Richard Mellon Scaife, American Patriot, 1932-2014.

Richard Mellon Scaife died on the Fourth of July. He was the Pittsburgh billionaire heir to the Mellon banking and oil fortune, but, he thought of himself as a conservative and a newspaper owner, and he once said : "Becoming a newspaper publisher, buying the Tribune-Review, remains one of the proudest, happiest moments of my life." ~~~~~ And so it seems particularly fitting to publish a "Special Edition" of Casey Pops today to honor Dick Scaife - a profoundly committed conservative, and sometimes libertarian, who was the single most influential patron of American conservatism in the 20th century. His death came less than two months after he announced in a first-person, front-page story in his Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he had an untreatable form of cancer. Scaife wrote : "Some who dislike me may rejoice at the news. Naturally, I can't share their enthusiasm." He was the grand-nephew of Andrew Mellon, the banker and Secretary of the Treasury who guided some of the biggest industrial companies of the early 20th century. Forbes magazine estimated Scaife's net worth in 2013 at $1.4 billion. ~~~~~ If William F. Buckley Jr. was the public face of modern American conservatism - the witty intellectual who blended traditional American conservatism with free market economics, giving a coherent voice to the wave of conservatism that swept across America beginning in the 1950s - it was Richard Mellon Scaife who was American conservatism's CEO, supporting the new conservative thinkers and activists, pouring millions of dollars into their cause - a cause that brought Ronald Reagan to the US presidency in 1980. It was Dick Scaife who found new partners for conservatism in law, economics and education. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said in a statement Friday that Scaife's passing "marks the departure of a man whose vision and generosity shaped the city's [Pittsburgh] progress and our nation's course," citing contributions that helped to preserve Pittsburgh's landmarks and his investment in think tanks that "reshaped our nation's political dialogue and delivered the opening salvos in the Reagan revolution, replacing tired nostrums with vigorous new ideas for progress." ~~~~~ Dick Scaife, a very private person, always found time to support Republicans. Anyone who was fortunate enough to have met him, worked with him, become his friend, was privileged. And, whether you knew him or not, whether you liked him or not, whether you understood his goals or not, whether you agreed with his conservatism or not, it would be impossible to overstate the impact Dick Scaife had on American politics and political thought in the last half of the 20th century. Here is a sampling of the tributes that have been made to him and his life's work. Pittsburgh Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto : “Although we differed on politics, we never differed on our love of Pittsburgh,” Peduto said, paying tribute to the contributions Scaife made to the city. Tribune-Review journalists used the newspaper's Obituary section to praise Scaife’s love of journalism : “You only had to see him once, when he arrived in the morning, to realize how much being there was among his greatest joys.” Prominent Republicans offered their condolences and tributes to the man who so strongly promoted and funded conservative causes. Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee, said : “Like his paper, he is an institution. What makes him so unusual is the degree to which he has taken responsibility for what is written in his paper: Assuring that every word is as accurate as possible, offering a balance of opinion, and steadfastly promoting America’s enduring values.” Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush praised Scaife’s charitable work and said he “had no agenda other than protecting and advancing our freedoms in America.” Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld lauded Scaife as a “patriot” who was crucial in building the modern American conservative movement : “Dick Scaife helped to build the modern conservative movement through his support of worthy causes and institutions. …A patriot and philanthropist, Dick Scaife will be remembered for a long life, well lived.” On June 3, before Scaife’s death, House Speaker John Boehner wrote to the Tribune-Review to praise the publisher as a “patriot who can truly claim to have spent his life giving…immeasurable service [to] our country.” ~~~~~ Dear readers, it is easy to stereotype immensely wealthy people. Dick Scaife was not stereotypical. He was a warm, deeply thoughtful American, doing all he could to maintain constitutional government and personal liberties and freedom in the America he loved. It will be impossible to replace him. But what we can do is honor his memory by continuing the fight : "Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world, Push off, and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds, To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until I die. It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will - To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." (Uysses, Tennyson.) ~~~~~ Richard Mellon Scaife, born July 3, 1932 - died July 4, 2014. We will miss you and your indomitable spirit. Rest in Peace.