Steve Forbes to speak at Fort Smith chamber banquet

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) 66 views 

Steve Forbes, former Presidential candidate, president and CEO of Forbes Inc. and editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine, will be the featured speaker at the annual banquet of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The event is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Feb. 8, at the Fort Smith Convention Center. Tickets are $40 each. Contact the chamber at 783-3111 to reserve tickets.

Top sponsors of the event are Golden Living, Sykes and Baldor Electric Co.

Forbes’ media company includes Forbes magazine, Forbes.com, RealClearPolitics.com and RealClearSports.com and RealClearWorld.com. Forbes writes editorials for each issue of Forbes under the heading of “Fact and Comment.” The media company was launched by Forbes’ grandfather, B.C. Forbes, and managed for decades by Forbes’ father, Malcolm Forbes

In 1996 and 2000, Forbes campaigned for the Republican nomination for the Presidency. Key to his platform were a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system for working Americans, parental choice of schools for their children, term limits and a strong national defense.

Forbes also campaigned for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, during a 1996 congressional race. Paul is now in the GOP Presidential primary. Forbes also has worked on the presidential campaigns of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Forbes is the author or co-author of “How Capitalism Will Save Us: Why Free People and Free Markets Are the Best Answer in Today’s Economy,” “Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today … and the Lessons You Can Learn,: and “Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS.”

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan named Forbes the chairman of the bi-partisan Board for International Broadcasting (BIB). In this position, he oversaw the operation of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Broadcasting behind the Iron Curtain, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were praised by Poland's Lech Walesa as being critical to the struggle against communism. Forbes was reappointed to his post by President George H. W. Bush and served until 1993.