Regnery Publishing

Unfit for Command, published by Regnery Publishing.

Regnery Publishing in Washington, D.C. is a publisher which specializes in conservative books characterized on their website as "contrary to those of 'mainstream' publishers in New York." Regnery Publishing has been a division of Eagle Publishing since 1993. Eagle Publishing also owns the weekly magazine Human Events. Regnery is currently led by President Marjory Ross, who had previously served as Vice President under President Al Regnery, son of the company's founder, until 1997.

History

Regnery Publishing was founded in 1947 as Henry Regnery Company by Henry Regnery, located in Chicago, Illinois. Regnery's first three books were In Darkest Germany, by Victor Gollancz, The Hitler in Ourselves, by Max Picard, and The High Cost of Vengeance by Freda Utley. [1] All three books have been described as "pro-nazi". Utley's book was critical of the Allies' air campaign and post-war occupation and the Gollancz and Picard books were critical of the Nuremburg trials. [2] Among the first significant books it published was God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley, Jr. (1951). Regnery originally had a close affiliation with the University of Chicago, and published classics for the Great Books series at the University.

In the 1950s, Regnery published books supportive of The John Birch Society, Father Charles Coughlin and Senator Joseph McCarthy. [3] [4]

In the 1980s, Alfred S. Regnery, son of Henry Regnery, took control of the company. In the 1990s, the Regnery family sold the publishing company to Phillips Publishing, which put the book publishing company into its Eagle Publishing subsidiary, which also publishes the weekly Human Events. Alfred Regnery has subsequently left his post as President of Regnery Publishing to become the publisher of the conservative American Spectator magazine. He still holds a seat on the Board of Directors. Pat Sajak is also a member of the board. Alex Novak, son of political columnist Robert Novak, is director of marketing.

Controversy and criticism

Regnery has become noteworthy, apart from authors of its books, because of its penchant for political controversy with a high profile on the national stage. It recently launched a series of books titled "The Politically Incorrect Guide to" (multiple subjects), confronting what it conceives to be the assumptions of the nation's elites, sometimes negatively described as political correctness. The Politically Incorrect Guides have often been referred to by their backronym PIGS by supporters and opponents alike. Former Regnery officials have described its marketing strategy as getting its conservative books condemned by the New York Times, generating very large sales to conservatives as a result.

Regnery Publishing has put out many controversial books. For example, in The Secret Life of Bill Clinton (1997), British journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, "manages to connect the president to everything from 1995's Oklahoma City bombing to Arkansas's drug underworld to the mysterious death of White House aide and longtime Clinton friend Vince Foster, and, of course, to Paula Jones." Among the more amusing allegations published by Regnery are those of Gary Aldrich, who claimed in his book, Unlimited Access: An FBI Agent Inside The Clinton White House (1996) that Hillary Clinton hung Crack pipes, Cock rings, Dildos and Condoms from the White House Christmas tree.[5]

In June 2004, Regnery agreed to publish Unfit for Command by former Swift Boat Veteran John O'Neill and veteran author Dr. Jerome Corsi. Television advertisements about Presidential candidate John Kerry's criticisms of U.S. soldiers and his own military record in Vietnam were unveiled nationwide at about the same time as Unfit for Command was released, creating shortages of the book in bookstores nationwide. The book exceeded 1 million copies in print.

The Kerry campaign demanded that Regnery cease publication and distribution of Unfit for Command, saying that there were inaccuracies in the book about John Kerry's war record and anti-war activities at home. Regnery responded by offering to print and distribute a reply book by John Kerry, suggesting "Winter Soldier" on the same subject matter which Kerry authored in the 1970s.

In describing Regnery's position in the publishing world, Nicholas Confessore, then writer for the liberal American Prospect, said,

Welcome to the world of Regnery Publishing—lifestyle press for conservatives, preferred printer of presidential hopefuls, and venerable publisher of books for the culture wars. Call it—gracelessly but more accurately—a medium-sized, loosely linked network of conservative types, with few degrees of separation and similar political aims. Just don't call it a conspiracy.

Regnery has published books by authors such as Newt Gingrich, former Republican Party Chairman Haley Barbour, Barbara Olson, and Ann Coulter.

Carl Ernst, an academic scholar of Islamic studies, says that the Regnery Publishing is 'promoted and supported by right-wing organizations, who are perpetuating a type of bigotry similar to anti-Semitism and racial prejudice.' As an example, Ernst notes that Robert Spencer, whom Ernst views as an Islamophobe, publishes some of his books through Regnery.

Ben Domenech

On March 21, 2006, Regnery editor Ben Domenech resigned from the company to take a blogging position with Washingtonpost.com. Domenech resigned from the Washingtonpost.com position two days later, after it was discovered that many works published under Domenech's byline in a college newspaper and The National Review Online were extensively plagiarized.

Publications

Books

Books published by Regnery include:

• Aldrich, Gary. Unlimited Access. Regnery Publishing, ISBN 0-89526-454-4.
• Buckley, William. God and Man at Yale Regnery Publishing, 1951.
• Coulter, Ann. High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton. Regnery Publishing, October 2002. ISBN 0895261138
• Horowitz, David. Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left. Regnery Publishing, September 25, 2004. ISBN 0-89526-076-X.
• Horowitz, David. The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. Regnery Publishing, February 13, 2006. ISBN 0895260034
• Davis, Mark and Tyrrell, Emmett. Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House. Regnery Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-89526-067-0
• Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose. The Secret Life of Bill Clinton. Regnery Publishing, 1997. ISBN 0-89526-408-0
• Goldberg, Bernard. Bias. Regnery Publishing, February 25, 2001 ISBN 0895261901
• Malkin, Michelle. In Defense of Internment: The Case for "Racial Profiling" in World War II and the War on Terror. ISBN 0-89526-051-4.
• Malkin, Michelle. Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild. ISBN 0-89526-030-1.
• Gingrich, Newt. Winning the Future. Regnery Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-89526-042-5
• Nietzsche, Friedrich. Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks. (1962, 1996) ISBN 0-89526-710-1. Translated with an introduction by Marianne Cowan.
• Nugent, Ted. God, Guns & Rock and Roll. Regnery Publishing, September 25, 2001. ISBN 0-89526-173-1 (316 pages)
• Olson, Barbara. Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Regnery Publishing ISBN 0-89526-274-6.
• O'Neill, John E.; & Corsi, Jerome E. Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry. Regnery Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-89526-017-4.
• Patteron, Robert. Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security. Regnery Publishing, ISBN 0-89526-086-7.
• Schlafly, Phyllis. The End of an Era. Regnery Publishing, ISBN 0-89526-659-8.
• Wells, Jonathan. Icons of Evolution. Regnery Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0895262002

The Politically Incorrect Guides

Regnery publishes The Politically Incorrect Guide™ (P.I.G.) addressing issues in "a concise overview" (no more than 80,000 words) in each book.

External links

• Official website
• Human Events' website
• Eagle Publishing's website
• Hillary Was Right An article detailing Regnery Publishing's background by Nicholas Confessore at The American Prospect, January 17, 2000
• The operative An article about Robert Novak's ties Regnery Publishing by Mary Jacoby at Salon.com, October 1, 2004