In an article, “Liberaler Konservatismus in Amerika,” published in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1955, he argued that Kirk was the major fi gure in an American movement toward “liberal conservatism,” a conservatism that looked for inspiration to fi gures like Tocqueville, Acton, and Jacob Burckhardt rather than to the reactionary tradition that Eu ro pe ans often associated with the term. Hayek had cited these same fi gures as inspirations for the formation of the Mont Pèlerin Society at the outset of its founding meeting. Eight years after that meeting, however, none of the Americans Röpke associated with this emerging movement— including Nisbet, Viereck, and Clinton Rossiter— were involved in the society’s activities.

Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, loc. 361