Robert Fike, the US political campaigner and strategist, has died aged 36. Fike was notable for his work in the early 2000s at Americans for Tax Reform, a campaigning organisation that has been described as “the center of the vast right-wing conspiracy”. Fike was a popular and effective lobbyist for small government. He campaigned not just for lower taxes but also for free trade and against farm subsidies, and against intrusive invasions of privacy by the federal government. In 2001, he and I co-authored a briefing paper on advocating liberalisation of the US postal service.
Although at ATR he worked closely with Republican congressmen, his libertarian political philosophy made him more socially liberal than many US conservatives. In recent years, he worked as a freelance consultant on campaigning and strategy. This included working on the successful 2006 Senate campaign of Virginia Democrat Jim Webb, who had previously served as Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration.
Fike’s sense of humour and ability to tell a witty story were legendary. His tongue-in-cheek “four rules for a happy life” will be remembered widely. He was a fan of Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process which, he said, should be memorised. “I can tell you from experience that they’re all true,” he said.
Doing what he enjoyed most - making the world a freer place - brought out his great talent for enthusing others. After he delivered a rousing speech to students at the University of St Andrews, one student commented: “That speech has completely changed my outlook of politics.” He was always a lively and charismatic person to work with.
Fike was an Anglophile, which saw him visiting the UK as often as he could, including as a graduate student at Westminster University. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Adam Smith Institute in 2000. Back at home, he was a regular patron of the British goods store in Clarendon, Virginia, which stayed in business, he said, “due in large part to my regular custom. Who’s buying all that Weetabix, however, is a mystery.”
Fike was also a loyal supporter of Clarendon’s chilli-serving Hard Times Café (motto: “Great Food. Good People. Cheap Prices”), which he hoped would expand into London. He was a fan of Liverpool Football Club, influenced by his former flatmate Steve Bettison (a Brit), and on a visit to Ireland he ensured he made a trip to the Guinness factory.