Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University; director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions; “Robby George”; conservative Catholic; well-connected in influential Catholic intellectual circles; helped Vermeule convert to Catholicism 2016; hosted Vermeule’s “All Human Conflict Is Ultimately Theological” speech 2019; keynote at ISI 2023 American Politics and Government Summit
Who He Is
Robert P. George — universally known as “Robby” in conservative circles — is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, one of the most important nodes in the conservative Catholic intellectual network. He is well-connected across influential conservative Catholic circles and has helped form a network of moral and “civics” institutions adjacent to prestigious universities across the country (connected to Luis Tellez and the Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education, or FEHE).
He is recognizable for his elegant three-piece suits, his banjo-playing, and his much-hyped friendship with Cornel West — the Black leftist intellectual, actor, and 2024 presidential candidate — which he uses to project bridge-building credibility.
Position Within the New Right
George occupies an unusual position: he is a serious conservative Catholic thinker who is ideologically closer to the old fusionist conservatism than to the New Right — defending free markets, traditional constitutionalism, academic tenure, intellectual freedom, rights of religious dissenters, and John Rawls’s idea of “the fact of reasonable pluralism.” He uses subsidiarity (the Catholic concept about supporting local institutions) to justify limited government, not integralist administrative capture.
But he is also strident in his opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights, and Field notes (based on his 2024 Facebook posts) that he probably voted for Trump over Kamala Harris.
His relationship to the New Right is one of partial overlap: he shares the anti-abortion and social conservative agenda but is ideologically opposed to the administrative authoritarianism of Vermeule and the postliberals.
James Madison Program at Princeton
The James Madison Program is a conservative “civics” institute at Princeton that funds fellowships and events. It has served as a pipeline for conservative Catholic intellectuals — Nathan Pinkoski was a postdoctoral fellow there. The program is connected to a broader network of similar institutes adjacent to elite universities.
The ISI Conference (2023)
Field attended the ISI American Politics and Government Summit (2023) at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, where she describes George as the final keynote speaker. His talk was titled “Leaders Should Be Servants” and referenced the common good about thirty-five times. He spoke in the old-fashioned language of fusionist conservatism and American Catholicism — defending the free market, intellectual freedom, religious pluralism.
When audience members pushed him on New Right positions (ending tenure, banning curriculum, using government for substantive moral purposes), he moderated. The final questioner asked: “Under what circumstances may the right to revolution be exercised?” George replied: “When there is no other choice and there is genuine tyranny. And we are not there.”
Field’s verdict: “Robby George didn’t know what time it was.” He was shadow-boxing with the New Right (and with Vermeule) while not wanting to upset the crowd. He represented a haunting from the not-so-distant past — the fusionist conservatism that the Postliberals and integralists have systematically rejected.
Relationship to Vermeule
George supported Vermeule’s conversion to Catholicism in 2016 — making him personally complicit in creating the most radical Postliberal intellectual in America. Vermeule delivered “All Human Conflict Is Ultimately Theological” at George’s James Madison Program in 2019 — a speech openly promoting Schmittian political theology.
Field is careful not to blame George for Vermeule’s politics, but the juxtaposition matters: George defends liberal democratic procedures and moderate Catholic conservatism; his most famous protégé is an integralist who believes liberalism is aligned with Satan.
Cross-References
- Adrian Vermeule — supported his conversion to Catholicism; hosted his 2019 Schmitt speech
- Nathan Pinkoski — postdoctoral fellow at George’s James Madison Program
- Catholic Integralism — the movement that built on George’s Catholic network while radicalizing far beyond his position
- Postliberalism — the camp that has departed from George’s fusionist Catholicism
- National Conservatism — ISI conference where George spoke
- Intercollegiate Studies Institute — hosted the 2023 summit where he gave his keynote