEWS,weblink THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE, The New York Times, Blumenfeld, Laura, February 19, 1996, April 7, 2021, Forbes has been a resident of Bedminster, New Jersey.Hilzenrath, David S. "No Blank Checks for Forbes", The Washington Post, August 17, 1999. Accessed October 7, 2018. "To match Bush's record $37 million haul, Forbes could have no choice but to sell part of the family business, liquidate real estate in his home town of Bedminster, N.J., or go heavily into debt."Forbes rides Amtrak trains and was a passenger on board the 2016 Chester, Pennsylvania, train derailment.WEB, Wisner, Matthew, 2016-04-04, Steve Forbes Gives First Hand Account of Deadly Amtrak Derailment,weblink 2023-10-01, FOXBusiness, en-US, WEB, Steve Forbes on Amtrak Derailment {{!, C-SPAN.org |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?406130-1/steve-forbes-amtrak-derailment |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=www.c-span.org}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Steve, Forbes, The New Birth of Freedom: Vision for America, 1999, Regnery Publishing, Washington, DC, 978-0895263209, 204, 475198964,weblink
• BOOK, Steve, Forbes, Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS, 2005, Regnery Publishing, Washington, DC, 978-0895260406, 216, 60558651,weblink
• BOOK, Steve, Forbes, Freedom Manifesto: Why Free Markets Are Moral and Big Government Isn't, 2012, Crown Business Publishing, 978-0307951571, 304,
• Forbes, Steve; Ames, Elizabeth (2014). Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy – and What We Can Do About It. {{ISBN|9780071823708}}.
• BOOK, Reviving America: How Repealing Obamacare, Replacing the Tax Code and Reforming The Fed will Restore Hope and Prosperity, Steve, Forbes, Elizabeth, Ames, 2015, McGraw-Hill Education, 978-1259641121, 224,

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• Steve Forbes {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208103842weblink |date=February 8, 2012 }} at Forbes
• {{C-SPAN|3000}}
• Steve Forbes for President 1996 Campaign Brochure
• Forbes throws weight behind Giuliani
• RightWeb profile of Steve Forbes
• Profile: Steve Forbes {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004165400weblink |date=October 4, 2011 }}, Center for Cooperative Research.
• "Capitalist Tool II: Defending Dynamism", interview with Reason by Virginia Postrel and Charles Oliver
• "Confront Iran to bring oil prices down" April 2006 from $70+ to $15 per barrel
• Kurt Schemers of Traders Nation Interview of Steve Forbes {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227071929weblink |date=December 27, 2013 }}

{{United States presidential election, 1996}}{{United States presidential election candidates, 2000}}{{Authority control}}