David Nolan and several other friends got together in the summer of 1971 after being disgusted with then president, Richard Nixon announced to the public the implementation of wage and price controls, which basically removed the gold standard and allowed the government to impose inflation easier. Along with the ‘illegal’ Vietnam War, loss of fiscal conservative direction of the Republican Party and the socialist directions of the Democrat Party, the group started the think tank to come up with a better political solution for real limited government and individual freedom.
The group had many preliminary meetings in Westminster, Colorado and decided to start sending letters across the country to libertarian minded people. They decided that if they received 100 positive responses, they would move forward with a new political party.
After receiving overwhelming responses on December 11, 1971, David Nolan and seven other friends met at the home of Luke Zell in Colorado Springs to officially form the ‘United States’ Libertarian Party. The group held a press conference early the following year to announce the new “Libertarian Party,” which amazingly the mass press welcomed.
Thus, Colorado is the Birthplace of the Libertarian Party.
