As Kay Coles James prepares to leave her position as president of the Heritage Foundation, the storied conservative institution faces some serious challenges. Once at the vanguard of conservatism, the Heritage Foundation, like conservatism itself, is somewhat adrift at a time when America needs a conservative voice more than ever.

In the quest for a new leader, Heritage should return to its roots and learn from its past successes. A look at the history of what has worked—and what has failed—will help Heritage reclaim its position as a top-flight institution that unleashes ideas, equips leaders and pushes freedom and opportunity for all.

To this end, the think tank's new leader should aim to do four things:

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Any survey of contemporary life on America's campuses reveals that our institutions of higher learning are no longer devoted to free inquiry and the pursuit of truth. Instead, they appear riddled with speech codes, "safe spaces," banned speakers, protests, and cancelations of those who express disapproved ideas. Students bemoan "microaggressions" and being "triggered" as faculty advance ahistorical theories that diminish America's achievements and exceptionalism.

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Although best known later in life for his relationship with former President Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Vernon Jordan, who died last week at 85, had a significant career as a civil rights leader and was a friend to multiple presidents on both sides of the aisle. Indeed, the arc of his life was a testament to the ways in which race relations in the United States improved over that time.

Born in Georgia in 1935, Jordan left the South to attend DePauw University in Indiana, and he got his law degree from Howard University. He then worked in the civil rights movement and for the NAACP, the United Negro College Fund, and the National Urban League.

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White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo recently resigned, barely a month into his new job. Ducklo had berated a Politico reporter who had questioned the status of Ducklo's personal relationship with another reporter.

Ducklo's brief tenure was certainly unusual but not without precedent in White House history. Given the high stakes involved, it's not surprising that internal jockeying and outside lobbying have occasionally scuttled prominent appointments shortly after those appointments took place. And since personnel is policy, such changes can mean a sharp U-turn in direction with ripple effects often seen fully only in hindsight.

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Rush Limbaugh's conservative radio talk show debuted on August 1, 1988, at the tail end of Ronald Reagan's years in the White House. Limbaugh was little noticed initially and arrived too late to have much impact on the Reagan presidency. Still, the broadcaster and the president did have a post-presidential mutual admiration society. Limbaugh called Reagan on air "Ronaldus Magnus": Ronald the Great. And by 1992, Reagan had already dubbed Limbaugh "the voice of conservatism." Limbaugh would have a more tangible and direct impact on every subsequent presidency of his life, which ended yesterday at 70.

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