An Unknowable Ideal: Objectivism as a New Religious Movement and the Subsequent Institutionalization of Ayn Rand’s Ideas in American Politics
Journal: Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Year: 2019

Thirty-five years after her death, Ayn Rand is hailed by conservatives as a great defender of capitalism and liberty. Prominent Republicans including Paul Ryan, Ron Paul, and Alan Greenspan credit Rand for inspiring their political careers. The radical conservative Tea Party movement used “Who is John Galt?” a famous quote from Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (1957), as a rallying cry against the new Obama administration. Every day, news reports about the Trump Administration feature “Ayn Rand” or “Atlas