Conservative Political Action Conference

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; /ˈsiːpæk/ SEE-pak) is an annual political conference in National Harbor, Maryland attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU). More than 100 other organizations contribute in various ways.

Number of CPAC attendees over time

In 2011, ACU took CPAC on the road with its first Regional CPAC in Orlando, Florida. Since then ACU has hosted regional CPACs in Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, and San Diego.

The conference was founded in 1973 by the American Conservative Union and Young Americans for Freedom as a small gathering of dedicated conservatives.^[1][2] Over the years it has grown to thousands of attendees annually. Roughly half of those in attendance in the past few years have been college-aged.^[3][4][5]

Speakers have included Ronald Reagan,^[6][7][8] George W. Bush,^[9] Dick Cheney,^[10] Pat Buchanan,^[11] Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich,^[9] Sarah Palin, Ron Paul,^[12] Mitt Romney,^[9] Tony Snow,^[9] Glenn Beck,^[13] Rush Limbaugh,^[14] Ann Coulter,^[10] Allen West,^[15] Michele Bachmann,^[16] and other conservative public figures. Before, during, and after his presidency, Ronald Reagan spoke at CPAC a total of 12 times.^[17] In 2017, President Donald Trump spoke at the event.