Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
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Thomas Ernest Woods Jr. (born August 1, 1972) is an American author, podcast host, and
libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
commentator who is currently a senior fellow at the
Mises Institute The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and ana ...
.Naji Filali
Interview with Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
,
Harvard Political Review The ''Harvard Political Review'' is a quarterly, nonpartisan American magazine and website on politics and public policy founded in 1969 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It covers domestic and international affairs and politica ...
, August 16, 2011.
A proponent of the
Austrian School The Austrian school is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivat ...
of economics, Woods hosts a daily podcast, ''The Tom Woods Show,'' and formerly co-hosted the weekly podcast ''Contra
Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American New Keynesian economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He was a columnist for ''The New York Times'' fro ...
''. Woods' ''
The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History ''The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History'' is a work of paleoconservative literature covering various issues in U.S. history by Thomas E. Woods, published in December 2004. This book was the first in the '' Politically Incorrect Guid ...
'' in 2004 interpreted U.S. history through a
paleoconservative Paleoconservatism is a political philosophy and a strain of conservatism in the United States stressing American nationalism, Christian ethics, regionalism, traditionalist conservatism, and non-interventionism. Paleoconservatism's concerns over ...
and, as described by some writers, pro-Confederate lens. This, and his 2009 book '' Meltdown'' on the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, became
New York Times bestseller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
s. His subsequent writing has focused on promoting libertarianism and libertarian leaning political figures such as former Congressman and presidential candidate
Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...
. Woods also teaches
homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...
courses on
Western civilization Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompasses the social no ...
and government called ''The Liberty Homeschooler'' as part of the ''Ron Paul Curriculum''. In 1994, Woods was a founding member of the
League of the South The League of the South (LS) is an American White nationalism, white nationalist, Neo-Confederates, neo-Confederate, White supremacy, white supremacist organization that says its goal is "a free and independent Southern republic". Headquarte ...
, but he no longer associates with it.


Education

Woods holds a BA from
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
(1994) and an
MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...
and
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
from Columbia (2000), all in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
. His thesis became ''The Church Confronts Modernity: Catholic Intellectuals and the Progressive Era,'' which he says "has nothing to do with libertarianism."


Career and views

Woods is a senior fellow of the
Mises Institute The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and ana ...
and is on the editorial board for the institute's ''Libertarian Papers''. He was a founding member of the
League of the South The League of the South (LS) is an American White nationalism, white nationalist, Neo-Confederates, neo-Confederate, White supremacy, white supremacist organization that says its goal is "a free and independent Southern republic". Headquarte ...
(see , which he has since denounced. Woods was a Richard M. Weaver Fellow at the
Intercollegiate Studies Institute The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes conservative thought on college campuses. It was founded in 1953 by Frank Chodorov with William F. Buckley Jr. as its first president. It sponso ...
in 1995 and 1996. In August 2020, Woods joined the advisory board of the
Mises Caucus The Libertarian Party Mises Caucus (LPMC) is a caucus within the Libertarian Party (United States), Libertarian Party in the United States that promotes paleolibertarianism, fusionism, as well as a more conservative version of American libertar ...
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
where he continues advising as of April 10, 2022. Woods is the author of 20 books. Two of his books, '' Politically Incorrect Guide to American History'' and '' Meltdown'' were on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list in 2005 and 2009, respectively. At the time he wrote ''Politically Incorrect Guide to American History,'' he was teaching at
Suffolk County Community College Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) is a public community college in Selden, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and is funded in part by Suffolk County, New York. Suffolk County Community College was ...
on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, New York. Woods' articles have appeared in publications including ''
The American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association, for which it is an official publication. It targets readers interested in all period ...
'', ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...
'', ''
Investor's Business Daily ''Investor's Business Daily'' (''IBD'') is an American newspaper and website covering the stock market, international business, finance, and economics. Founded in 1984 by William O'Neil as a print newspaper, it is owned by News Corp and headquar ...
'', ''
Modern Age The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...
'', ''
American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...
'', '' Journal of Markets & Morality'', ''
New Oxford Review The ''New Oxford Review'' (NOR) is a magazine of traditionalist Catholic cultural and theological commentary.Ronald Lora, William Henry Longton, ''The conservative press in twentieth-century America'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p. 20/ref> ...
'', ''
The Freeman ''The Freeman'' (formerly published as ''The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty'' or ''Ideas on Liberty'') was an American libertarian magazine, formerly published by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). It was founded in 1950 by John Chambe ...
'', ''
The Independent Review ''The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering political economy and the critical analysis of government policy. It is published by the Independent Institute, a conservative ...
'', ''Journal des Économistes et des Études Humaines'', ''
AD2000 The Joshua Project is an Evangelicalism, evangelical Christian organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs, United States, which seeks to coordinate the work of Christian_mission#Contemporary_concepts_of_mission, missionary ...
'', ''
Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...
'', '' Human Rights Review'', ''
Catholic Historical Review ''The Catholic Historical Review'' (CHR) is the official organ of the American Catholic Historical Association. It was established at The Catholic University of America in 1915 by Thomas Joseph Shahan and Peter Guilday and is published quarterly b ...
'', the '' Catholic Social Science Review'', '' The Latin Mass: A Journal of Catholic Culture'', and ''
The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a bimonthly magazine published by the American Ideas Institute. The magazine was founded in 2002 by Pat Buchanan, Scott McConnell and Taki Theodoracopulos to advance an anti- neoconservative perspect ...
''. Woods is a Rothbardian
libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
and
anarcho-capitalist Anarcho-capitalism (colloquially: ancap or an-cap) is a political philosophy and economic theory that advocates for the abolition of Sovereign state, centralized states in favor of Stateless society, stateless societies, where systems of p ...
.


Libertarianism

which asserts that
individual rights Individual rights, also known as natural rights, are rights held by individuals by virtue of being human. Some theists believe individual rights are bestowed by God. An individual right is a moral claim to freedom of action. Group rights, also k ...
,
property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...
, peace, the
free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...
, and the nonaggression principle are paramount and that
collectivism In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, struct ...
, violence, and coercion should be opposed. Like some anarcho-capitalists,


U.S. Constitution

Woods co-authored ''Who Killed the Constitution?'' with
Kevin Gutzman Kevin R. Constantine Gutzman (; born May 20, 1963) is an American constitutional scholar and historian. He is Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University. Biography Gutzman holds a B.A. from the University of Texas (1985); a J. ...
, Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University. Woods and Gutzman criticize what they view as
unconstitutional In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...
political overreach spanning from
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
to the
Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...
. Woods has promoted the views of
Lysander Spooner Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist, entrepreneur, lawyer, essayist, natural rights legal theorist, pamphleteer, political philosopher, and writer often associated with the Boston anarchist tr ...
, who argued that
the Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
holds no authority because the public has not explicitly consented to it and because the
Federal Government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
in his view has not followed its obligations and limits. Woods advocates the
compact theory In United States constitutional theory, compact theory is a rejected interpretation of the Constitution which asserts the United States was formed through a compact agreed upon by all the states, and that the federal government is thus a creation ...
and promotes the legal theory of
nullification Nullification may refer to: * Nullification (U.S. Constitution), a legal theory that a state has the right to nullify any federal law deemed unconstitutional with respect to the United States Constitution ** Nullification crisis, the 1832 confron ...
, which, he has said, was espoused by
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
and
James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...
in the
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799 in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. The resolutions argued ...
. In his book ''Nullification'', he details the history of and justification for
nullification Nullification may refer to: * Nullification (U.S. Constitution), a legal theory that a state has the right to nullify any federal law deemed unconstitutional with respect to the United States Constitution ** Nullification crisis, the 1832 confron ...
and its adoption by various political movements including
abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...
, slave holders, and those opposed to
tariffs A tariff or import tax is a duty imposed by a national government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods or raw materials and is ...
. He goes on to suggest nullification as a tool that states can use to check the powers of the federal government. As such, Woods is a supporter of the
Tenth Amendment The Tenth Amendment (Amendment X) to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791. It expresses the principle of federalism, whereby the federal government and the individual states share powe ...
Center, which aims to resist what it views as federal overreach through state action. Woods views the
Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
as a limitation solely on federal power, and not on the power of the states. In an article for the ''
Southern Partisan ''Southern Partisan'' is a neo-Confederate online magazine based in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. It is focused on the Southern region and states that were formerly members of the Confederate States of America. Founded in 1979 as ...
'' magazine in 1997 Woods writes: "The Bill of Rights, moreover, erroneously invoked by modern Civil Libertarians, was never intended to protect individuals from the state governments. Jefferson is far from alone in insisting that only the federal government is restricted from regulating the press, church-state relations, and so forth. The states may do as they wish in these areas."


Conservatism

In a 2011 interview, Woods said that he entered Harvard as a "middle-of-the-road Republican, the very thing that drives me most berserk today" and then later became a "fully-fledged libertarian." He has criticized those he deems ''neoconservative'' and previously identified himself as traditional conservative. Woods' '' Politically Incorrect Guide to American History'' has been described as having
neo-Confederate Neo-Confederates are groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions during the American Civil War in a positive light. The League of the South (formed in 1994), the Sons of Confederate Veterans (formed 1896 ...
themes; in it, "Woods contends that slavery was benign", according to the book ''Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction''.'''' It was scathingly reviewed by commentator
Max Boot Max A. Boot (born September 12, 1969) is a Russian-born naturalized American author, editorialist, lecturer, and military historian. He worked as a writer and editor for ''The Christian Science Monitor'' and then for ''The Wall Street Journal ...
of ''
The Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis, and commentary that was published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' was described as a ...
.'' Boot accused Woods of being overly sympathetic with Southerners such as
John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Born in South Carolina, he adamantly defended American s ...
and their belief in a state's right to
secede Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the c ...
and in state nullification, while exaggerating the militarism of
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
,
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
, and
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
. Woods responded by criticizing Boot as an embodiment of "everything that is wrong with modern conservatism." Historian David Greenberg dismissed the book as "a brisk tour of U.S. history from Colonial to Clintonian times, filtered through a lens of
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...
, circa 1939" that is "incorrect in more than just its politics" and that "would be tedious to debunk." Judge James Haley, by contrast, praised the book in the conservative ''
Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis, and commentary that was published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' was described as a ...
'' as "a compelling rebuttal to the liberal sentiment encrusted upon current history texts."


Anti-Immigration

Woods opposes immigration. He argued in a 1995
The Freeman ''The Freeman'' (formerly published as ''The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty'' or ''Ideas on Liberty'') was an American libertarian magazine, formerly published by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). It was founded in 1950 by John Chambe ...
article "Liberty and Immigration" that libertarians have made a mistake to welcome immigration (legal as well as illegal), because he views
open borders An open border is a border that enables free movement of people and often of goods between jurisdictions with no restrictions on movement and is lacking a border control. A border may be an open border due to intentional legislation allowing fr ...
to infringe on the property rights of homeowners.


Economics

Woods has been an advocate of hard money, and is critical of the
Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...
and other
central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
s which he views as responsible for unnatural
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...
and the
business cycle Business cycles are intervals of general expansion followed by recession in economic performance. The changes in economic activity that characterize business cycles have important implications for the welfare of the general population, governmen ...
. Economist
Steven Horwitz Steven G. Horwitz (February 7, 1964 – June 27, 2021) was an American economist of the Austrian School. Horwitz was the Distinguished Professor of Free Enterprise in the department of economics in the Miller College of Business at Ball State Uni ...
has pointed out that Woods'
monetary theory Monetary economics is the branch of economics that studies the different theories of money: it provides a framework for analyzing money and considers its functions (as medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account), and it considers how ...
and definitions of inflation and
deflation In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% and becomes negative. While inflation reduces the value of currency over time, deflation increases i ...
rely on a Rothbardian 100%
reserve requirement Reserve requirements are central bank regulations that set the minimum amount that a commercial bank must hold in liquid assets. This minimum amount, commonly referred to as the Bank reserves, commercial bank's reserve, is generally determined ...
, which is not the only perspective in the
Austrian School The Austrian school is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivat ...
. Woods believes that the
gender pay gap The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are Employment, employed. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct measurements of the pay gap: non ...
results because "women often intend to leave the labor force for extended periods of time in order to have children, they do not consider certain high-paying fields where their knowledge would be obsolete after so long an absence." Woods has been highly critical of
Keynesian economics Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomics, macroeconomic theories and Economic model, models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongl ...
. Woods co-hosted the ''Contra Krugman'' podcast (from September 2015 to June 2020) with economist
Robert P. Murphy Robert Patrick Murphy (born May 23, 1976) is an American economist. Murphy is research assistant professor with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University. He has been affiliated with Arthur Laffer, Laffer Associates, the Pacific Research ...
, which critiqued
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winning
New Keynesian New Keynesian economics is a school of macroeconomics that strives to provide microeconomic foundations for Keynesian economics. It developed partly as a response to criticisms of Keynesian macroeconomics by adherents of new classical macroe ...
economist
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American New Keynesian economics, New Keynesian economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the CUNY Graduate Center, Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He ...
's ''
Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specificat ...
'' columns through the lens of free market
Austrian economics The Austrian school is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivations and actions of individuals along with thei ...
and said it taught economics "by uncovering and dissecting the errors of Krugman."


Affiliation with League of the South

In 1994, Woods was a founding member of the
League of the South The League of the South (LS) is an American White nationalism, white nationalist, Neo-Confederates, neo-Confederate, White supremacy, white supremacist organization that says its goal is "a free and independent Southern republic". Headquarte ...
, for which he has been criticized. Woods has argued that the League has changed its politics and was not
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
or
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
in 1994. A 2005 article in ''
Reason Magazine ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation, with the tagline "Free Minds and Free Markets". The magazine aims to produce independent journalism that is "outside of the left/right echo chamber." A ...
'' called out Woods for his background in the
neo-Confederate Neo-Confederates are groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions during the American Civil War in a positive light. The League of the South (formed in 1994), the Sons of Confederate Veterans (formed 1896 ...
organization, stating his views meant he was not a libertarian. The author also noted his frequent writing in the group's magazine, ''The Southern Patriot'', up through 1997 and received a quote from Woods stating that he didn't disagree with most of the views he made in said publications. An article in the same year by a member of the ''League of the South'' published in ''
The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a bimonthly magazine published by the American Ideas Institute. The magazine was founded in 2002 by Pat Buchanan, Scott McConnell and Taki Theodoracopulos to advance an anti- neoconservative perspect ...
'' praised Woods' background in the group, his book, and the views expressed within, especially those concerning the
Confederacy A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
and how its defeat was the "defining moment when the United States took its steps towards the abyss of the monstrous centralised state, rootless society and decadent culture that we have today." In 2013, an article by the non-profit
Political Research Associates Political Research Associates (PRA), formerly Midwest Research, Chicago (1981–87), is a non-profit research group focused on social justice and the pursuit of building a just democracy. The PRA is located in Somerville, Massachusetts. Missi ...
, which studies right-wing white supremacist and extremist groups, noted that Woods was a frequent speaker at
neo-Confederate Neo-Confederates are groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions during the American Civil War in a positive light. The League of the South (formed in 1994), the Sons of Confederate Veterans (formed 1896 ...
events throughout the 1990s and since then, along with contributing to the ''American Secession Project'' started in 2000. The authors noted that a 1997 article written by Woods in the neo-confederate ''
Southern Partisan ''Southern Partisan'' is a neo-Confederate online magazine based in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. It is focused on the Southern region and states that were formerly members of the Confederate States of America. Founded in 1979 as ...
'' magazine had him include in the author byline that he was a "founding member of the League of the South." An article from 2014 in
Alan Keyes Alan Lee Keyes (born August 7, 1950) is an American politician, political scientist, and perennial candidate who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987. A member of the Republican P ...
' ''Renew America'' organization criticized Woods for his "secessionist libertarianism" and his ongoing involvement with members of "the white supremacist League of the South", though pointed out that it was likely he was naive in his viewpoints, but not racist. Woods contended in 2018 that the League was founded as a "decentralist" organization and then later took a "dramatic" and "vicious" turn toward
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
and
anti-semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
. Woods argued: "To show that the organization has undergone a dramatic change, I don't exactly need to hire a private detective. The League’s president himself wrote of having made a 'conscious change' to the League, such that 'we have radicalized by openly and directly addressing the
Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...
Question and the Jew Question.' Here is express admission of what was already obvious to anyone of good will: this is not the League
Jeffrey Tucker Jeffrey Albert Tucker (born December 19, 1963) is an American libertarian writer, publisher, entrepreneur and advocate of anarcho-capitalism and Bitcoin. He worked for Ron Paul, the Mises Institute, and LewRockwell.com for many years. Beginni ...
and I joined in 1994. Anyone who says otherwise has no idea what he’s talking about. This in fact is why all the PhDs present at the League’s founding, including one of the world’s top David Hume scholars, by all accounts, are long gone – as even the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
now concedes." In an interview with Reason TV's
Matt Welch Matthew Lee Welch (born July 31, 1968) is an American blogger, journalist, author, and libertarian political pundit. Early life Welch was born on July 31, 1968, in Bellflower, California. He was raised in Long Beach, California. He attended UC ...
, Woods stated, "Anyone who knows or listens to me, knows I would not be involved with anything sinister. The problem is I will not apologize because the group I joined were a bunch of nerdy academics like me and there was nothing wrong with that group. I could save myself an enormous amount of grief if I would apologize but I will not apologize for this because I am sick and tired of cowards who give in to this type of pressure."


COVID-19

During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Woods has criticized public health measures meant to control the spread of COVID-19, questioning their efficacy and expounding on the supposed dangers of
social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...
,
masking Masking can mean: Arts and media * Masking (art), protecting a selected area from change during production, as with tape and stencils * Masking (illustration), an art technique that influences the intended perception of a character * MASKING, t ...
, and mandatory lockdowns. His claims in a November 7, 2020, speech ''Dangers of the Covid Cult'' opposing these non-pharmaceutical interventions were labeled misleading and rebutted by ''Health Feedback'' (a member of
WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...
's
Vaccine Safety Net Vaccine Safety Net (VSN) is a global network of websites aimed at helping people judge the quality of online information on vaccine safety. It was established in 2003 by the World Health Organization (WHO), which had previously set up the indepen ...
), which Woods disputed.
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
removed the
Mises Institute The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and ana ...
's upload of the video for violating the website's policy on
medical misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...
. On April 6, 2022, Woods called for "a full-blown book-length demolition of what ''
public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
'' has been up to for the past half century."


''The Tom Woods Show''

Woods conducts interviews on economic topics, foreign policy, and history in his daily
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
, ''The Tom Woods Show'', since September 2013.


Awards

Woods received the 2019
Hayek Hayek is a surname: * It is a variant spelling of the Czech surname Hájek, meaning 'small groove'. It also occurs among Polish Jews in a Polish language spelling as ''Chajek''. * The family name Hayek, Hayeck, Haiek or Haick (Levantine Arabic: ح ...
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Austrian Economics Center in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and awards from the
Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux and based in Oakland, California. The institute has more than 140 research fellows and is organized into seven centers addressing a range of pol ...
and the
Institute for Humane Studies The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the teaching and research of classical liberalism in higher education in the United States. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs, and events for faculty and g ...
at
George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...
. Between 1995 and 2005, he was awarded $8,000 from the
Earhart Foundation The Earhart Foundation was an American conservative private charitable foundation that funded research and scholarship since its founding in 1929 by oil executive Harry Boyd Earhart. Richard Ware served as the Foundation's longtime president. Hi ...
. His book ''The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy'' (2005) won the $50,000 first prize in the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Awards.


Personal life

Woods is a traditionalist
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. In 1994, he married his first wife Heather, with whom he had two daughters. In 2020 he announced his engagement to Jenna Laino, and the two were married in 2022.


Bibliography


As author

* ''The Great Façade:
Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...
and the Regime of Novelty in the Catholic Church'' (co-authored with
Christopher Ferrara Christopher A. Ferrara (born January 6, 1952) is an American Roman Catholic lawyer, anti-abortion activist, political pundit, and writer. He is the founder and president of the American Catholic Lawyers Association. He is also a regular columnist ...
; 2002) * ''The Church Confronts Modernity: Catholic Intellectuals and the Progressive Era'' (2004) * ''
The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History ''The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History'' is a work of paleoconservative literature covering various issues in U.S. history by Thomas E. Woods, published in December 2004. This book was the first in the '' Politically Incorrect Guid ...
'' (2004) * ''The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy'' (2005) * ''How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization'' (2005) * ''33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask'' (2007) * ''Sacred Then and Sacred Now: The Return of the Old Latin Mass'' (2007)Also o
audio book
, as read by the author Thomas Woods.
* ''Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush'' (co-authored with
Kevin Gutzman Kevin R. Constantine Gutzman (; born May 20, 1963) is an American constitutional scholar and historian. He is Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University. Biography Gutzman holds a B.A. from the University of Texas (1985); a J. ...
; 2008) () * ''Beyond
Distributism Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching princi ...
'' (2008),
Acton Institute The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is an American conservative and libertarian think tank in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with an office in Rome. Its stated mission is "to promote a free and virtuous society characterized by i ...
. * '' Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse'' (February 2009) () * ''Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century '' (2010) * ''Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse'' (2011) * ''Real Dissent: A Libertarian Sets Fire to the Index Card of Allowable Opinion'' (2014) * several free
eBooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...
* "Diary of a Psychosis: How Public Health Disgraced Itself During COVID Mania" (2023)


As editor

* * * * (Co-edited with
Murray Polner Murray Polner (March 15, 1928 – May 30, 2019) was an American editor and author. He was the founding editor of '' Present Tense'', a liberal current affairs magazine published by the American Jewish Committee, a job he held for the entire two de ...
.) *


References


External links


Official website
(includes the ''Tom Woods Show'' podcast) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Thomas 1972 births Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Roman Catholics American anarcho-capitalists American columnists American economists American male non-fiction writers American interview podcasters American political commentators American political writers American traditionalist Catholics American writers of Armenian descent Catholics from Massachusetts Catholic libertarians Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Critics of neoconservatism Harvard College alumni Historians from Massachusetts Historians of the United States Historians of the Catholic Church Libertarian historians Libertarian theorists Mises Institute people Right-libertarianism People from Melrose, Massachusetts Suffolk County Community College faculty Traditionalist Catholic writers Jeffersonian democracy League of the South members