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Stephen Heintz

Stephen Heintz is President of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Recent Articles

Walls and Bridges

Can America find its way back to unity amid diversity?

Stephen Heintz Jan 18, 2019
AP Photo/ Evan Vucci President Donald Trump walks off-stage after delivering speaking at the Pentagon. O n June 4, 1919, the 66th Congress of the United States passed the 19th Amendment, recognizing the right of women to vote. Fast forward a century to January 3, 2019, as the 116th Congress was gaveled into order. Nearly one quarter of its members are women. Americans today are voting in record-shattering numbers for women, who one hundred years ago were not permitted to vote. Need we any further proof that “toward a more perfect union” is not a vain concept? The 116th Congress is the most diverse in American history. More than one hundred women now serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. They include the first Native American woman to serve in Congress; the first Somali-American; the youngest congresswoman in history. They include the first Palestinian American woman, Rashida Tlaib, who took her oath of office with a Quran owned by Thomas Jefferson. Testament to our society’s...

A New Pledge of Principles

Stephen Heintz Dec 03, 2012
This piece is part of the Prospect' s series on progressives' strategy over the next 40 years. To read the introduction, click here . The 2012 election is behind us, and now rhetoric must give way to reality: We are losing our way. The problems in our economy and our politics are mutually reinforcing. Rising economic inequality and loss of social mobility threaten democratic cohesion. Polarization and gridlock leave serious problems unaddressed and fuel historically low levels of confidence in government. The declining power of citizens, coupled with the growing power of narrower economic interests, often leads to policy choices that further advantage the latter over the former. The result? Continued erosion of our democracy and persistent economic dislocation. Defining the proper balance between the free market and the broad needs of society has been at the core of the liberal agenda for the last 150 years. Republican and Democratic presidents including Lincoln, the two...