Ben Stein

Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944, in Washington, D.C.) is a fervently conservative (with strong libertarian economic impulses) pro-life former White House speechwriter (for the late Republican President Richard Nixon); he is/was also an attorney, (former) game show host, actor, commercial personality, screenwriter, law professor, economist, author, and columnist. He is the son of noted economist and writer Herbert Stein, and his wife, Mildred. Ben Stein has a sister, Rachel, a writer.

Writing

Stein began his career as a speechwriter and lawyer for United States President Richard Nixon, and later for President Gerald Ford. Stein was constantly accused of being Deep Throat until W. Mark Felt finally admitted to being Deep Throat on May 31, 2005. Stein, in fact, has much contempt for Felt and his role in shedding light on the Watergate scandal; he has said, "If there is such a thing as justice in this life of the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man on this earth."

Related Topics:
President - Richard Nixon - Gerald Ford - Deep Throat - W. Mark Felt - May 31 - 2005

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Some have called Stein a "Nixon apologist" due to his fervent defence of Nixon's legacy. As recently as 2005 in the American Spectator Stein said " was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying, conniving war starter like LBJ, a lying, conniving seducer like Clinton ? a lying, conniving peacemaker."

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His efforts at film and television screenwriting have largely been for naught, though he is notable for his script Murder in Mississippi and contributed to the creation of the well-liked TV comedy Fernwood 2-Night, among other works.

Related Topics:
Film - Television - Comedy - Fernwood 2-Night

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A prodigious writer, Stein has written books on several topics including economics, and is a vocal supporter of the Republican Party. He writes a regular column in the conservative magazine The American Spectator. Stein has also written for numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine and Barron's Magazine, where his discussion of the Michael Milken Drexel Burnham Lambert junk bond situation as well as the ethical dimensions of management buyouts attracted heavy US national attention in the 1980s and 1990s. Stein is a pro-life activist and was given a Pro-Life Award in 2003 by the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund.

Related Topics:
Economics - Republican Party - The American Spectator - The Wall Street Journal - The New York Times - New York Magazine - Barron's Magazine - Michael Milken - Drexel Burnham Lambert - Junk bond - Management buyouts - 1980s - 1990s - Pro-life - Right to Life

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He is very interested in American Civil War history, and is a strong supporter of the Civil War Preservation Trust.

Related Topics:
American Civil War - Civil War Preservation Trust

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His book titles to date (7 fiction, 9 nonfiction) include:

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• DREEMZ (1978)
• The View from Sunset Boulevard: America as brought to you by the people who make television (1979)
• Ludes (1982)
• Financial Passages (1985)
• Hollywood Days, Hollywood Nights: the Diary of a Mad Screenwriter (1988)
• A License to Steal: the Untold Story of Michael Milken and the Conspiracy to Bilk the Nation (1992)
• How to Ruin Your Life (2002) ISBN 1561709743
• How to Ruin Your Love Life (2003) ISBN 1401902405
• How to Ruin Your Financial Life (2004) ISBN 1401902413
• Can America Survive? The Rage of the Left, the Truth, and What to Do About It (2004) ISBN 1401903339