INTRODUCING W. CLEON SKOUSEN & SONS
A Little Background About This Website
W. Cleon Skousen
My name is James Michael Pratt. As Chairman of PowerThink Publishing and American Documents, I am honored to introduce you to a hero of 
mine, W. Cleon Skousen, and to his sons who carry on his legacy.
I first began reading books and listening to talks on tape by W. Cleon Skousen thirty-five years ago. I never could have dreamed I would one day be a publisher of his works, let alone a fellow author of my own series of historical and inspirational category works. To be honest, I wouldn’t have believed you even one year ago if you would have told me I would be privileged to also be an editor of the just released 30 Year Anniversary Edition of Dr. Skousens widely popular, The Five Thousand Year Leap.
See, W. Cleon Skousen is the real deal. Writing his works in the typewriter and library catalogue card research era, I didn’t begin mine until the advent of word processing with all the miraculous time saving and research connectivity features available. I could go on and on, and also relate with emotion my three personal meetings with Mr. Skousen; how they years ago, impacted my life. But…
…just let me say that, we at PowerThink, are excited to know that you can have a relationship with Dr. Skousen here at this site if you choose! His words are timeless and they echo across the divide of time as if he were here with us, instructing us. In short, all of his words are as relevant today as when he began writing them decades ago. This site will present all of the 28 principles Dr. Skousen illuminates as guiding truths used by the Founding Fathers to construct the US Constitution 222 years ago.
THE SKOUSEN FAMILY
We are so very delighted to be associated with his capable sons and family, all so eager to answer your questions and build upon the legacy of faith, virtue, and constitutional studies which W. Cleon Skousen is known for. While you will be hearing from me and other editors from PowerThink and America Documents Publishing from time to time, I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Skousen’s three youngest sons, Harold, Paul, and Brent Skousen have taken up the patriotic banner of their late father and will be his voice, and our regular contributors.
We at PowerThink, and the Skousen family, also appreciate the warm-hearted and stirring foreword to the 2009 edition of The Five Thousand Year Leap offered by another America patriot, Mr. Glenn Beck. He has been most generous in his words for their father’s work and has done more to bring the work of Dr. Skousen to light than any other individual in America today. We can’t say enough about this good man and his focus, but will say this: Cleon Skousen’s voice reached out and touched Mr. Beck, and he will do the same to you if you let him. What you do with what he teaches you is for you to decide.
Enough from me… It is my honor to introduce Paul Skousen son of the late W. Cleon Skousen, who will share more of the man and his mission; Dr. W. Cleon Skousen.
Paul B. Skousen Introduces Dr. W. Cleon Skousen
What is the magic in the Constitution that created the most powerful nation in the history of the world?
That was my father’s question while he attended George Washington Law School back in the mid-1930s. To his frustration there was no class, no book, and no professor who could teach, highlight, isolate or explain those principles of Constitutional freedom. With no source out there, dad decided he’d have to dig out these principles himself.
So began a life of study and love for the Constitution and the founding fathers.
During those years of research, he also worked for the FBI as J. Edgar Hoover’s communication director, became the chief of police for a major U.S. city, and he taught thousands of students at a university.
It was this part of his life when he wrote a national best seller called The Naked Communist. It became the “bible” on communism for students of freedom all across America, and eventually sold more than 1.5 million copies. The messages in that book continue to be as valid today as they were 50 years ago. Perhaps you have heard of his “50 goals of communism” that have been the topic of talk-radio shows and Internet emails for at least the past ten years. Get a copy and join the rest of us in our disbelief at how many of those goals have already been achieved.
In the 1970s, dad formed a couple of organizations with the specific purpose of educating Americans on the freedom formulas he had distilled and was writing about. Once those ideas were packaged, he began a seminar program and taught more than a million people in all 50 states about the founders, their struggle with concepts and freedom, and the inspiration of God that helped them through some difficult times. That same seminar program is still available for those interested.
Dad did all of this while raising eight children, writing more than two dozen books, publishing hundreds of articles, and giving thousands—yes, thousands—of speeches. It was a life well lived.
And as a speaker at his funeral declared, “W. Cleon Skousen is a modern American Founding Father.” I couldn’t agree more.
Dad’s hope and purpose behind The Five Thousand Year Leap was to present the fundamental ideas of freedom that are universal and applicable all over the world. His follow-on book, The Making of America, is where he zeroed in on the 286 specific principles of freedom contained in our own Constitution. With these two books he had the answer, finally, to his original question posed back in 1934—how does our Constitution actually work?
I love both of these books. They help me see daily headlines in a new light—to recognize instantly the violation or support of basic principles that hurt or help our nation.
I recommend these books to all my friends and family who are bothered by the gradual erosion of liberties over the past few decades—and especially now. These are your curriculum for your self-guided course through “Freedom 101”—written on a high-school level, thoroughly documented, and which should be a permanent part of every American’s library.
The newest edition of The Five Thousand Year Leap—30 Year Anniversary Edition includes all the updated material dad wanted in that book, plus a couple of essays that flesh out some important concepts we all should understand. We are also grateful for the wonderful introduction by Glenn Beck and thrilled at the honor he regularly pays our father.
I would enjoy hearing back from you about your own thoughts as you read these books. And please feel free to drop a line any time with questions, comments or observations.
Sincerely,
Paul B. Skousen