Paul M. Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation and the first president of The Heritage Foundation, died yesterday morning at age 66.

In a statement, Heritage President Ed Feulner called Weyrich "a truly visionary leader," with an "unerring eye for spotting the path to victory in the midst of seeming disaster." http://www.heritage.org/Press/NewsReleases/nr121808.cfm

"America has lost a great patriot with the passing of Paul Weyrich," Heritage Vice President Becky Norton-Dunlop wrote in the Wall Street Journal. ttp://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTAwZjBmMDU4Zjk4NDBkMDEyNDJmYzdjNzEyOTJjMGQ

"He was an individual who understood the miracle of America and believed it was worth investing a major part of his life in protecting and preserving it. So, he became a committed warrior for the principles that had undergirded the United States of America since its Founding and provided opportunity for the millions of individuals who are part of the fabric of our nation."

Writing on National Review Online, Heritage scholar Lee Edwards paid tribute to Weyrich's humor. "Paul may have had the fastest wit in Washington. Right after the operation to remove his two legs, he was visited by a delegation of young men from his church where he served as deacon. Looking at their long faces, he looked up from his bed and said, 'Well, I've been trying to think of something cheerful to say, but frankly I'm stumped.'"

Watch a memorial slideshow and read tributes from Weyrich's friends in the conservative movement on The Foundry, Heritage's blog. http://blog.heritage.org/2008/12/18/conservative-leader-paul-weyrich-dies-first-to-lead-heritage/

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