James Q Wilson died on March 2, 2012 at the age of 80. Every major American newspaper ran a long obituary, magazines and syndicated columnists examined his life and work, and prominent officials of both parties, from governments past and present, issued statements. Why all the fuss over a retired political science professor? Because, as President George W. Bush stated when awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003, Wilson was arguably “the most influential political scientist in America since the White House was home to Professor Woodrow Wilson.”
— John J. DiIulio, Jr.
