Harry Browne passed away on March 1, 2006. It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since this great libertarian left us.

For those who are relatively new to libertarianism, you may be only vaguely familiar with Harry Browne and his work, if at all.

When we speak of hardcore libertarians in today’s world, the majority of them have probably identified themselves as such only within the last 10 years. Most young libertarians I know today were introduced to it by the 2007/ 2008 Ron Paul presidential campaign, or the 2011/ 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign, coupled with using the internet for the vast amounts of information.

I wish Harry had been around to see the Ron Paul presidential campaigns. While he was always critical of the state, he retained a great deal of optimism and hope for the future, even during a time when the number of libertarians was far fewer than today.

Harry Browne is most famous for being the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee in 1996, and again in 2000. Although he previously did not engage in the political process, even refusing to vote, he saw his presidential campaigns as an opportunity to educate others on the benefits of liberty.

When Harry ran for president, he never compromised his principles. He always had a way of delivering his message so that it would not necessarily come as a shock to the audience. But his message always revolved around seeking solutions outside of the state.

When he would do interviews during his campaigns, Harry would admit that he had no illusions of winning. He really didn’t even want to win. He would say what he would do as president just to make it obvious on how much our political process has failed. For example, he would say that he would pardon all people who had been convicted of victimless crimes only, including drug offenses. He also made it clear that he would bring all of the troops home immediately.

Harry’s most notable and most controversial articles appeared after September 11, 2001. He wrote a series of articles titled When Will We Learn. It was a critique of U.S. foreign policy, and he was one of the very few at that time willing to point out that the September 11 attacks were a result of blowback from an interventionist foreign policy. If you are not old enough to remember this time well, it was a period when Americans were seeking revenge, and patriotism was running at its highest. It was not an easy thing to speak out on at that time, and Harry certainly received a great deal of criticism and name-calling. It even somewhat fractured the Libertarian Party, although he was always clear that he was speaking on his own behalf and not for the party.

Harry saw himself as a salesman for liberty. He knew that we would not gain greater liberty through the political process, or at least not until a much greater percentage of the population understood the benefits of liberty. He took the opportunity of running for president to speak and write as often as he could to get his message out.

In 2000, he released The Great Libertarian Offer. It was a book that promoted his optimism, and also the need to offer something big for people to pay attention to. He correctly stated that a small tax cut isn’t going to get people excited. His offer was to eliminate the income tax completely (among other things) and to drastically reduce spending.

He pointed out that if you don’t offer something big, then people aren’t going to go for it. You can’t cut one little government program at a time because of the special interests. You have to offer something big so that people will get on board. If you never have to pay the federal income tax ever again, then you might be more willing to give up your favorite government programs.

Harry was very knowledgeable on the Federal Reserve and the issue of money. He would speak about it on his radio show and he would address the subject in articles at times. He didn’t talk about the issue a lot during his campaigns, as it was not something he saw as appealing to a large number of people. In this sense, he was like most other libertarians until the Ron Paul presidential campaign starting in 2007. Many libertarians today, including greats such as Tom Woods, will admit they had similar thoughts that this was not the ideal issue to present to the masses. But Ron Paul proved that this could be a popular issue, even amongst young people.

If you are a young libertarian, or simply new to the libertarian movement, then I strongly encourage you to read (or listen to) some of Harry Browne’s material. He wrote two books for his two presidential campaigns, which are really great primers on libertarianism. His writing is easy to read and understand.

Harry first gained notoriety in the early 1970s when he correctly predicted the devaluation of the dollar and the likely rise of gold. In 1970, he released How You Can Profit from the Coming Devaluation. While some of the book may not seem relevant today, the first 70 pages are a great primer on the issue of money and inflation.

Harry Browne was a financial advisor and helped develop the idea of a permanent portfolio. His little book Fail-Safe Investing describes the permanent portfolio, which is intended to help investors set up a safe investment portfolio designed to hold up in any economic environment. This book is still relevant today, and many people still use the permanent portfolio setup as a basis for their investment portfolios.

Aside from writing other books on investments and money, Harry helped many people with his self-help book titled How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. While he recognized that our freedom was restricted by government, he pointed out all of the boxes people trap themselves in within their own lives. He showed that we all have options in making ourselves freer. The book was not without controversy, but some will still claim that it helped change their lives.

Aside from his many great speeches, Harry also hosted his own radio show discussing libertarian topics. For a short time before his death, he also hosted a separate show that just discussed the issues of money and investments.

If you don’t have time to read any books, Harry also wrote hundreds of timeless articles. They are on his website, which has been maintained by his widow, Pamela Wolfe Browne.

For me, Harry was instrumental in turning me into a hardcore libertarian. While many libertarians today will say the same about Ron Paul, it is important to recognize the people who helped lay the groundwork prior to the Ron Paul campaign in 2007/ 2008.

Harry Browne himself introduced many people to uncompromising libertarianism. If you haven’t seen any of his work, I encourage you to read it or listen to it. Even for those who are familiar with his work, I encourage you to look at some of it again. We can still learn a great deal from this man. Even though he left us 10 years ago, most of his writings and other works are as relevant and useful today as when he produced them.